“I’m responsible. It happened on my watch. I cannot point at anybody or my predecessors.”

Is this a bureaucrat talking?

Believe it or not, Alfonso Cusi, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, told “Bulong Pulungan” at Sofitel hotel that he would not blame anyone in CAAP, even if he was appointed only last month and the European Commission ban on Philippine carriers entering/exiting Europe was imposed on April 1. Collateral damage could well include travel agents and the tourism industry.

If Mr. Cusi sounded like a martyr, he also sounded like a p.r. man when he said, “All Philippine carriers, domestic and international, are safe.” So what was the ban about?

It was “entirely based” on the downgrade in ’07 of RP carriers by the US Federal Aviation Authority and flaws in audit procedures of the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Safety was the issue raised by FAA. As for auditing guidelines, ICAO cited lack of 100 percent compliance.

All Mr. Cusi was willing to admit was “oversight.”

ICAO officials will come from Brussels for a look-see next month. They ordered a ban before they checked? That’s oversight!