AsBAA Advises Philippine Congressman on Landmark PTSB Bill

Last week, AsBAA and several industry stakeholders held a formal meeting with Philippine Congressman Rozzano Rufino Biazon. The purpose of the meeting was to receive updates on the ratification status of the Philippine Transportation Safety Board (PTSB) bill, exchange insights, and advise Congressman Biazon on the provisions of the legislative proposal - specifically whether the PTSB accident investigation evidence, findings, and/or probable causes should be admissible in litigation. The meeting included AsBAA leadership (Max Motschmann, Patrick Roa, and Anthony Lam), AsBAA member Ocampo, Manalo, Valdez & Lim Law Firm, European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), AmCham, Arangkada Philippines (A Project of the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines), and Safe Travel Alliance. 

AsBAA advised Congressman Biazon that if the PTSB had to worry about the legal consequences of its investigative analysis, the analysis may very well be stifled during the course of the investigation, whether consciously or subconsciously to the investigators. This would likely pollute and put into jeopardy the objectiveness of the PTSB’s investigations. AsBAA also added that the admissibility of PTSB’s probable causes could likely also prejudice the jury’s opinion and taint the judicial process in litigation. AsBAA pointed out that these (and more) are some of the reasons the U.S. NTSB’s probable causes are inadmissible in court. 

Congressman Biazon acknowledged AsBAA’s advisory and feedback gained via experience at the NTSB as valuable input, and expressed his willingness to have further discussions on the PTSB bill to reach a good compromise. 

Background:
AsBAA is lobbying in support of the unification of two bills in the Philippine Congress that, if ratified by Congress and signed into law by President Duterte, would create the Philippine Transportation Safety Board (PTSB). The two bills are House Bill 9030 and Senate Bill 1077. AsBAA reviewed both bills and formally corresponded with the Philippine House of Representatives and Senate, and conveyed the importance of having a national transportation safety board independent of the Department of Transportation to carry out independent accident investigation to facilitate the continued, sustainable growth of the Philippine's aviation industry and economy.

Once signed into law, the PTSB would be a non-regulatory, independent investigative agency attached to the Office of the President.