Malacañang keeps eye on top CAAP position
Malacañang on Monday said it is monitoring the performance Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) director-general Alfonso Cusi after it was revealed that his position was one of those that the Palace wants to fill up this month. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a press briefing at the Palace that Transportation and Communications Secretary Jose "Ping" de Jesus told him the department was keeping a close watch on Cusi's performance because the position is charged with improving the Philippines' aviation safety ratings and the Category 2 given by US Federal Aviation Authority lifted. A Category 2 listing means that a country has failed the aviation safety standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization or ICAO. The position of CAAP director general was among the 143 positions the Office of the Executive Secretary listed under the request for an exemption to the Sept. 25-Nov. 10 appointment ban in deference to the Oct. 25 barangay elections. The Commission on Elections approved the request. A CAAP director-general is four-year, fixed-term position under Republic Act 9497 or the law that created the CAAP. Former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo appointed Cusi to the post on March 8, two days before the March 10 appointment ban ahead of the May 10 elections. "Al Cusi is an appointee with a fixed term. So, we don’t know yet what actions will be taken. But according to Secretary Ping de Jesus, we are monitoring his performance right now because he is the officer-in-charge of getting us out of Category 2," said Lacierda. With Cusi's position among those exempted to the appointment ban, Lacierda told reporters "as far as we know, yes," when asked whether Cusi would likely stay as the CAAP director general. GMANews.TV asked Executive Secretary Paquito "Jojo" Ochoa Jr. to comment on the issue, but has not replied as of posting time. In February, then Tourism Secretary Ace Durano said that the 2008 downgrade from Category 1 to Category 2 was partly responsible for the drop in North American tourists flying to the Philippines because PAL could no longer expand its US and Canadian routes after it bought Boeing-777 jets. —VS, GMANews.TV