The Office for Transportation Security (OTS) is the single authority responsible for the security of the

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

systems of the Philippines, including Civil Aviation, Sea Transport and Maritime Infrastructure, Land Transportation, Rail System and Infrastructure.

History

Up until the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the conduct of commercial aviation activities between countries was based mainly on bilateral arrangements because there was a prevailing “unqualified

national sovereignty Westphalian sovereignty, or state sovereignty, is a principle in international law that each state has exclusive sovereignty over its territory. The principle underlies the modern international system of sovereign states and is enshrined in the Un ...

” over airspace. With the Second World War coming to an end, interested parties met in Chicago in late 1944 to draw up a new treaty to allow more open access for the conduct of international air commerce. The result of this meeting was the

Convention on International Civil Aviation The Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known as the Chicago Convention, established the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations charged with coordinating international air trave ...

(or Chicago Convention), establishing the

International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sc ...

(ICAO). This convention has the objective of providing an agreement on principles and arrangements governing international civil aviation in the interest of safe navigation of the skies. It has close to universal acceptance with 188 signatory or Contracting States The Philippines, having ratified the Convention on International Civil Aviation on March 1, 1947 and being one of the 188 Contracting States (as of June 2002) of the ICAO, is bound to comply with the international standards of safeguarding civil aviation against acts of unlawful interference, including global terrorism. Specifically stated in Standard 3.1.2 of the ICAO Annex 17, Amendment 11: “Each Contracting State shall designate and specify to ICAO an appropriate authority within its administration to be responsible for the development, implementation and maintenance of the national civil aviation security programme." On January 30, 2004, President

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House Deputy Spe ...

issued Executive Order No. 277 creating the Office for Transportation Security (OTS) within the

Department of Transportation Communication Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

and reconstituting the National Council for Civil Aviation Security (NCCAS) to the

National Civil Aviation Security Committee The National Security Committee (NSC) of Ireland is a secretive inter-departmental committee responsible for ensuring that the Taoiseach (Prime Minister of Ireland) and Government of Ireland are kept informed of high-level national security, in ...

(NCASC). And as response to the international mandate calling for a single authority for securing all modes of transportation in the Philippines per the ICAO and IM0 guidelines, the President issued Executive Order No. 311 on April 26, 2004, designating the OTS as the single authority called for and thereto expanding its powers and functions. To effectively carry out its mandate of securing the transportation systems against terrorism, OTS was organized into three Transportation Security Bureaus –

Civil Aviation Security Bureau Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

(CASB),

Maritime Transportation Security Bureau Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...

(MTSB) and

Land Transportation Security Bureau Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various islan ...

(LTSB), together with three Support Bureaus - Intelligence and Operations Bureau (IOB), Administrative and Finance Bureau (AFB), and Legal and Planning Bureau (LPB).

References

{{authority control Government agencies of the Philippines Transport safety organizations Transportation in the Philippines Government agencies established in 2004 2004 establishments in the Philippines National law enforcement agencies of the Philippines Law enforcement in the Philippines Department of Transportation (Philippines) Establishments by Philippine executive order