Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 7) – The US Embassy explained that the American military plane that landed on June 26 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) complied with Philippine rules before heading to a bilateral military exercise, Sen. Imee Marcos said on Friday.
However, Marcos said the embassy admitted the lack of coordination with ground handlers on its arrival, which caused hours of delay at the airport.
Marcos, who chairs the Senate committee on foreign relations, said she received the letter from US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson on Thursday to give an incident summary of the NAIA landing of a Boeing C-17 transport military aircraft.
\”According to the letter, the subject aircraft was in the Philippines to support a bilateral military exercise,\” she said. \”It stopped at NAIA before going to its final destination in Palawan in order to comply with Philippine customs and immigration requirements.\”
On June 29, the senator urged her colleagues to conduct an investigation into the landing of the US plane as she raised concern that the Manila International Airport Integrated Command and Control Center was \”not given any advisory on the arrival of aforesaid aircraft.\”
She questioned the \”apparent lack of coordination\” between the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Department of National Defense.
It also took 10 hours before the plane — which reportedly arrived from Guam with nine military crew and one passenger — left NAIA to head to Puerto Princesa, Palawan, she said.
The incident took place after Marcos led an “urgent” public hearing on June 16 on the United States’ request for the Philippines to allow the admission of Afghanistan nationals. She raised concern the country might be exposed to “substantive risk.”
Marcos said the US envoy cited a \”clerical error\” in which \”some of the information provided by the US Government for the flight clearance was incorrect.\”
\”The US embassy admitted that while the aircraft had an approved diplomatic clearance from the Department of Foreign Affairs, the U.S. flight planners did not coordinate with the NAIA ground handlers and were, in fact, unfamiliar with the airport,\” she said.
\”This lack of coordination, in turn, led to the parking of the aircraft in the wrong spot, delays in ground servicing, and subsequent delays in the completion of customs and immigration processes,\” she added.
Marcos previously expressed concerns about possible landings other than in Manila and Puerto Princesa. She also asked if the aircraft carried cargo, and for the \”real\” number of people onboard and their identities.
\”The US embassy further explained that the aircraft’s cargo included equipment for a US Marine Corps Mobile Operations Center to be used in the Marina Aviation Support Activity exercises,\” the senator said.
