Philippine Air Traffic Management Center, Pasay City
January 16, 2018

“Ito, I’m sure is a huge leap in the improvement of the services regarding security and surveillance,” said President Rodrigo Roa Duterte when he led the inauguration of the new Communications, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) Systems Development Project at the Philippine Air Traffic Management Center (PATMC) in Pasay City.

In his keynote address, President Duterte commended the efforts of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) led by Secretary Arthur Tugade and expressed his gratitude to the country’s Japanese partners, represented by the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines headed by Ambassador Koji Haneda, for funding the said project.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) website (caap.gov.ph), the CNS/ATM Systems Development Project is funded through the Official Development Assistance (ODA) of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). It is a computer-based flight data-processing system that allows aircraft operators to meet their scheduled departures and arrivals.

“This is the answer to the pulse of the much needed upgrade in our country’s inadequate and aging air navigation systems, which lags behind those with our neighbors in the region,” President Duterte said.

With this technology, the country would be able to monitor and evaluate 80% of the Manila Flight Information Region as assigned by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The recently inaugurated CNS/ATM was designed according to the specifications of ICAO, which would position vital air-transport communication, surveillance, and information equipment, and replace the long-used communication and air-traffic facilities in some airports nationwide.

During the program proper, a marker of the event was unveiled. Thereafter, President Duterte was ushered to the ATM operations room for a short inspection and briefing by the Air Traffic and Air Navigation services officers.

***