MANILA, Jan. 10 -- The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Tuesday said amendments must be made to the procurement law to expedite the upgrade of facilities and acquisition of crucial air traffic management equipment to prevent a repeat of the technical glitch that shut down the country's airspace last New Year's Day.

During the hearing of the House Committee on Transportation on the technical glitch that resulted in suspended flight operations in several of the country's major airports, DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista said around PHP13 billion would be needed to upgrade the country's air traffic management system.

"We are thankful for the cooperation of other agencies who share similar sentiments about the need to amend existing procu...