First glitch

“But let us also not remain dismissive or ignorant of the effect of this problem on the national interest.

The country welcomed the new year with a rather unfortunate event that has serious repercussions on the economic and tourism efforts of the administration of President Bongbong Marcos Jr.. January 1st saw chaos and mayhem in our country’s premiere gateway, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, when a technical glitch in the air navigation system occurred, affecting 361 domestic and international flights, and stranding thousands of travelers.

The situation was so bad that one tycoon even tweeted an “ONLY in the PH” description of the incident, as his own flight from Japan has to turn around and return because of the glitch.

Yes, incoming flights from abroad were diverted to neighboring airports in ASEAN-member countries while some were asked to return to their ports of origin. Meanwhile, scheduled flights for the day departing Manila were all canceled, which threw all schedules and bookings into a chaotic frenzy, not to mention the domino effect on other economic activities.

What was the problem? The official statement from the Department of Transportation pointed to a power outage causing a glitch in the navigation system. That it happened on the very first day of 2023 made us wonder if it was a case of force majeure, or if it was something that could have been avoided.

I am aware that the air navigation system of NAIA has been upgraded recently, and if it was indeed a power outage which was the root cause, then why was there no contingent power supply that worked? Is this not SOP? Or did the SOP fail as well as it appears?

There are a lot of questions, and having said this, let’s give the DoTr the benefit of the doubt, and the elbow room to investigate, and determine the root cause, and how it should be addressed.

But let us also not remain dismissive or ignorant of the effect of this problem on the national interest. It is a serious blow to the administration, and there should be accountability by those who are responsible.

It is easy to rationalize that things like this tend to happen, but then again, it should not be happening, especially on the very first day of the year. It’s a bad omen and a portent of things to come.

God forbid that it is really just a system glitch.

Mark my word.

“January 1st saw chaos and mayhem in our country’s premier gateway, NAIA, when a technical glitch in the air navigation system occurred.