{"id":302642,"date":"2012-11-06T17:01:22","date_gmt":"2012-11-06T09:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/?p=302642"},"modified":"2012-11-06T17:24:54","modified_gmt":"2012-11-06T09:24:54","slug":"colorum-planes-exposed-at-senate-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/302642\/colorum-planes-exposed-at-senate-hearing","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Colorum planes\u2019 exposed at Senate hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"
MANILA, Philippines\u2014 A possible existence of \u201ccolorum\u201d (unregistered) airplanes in the country or\u00a0those operating\u00a0 illegally\u00a0 was exposed\u00a0 during a budget hearing\u00a0 in\u00a0 the Senate on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n
No less than the head of the\u00a0Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), Director General William Hotchkiss III, made this admission\u00a0 under intense questioning of Senator Panfilo Lacson\u00a0 during the\u00a0 budget hearing of the Senate sub-committee on finance.<\/p>\n\n
Hotchkiss said the registration of planes was one of two\u00a0 things that the country should do\u00a0to restore its Category 1 status with the United States\u2019 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).<\/p>\n\n
\u201cAre there any colorum planes? Lacson asked.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cMaybe, sir,\u201d\u00a0Hotchkiss answered.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cSo how many colorum planes are on your records, and flying without registration,\u201d the senator further asked.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re addressing now as we don\u2019t have a complete registry of all airplanes that are in the Philippines today,\u201d the CAAP head added.<\/p>\n\n
The second\u00a0issue is the operations, which is now being addressed, Hotchkiss said.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThis\u00a0refers to training of our inspectors,\u201d he pointed out.<\/p>\n\n
He was confident\u00a0that on or before February next year, the country would be able to address the\u00a0issues regarding the\u00a0\u00a0 country\u2019s aviation system.<\/p>\n\n
In\u00a02008, the FAA downgraded the Philippines to Category 2 status for failing to comply with international safety standards. As a result, the country\u2019s national carrier, Philippine Airlines, was unable to expand its operations in the United States.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A possible existence of \u201ccolorum\u201d (unregistered) airplanes in the country or those operating illegally was exposed during a budget hearing in the Senate on Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":206805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,45],"tags":[41955,512],"byline":[75],"source":[206075],"column":[],"editor":[],"videographer":[],"position":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n