The authorities has allotted P143 million within the 2023 nationwide price range for the implementation of the executive order on Air Passengers’ Bill of Rights (APBR), which compensates passengers in case of delayed or cancelled flights.
The implementation of APBR is offered below Joint Administrative Order (JAO) No. 1 issued in 2012 by then-Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
The mentioned DOTC-DTI JAO states that “In case the air carrier cancels the flight because of force majeure, safety and/or security reasons, as certified by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, a passenger will have the right to be reimbursed for the full value of the fare.”
The P143-million quantity, nevertheless, is means decrease than the P660 million compensation pitched by Albay Representative Joey Salceda for the estimated 66,000 passengers affected by air visitors system glitch that paralyzed the operations of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on New Year’s Day.
Salceda, who chairs the House Committee on Ways and Means, estimated a P10,000 compensation per passenger who was affected by the glitch.
The P143-million price range for the APBR implementation is earmarked below the Civil Aviation Board (CAB), a authorities company below the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
The quantity additionally accounts for greater than half of the full CAB price range for 2023, which is at P234.4 million.
The the rest of the CAB price range is allotted to the air transport and growth program (P38.2 million) and common administration and help (P49.1 million).
Of the CAB’s P38.2 million 2023 price range for air transport and growth program, P17.5 million will go to air transport coverage and formulation and implementation, P10.6 million for air transport regulatory companies and P10 million for different organizational and system enchancment.
Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB earlier within the day, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista mentioned the company and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) don’t have any contractual obligation to refund passengers affected by the hours-long shutdown of the Philippine airspace.
According to Bautista, the legality of such compensation from DOTr and CAAP needs to be appeared into first.
“Unang-una, ‘yung CAAP at saka DOTr, wala kaming arrangement with the passengers, ‘di katulad ng airlines. Bumili sila ng ticket, merong obligation ang mga airlines na ilipad sila o i-refund ang kanilang pamasahe ‘pag hindi naka-refund,” he mentioned.
(First of all, the CAAP and the DOTr shouldn’t have an association with passengers in contrast to with the airways. When they purchase a ticket, the airways have an obligation to fly them or refund them if they aren’t in a position to fly them.)
The CAAP already mentioned it’s keen to face exterior investigations over the New Year’s Day fiasco.
“Our inside investigation is ongoing, and we’ll attempt to full it as quickly as doable. If there can be an exterior investigation, we’ll welcome it,” CAAP Deputy Director General for Operations Edgardo Diaz mentioned on CNN Philippines. —KBK, GMA Integrated News
