The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), in collaboration with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), conducted an Environment Management System (EMS) workshop recently.
The workshop highlighted the launching of the EMS Philippines’ Guidelines wherein airports in the country were enjoined to adopt and implement EMS in its airport operations. During the session, Ms. Manuel Luisa Palma, Iloilo International Airport Manager presented the Iloilo International Airport’s journey towards EMS certification.
In 2019, Iloilo International Airport was nominated as a pilot airport in the ASEAN region to receive support from EASA through the ARISE+ program in adopting and implementing EMS, aligned with the ISO 14001 standard. Improvements in environmental compliances as well as operational effectiveness has been in the form of significant reduction in the power and water utilization, effective solid waste management, and institutionalizing the monitoring, reporting, and evaluation of processes to come up with improvements.
With the successful implementation in Iloilo International Airport, CAAP further continued the EMS journey in 2022 with Bohol-Panglao International Airport (BPIA) as the second airport to be the recipient of the technical assistance from the project. With the full support of the management, it is expected that CAAP-operated airports will start to replicate the adoption and implementation of the system.
The activity was attended by environmental focal persons from the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation of Cambodia, Department of Civil Aviation of Laos, Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, Environment and Social Team from San Miguel Aerocity, Luzon Internationa Premier Airport Development (LIPAD) Corporation and CAAP Area Managers. (JERRY S. TAN)
