Upgrade of existing facilities and replacement of affected equipment were the immediate courses of action agreed by heads of various agencies who were briefed yesterday, 03 January 2023, at the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) compound, following the New Year’s Day technical glitch that suspended flight operations in Ninoy Aquino International Airport MIAA (NAIA), Clark, Mactan, Davao and other CAAP operated airports.
After CAAP reported their investigation and traced the most likely cause of the glitch, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime J. Bautista said Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Ivan John Uy offered to assist CAAP in expediting acquisition.
Sec. Uy said, “We will give our full support to DOTr and CAAP at resolving this issue.”
National Security Adviser Prof. Clarita Carlos suggested to declare such communications and electrical equipment as vital to national security, thereby facilitating any purchase and prevent a repeat of the incident.
CAAP likewise informed Prof. Carlos and Department of National Defense (DND) Officer-in-Charge Undersecretary Jose Faustino Jr. that this does not appear to be a cybercrime because affected electrical equipment cannot be manipulated from outside CAAP compound. Nonetheless, a review will still be conducted by cyber-security experts.
Prof. Carlos added that the breakdown of vital infrastructure, such CAAP’s CNS-ATM system, constitutes a threat to national security and thus the need for immediate action.
After the top-level meeting, heads and representatives of DOTr, DICT, DND, National Intelligence Coordination Agency (NICA), and Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) inspected the affected equipment and facilities inside CAAP.
