On Tue, Apr 5, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manager Jose Angel Honrado spoke to reporters about the five-hour power outage at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA-3) last Sat, Apr 2.
“A sub-station of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) at NAIA tripped, causing Terminal 3 to lose power at 8:40pm. The lights went back on at 9:25pm, the power went out again at 9:47pm,” reports Manila Bulletin.
The report had added: “International airlines that were affected were the Cathay Pacific flights, Singapore Airlines, KLM, Emirates, Philippine Airlines (PAL) Express and Cebu Pacific Air that have to cancel their 24 domestic flights due to power outage.”
Power was restored at around 2am on Sun, Apr 3.
READ: Power outage cripples Manila airport, thousands stranded
“Honrado explained that while 9 out of 10 standby generators kicked in, Generator Set 2, the most important of all, failed to come alive, because the batteries needed to start them were out of commission,” reports Recto Mercene in Business Mirror.
However, reporters were perplexed when Honrado himself revealed that they had known that Generator Set 2’s batteries needed to be replaced since August 2015.
Honrado was quoted as saying, “The last maintenance check was done on August 30, 2015…we found out that the batteries need replacement.”
The report then noted: “Honrado, however, failed to explain why it took eight months to purchase the batteries, which could be done by ’emergency purchase’ for important items. Honrado said they bought the batteries on April 4, 2016.”
Despite this latest fiasco, Honrado maintains that he will not resign from his post. President Noynoy Aquino has likewise not asked him to step down. This has been Honrado’s standard spiel.
READ: Amid furor over laglag bala scam, MIAA chief says: I’ll resign only if PNoy tells me to
It may be recalled that aside from being in charge of Aquino’s security detail back when he was campaigning in 2010, Honrado also served in the Presidential Security Group (PSG) during the time of President Cory Aquino. Moreover, he’s related to the Aquinos. He’s said to be “a distant cousin.”
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