Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Ed Monreal on Monday insisted that they followed protocols in dealing with the runway mishap at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) last week.
Monreal was reacting to lawmakers who lambasted transport authorities for their inefficiency in handling the incident that disrupted hundreds of international and domestic flights.
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鈥淚 respect individuals鈥� opinion鈥� hindi natin mapeperpekto ang sitwasyon. Maraming mambabatikos, maraming negatibong opinyon, sabi ko nga kasama sa trabaho 鈥榶an e, pero ang aming konsensya ay tama ho, sa tingin namin, ang aming ginawa (鈥e cannot have a perfect situation, many were criticizing us and many have expressed their negative opinion. It鈥檚 part of our job, but our conscience is clear that we were doing the right thing),鈥� Monreal told reporters in press briefing.
鈥淜ami ang makakapagsabi na sumunod kami sa proseso. Meron po kaming pinagbasehan, hindi po ito nanggaling out of nowhere, meron kaming sinususugan na protocol at proseso (We can tell you that we follow processes. We have bases for our actions and our decisions didn鈥檛 just come from nowhere. We have protocols and processes),鈥� he added.
Airport authorities had been extensively criticized for the inconvenience caused by the closure of the 60/24 runway after a Xiamen Air passenger jet skidded off the runway during a heavy downpour on Thursday evening.
Monreal said he respects the critics鈥� opinions and will take it as a challenge to improve the service.
He also noted that they are ready if summoned by the Senate on August 29 for its investigation on the latest airport incident.
鈥淲ala pa kaming imbitasyon, so far (We haven鈥檛 received an invitation, so far)鈥� We will bring the necessary documents and then we will oblige kung ano mga kailangan pagpunta po roon,鈥� he said.
On Monday, Senator Grace Poe filed Senate Resolution No. 852, directing the Senate committee on public services, which she chairs, to conduct a probe on the Naia incident.
Poe said the airport鈥檚 鈥渟eeming broken systems of regulations鈥� as shown in the incident resulted in 鈥渁irport paralysis鈥� and flight cancellations that affected thousands of passengers. /ee
READ: Poe seeks 鈥榝ull-blown鈥� probe on Naia runway incident