House panel okays exempting CAAP from Dividend Law
A House panel approved a measure exempting the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) from the Dividend Law within five years upon enactment.
In approving the measure, members of the House Committee on Ways and Means underscored the need to strengthen the country’s civil aviation sector.
The delay in the approval was due to some objections of the Department of Finance on the fiscal provisions of the bill.
Under the Dividend Law, Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) are required to declare dividends that are remitted to the national treasury.
CAAP is a GOCC created through Republic Act (R.A.) No. 94971 has jurisdiction over the restructuring of the civil aviation system as well as the promotion, development, and regulation of the technical, operational, safety, and aviation security functions in the Philippines.
HB 8700 seeks to give the CAAP fiscal autonomy and exempt the agency from the Salary Standardization Law to stop the migration of Filipino pilots and flight crews. It also seeks to extend the term of the CAAP Director-General to insulate them from partisan politics.
Authors of the measure said the CAAP is an independent regulatory body with quasi-judicial and quasi-legislative powers tasked to provide safe and efficient air transport and regulatory services in the country and should be therefore allowed some leeway in fiscal management.
In the virtual hearing held by the committee, , DOF division chief Lyonel Tanganco said the DOF is not in favor of some of the fiscal provisions of HB 8700, particularly in the exemption of CAAP from the provisions of RA 7656 or the Dividend Law.
Various business groups have been pushing for the immediate passage of HB 8700 to provide CAAP sufficient power to improve the country’s aviation sector and upgrade its status among international bodies monitoring and accrediting aviation quality.
