‘Colorum’ planes flying PH skies

Senator Panfilo Lacson INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—We’ve heard of colorum jeepneys and buses, but colorum airplanes?

An incredulous Sen. Panfilo Lacson posed this question during a budget hearing after learning from Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) director general William Hotchkiss that the nonregistration of many of the airplanes in the country was one of the reasons the Philippines remains under Category 2 of the International Civil Aviation Office (Icao).

The downgrade has forced Philippine commercial airlines to limit their flights abroad as a disciplinary measure, and prompted the country to upgrade its airport and flight standards.

It took several minutes of questioning by Lacson before Hotchkiss made a pained admission at the hearing of a Senate subcommittee scrutinizing the budget of the Department of Transportation and Communication.

“(Hotchkiss) said there are airplanes which are not registered.  When a vehicle is not registered, don’t we regard it as colorum?” the senator asked reporters.

Lacson warned that colorum airplanes would be more dangerous than unregistered public utility vehicles.

For one, these aircraft do not pay any registration fees to the government.  And since they are not accounted for, there is no guarantee that they have been checked for safety and airworthiness, he explained.

“Why, there are airplanes that have been certified for airworthiness and they still crash.  What more if they are not registered?  Who guarantees that they are safe to fly,” he asked in Filipino.

Lacson said unless CAAP shapes up and addresses this deficiency, the Philippines would not be able to leave the Icao’s Category 2 list.

He said CAAP’s technical personnel should make sure all unregistered aircraft were accounted for.  One question the staff should answer is why unregistered aircraft are allowed to fly if they are not registered at all, he said.

“We senators were surprised at Hotchkiss’ revelation. What he said meant that if there are colorum buses on Edsa, there are also colorum airplanes hovering above us,” Lacson said.