LAST WEEKEND?S CRISIS AT the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, courtesy of an air navigation system breakdown, again highlighted what is wrong with Philippine aviation. But it also brought to the fore what is right, especially in terms of Filipino ingenuity.

When Naia?s VHF Omnidirectional Range?a radio beacon that helps guide aircraft to the runway, especially at night?conked out early Saturday morning, frantic air controllers came to the rescue.

The scene in Naia?s control tower was supposedly like a scene from the late 1990s movie ?Pushing Tin,? where air traffic controllers, played by John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton, guided planes as they landed and took off, with zero room for error.

But aside from the unsung heroes of Manila?s air control tower, labor problem-plagued Philippine Airlines also had something to cheer about. Despite the broken VOR, its pilots were able to land their wide-bodied jets using Visual Flight Rules and a separate radar to guide night landings. Save for a few flight diversions and delays due to the torrential downpour, the airline maintained normal operations, more or less.

The mood was a little different over at Cebu Pacific, however, which cancelled 28 of its Saturday night flights. At least one official of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) blamed the airline for supposedly alarming the public unduly. Worse, TV crews zeroed in on irate Cebu Pacific passengers who complained about the inconveniences caused by the flight cancellations.

On the balance, however, the recent airport fiasco proved to be yet another wake-up call for local aviation authorities. With only a single functioning runway, dilapidated air terminals and navigation aids that regularly break down in Naia, no wonder local carriers are falling behind their regional rivals. Daxim L. Lucas

North and south

APPARENTLY, South Cotabato would not be the first-ever area in the world to ban open pit mining, should its environmental code pass into ordinance.

South Cotabato Gov. Daisy P. Avance-Fuentes is beset on both sides by anti- and pro-mining advocates jockeying for her ear on the proposed environmental code that bans open pit mining.

Such a ban, if approved, would not only be a problem for the foreign investors backing the $5.2-billion Tampakan copper-gold project, which could be the largest foreign direct investment infusion into the Philippine economy.

The ban would also disrupt various small-scale mining operations and coal mining, where diversifying conglomerate San Miguel Corp. has ventured into.

Amid all this, Gov. Fuentes said she was weighing the issue not only in terms of the environmental aspect, but also its legal implications (it has been pointed out that the Philippine Mining Act does not ban any form of mining).

In 2004, North Cotabato also passed an environmental code banning open pit mining, which then Governor Emmanuel Piñol signed into ordinance. With no active and large-scale open pit project, apparently, no one made noise about the ordinance.

The ordinance was so low-profile that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources? Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) only found out about it in 2007 when a prospective mining investor pointed it out.

The MGB wrote to Piñol urging that the local leaders rethink the ordinance, pointing out that it contradicts the Philippine Mining Act.

To this day, however, the ordinance still stands.

?How come nobody made noise about North Cotabato? That is something we in South Cotabato are looking into,? Fuentes said. Riza T. Olchondra

Departure bonus

NOT counting on being reappointed, given his lack of ties with President-elect Noynoy Aquino, Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales has already bid his employees goodbye. He has also packed his things, all set to leave following the end of his term by the end of June.

An insider from the Bureau of Customs said Morales, who rose from the ranks and has been in the BOC for more than 20 years, has visited work stations of some employees to thank them for their support and to say his farewells.

Morales caused some big smiles to appear on faces of some employees when he promised them hefty bonuses and incentives. This after the Bureau of Customs exceeded its monthly revenue collection targets so far this year. Michelle V. Remo

Return on investment

SINCE its controversial purchase in 2002 by the Government Service Insurance System ?at P46 million, Juan Luna?s ?Parisian Life? has been drawing a crowd of about 200,000 visitors yearly.

Ryan Palad, manager of the GSIS Museo ng Sining, said the painting accorded the museum ?new-found fame? since it was put up some 15 years ago.

?Perhaps it was the controversy or perhaps it is by word of mouth that people came to realize how significant this Luna masterpiece is, not only as a part of Philippine art, but of the country?s history in general,? Palad said.

He notes that most of the Parisian Life visitors are not art critics or collectors, but students from different levels, both from public and private schools.

?Parisian Life? won a silver medal in the 1904 St. Louis Exposition. It was also Luna?s transition painting from realism to impressionism.

According to the GSIS, the painting was bought with investible funds?GSIS money for insuring government assets?and not from the benefit funds of its members. Ronnel W. Domingo