The House of Representatives passed on second reading House Bill 3156 which seeks to establish the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to strengthen the institutional framework of the aviation industry in the country.

The bill endorsed by the House Committee on Transportation chaired by Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella, has been certified as urgent by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo due to the plan of the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority to downgrade the status of the Philippine airports to Category 2.

The proposed downgrading will be detrimental to the country's economic growth and will drastically affect Philippine trade and tourism, a press release from Puentevella's office said.

The FAA was tasked by the International Civil Aviation Organization of which the Philippines is a member and treaty signatory, to monitor the adherence of the Philippine airports to safety and security standards set by the organization.

Meanwhile, the proposed CAA passed by Congress aims to consolidate the functions and powers relating to aviation concerns under a single agency.

The consolidation will result to the collapse of the Air Transportation Office and Civil Aeronautics Board under the CAA umbrella, Puentevella said in a press release.

The present set-up hampers the industry's development because of poor coordination among the agencies concerned, he added.

Once approved, the CAA will serve as the sole authority handling technical, economic, and security concerns making the flow of the aviation industry more systematic and well-coordinated, the press release said.*

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