This is a re-posted opinion piece.
Whether it be the NAIA or the DMIA at Clark that will finally be chosen as the national gateway really matters little right now. NAIA is the national gateway now and unfortunately is perceived as a poor facility by many of the people we wish to attract to our country as a tourist destination (foreigners and balikbayans) and the people who ought to be the key salespeople for our country, our own citizens.
Worse, it is perceived by many travelers as the world’s worst international airport. No amount of protestation will change that rating. What will change the ratings is a physical and systems transformation that will in the eyes of both foreigners and locals make NAIA look, sound, and feel like a world-class airport that creates the first impression of what to expect when one visits the country. Fix it! And fix it now!
First, there are many physical changes that ought to be made. The buildings, both NAIA 1 and 2, need sprucing up, inside and out (NAIA 1 more clearly than NAIA 2). NAIA 1 is old, requires something of a civil engineering equivalent of a Vicky Belo treatment. A good brushing to remove water stains and possible moss growth in a number of places is needed. Regular cleaning of the glass parts both those facing the outside and inside building is clearly needed.
The building main hall, the check-in area is somewhat dark. A change of lighting fixture to ones with brighter lumens will do wonders to the place, as will a few well-chosen and well-placed potted plants.
All of the X-ray machines should be operational 24/7 (I travel often and in many cases I spot that at least one is off or “under repair” while lines are long) and all activated during peak hours to help avoid the long lines. And clear signage that tell people what items to put inside their bags (cell phones, for example) and what items to already take off (e.g., belts, watches, bracelets, metal items) or take off in front of the machine (e.g., shoes, jackets) and be ready to place in the plastic bins should be prominent at the entries.
The tough spots are the toilets. To be fair, the staff do try to make the toilets as clean and as serviceable as possible given the constraints — which include a dilapidated water system. But there is only so much a cheerful and helpful staff can do in the face of drums of water and dippers in place of flowing taps and running toilets. Cheerful or not, the place does have the feel of a different world, and not one you would expect for a supposed modern facility. This makes fixing the water system a priority.
Working on the ceiling panels and some of the walls will do much to liven up the place and give at least the impression of a well-tended facility. To be sure, NAIA is not the only government facility that is under-budgeted for repair and maintenance, but this is not an excuse. NAIA is not just any government building. It is a national gateway, the first impression any first-time visitor will get of our country.
In the area of amenities and other facilities, NAIA, I think, fares better than NAIA 2 International wing. NAIA 1 has more outlets and more choices for passing away the time while waiting for one’s flight (business- and first-class passengers have the comfort of lounges with Internet access, relatively more reading materials, free snacks, comfortable chairs, and, often, their own toilets (which are well maintained). NAIA 2 has much fewer toilets facilities (I counted a total of four urinals in the two toilets outside PAL’s business- and first-class lounges), fewer choices of food outlets, and a duty-free shop you can whiz through in a few minutes. And the chairs can be hard on an old man like me with a back condition.
As one walks through the hallways to the pre-departure gates one often gets the impression that the glass panels hadn’t been wiped for a few weeks. And some small trolleys to help tired arriving passengers with their hand-carried luggage will be a great help at least up to the immigration booths.
The short walk from immigration to the luggage retrieval area is convenient enough and the number of luggage trolleys is often adequate. But these big luggage trolleys need regular maintenance. Quite a few have wheels that need realignment and bearings that need replacement. The area immediately past the customs inspection area needs brighter lights, too.
Then comes the handicap course, the ramps that lead to the pickup areas for the new arrivals. The ramps are rather steep, even for those with nothing more than hand-carried luggage and backpacks. It is a challenge to people not sufficiently strong to manage the downward slide of a trolley laden with heavy luggage. Lengthening those ramps to present a less steep angle will do wonders, including lengthening the area where the cars picking up arrivals can maneuver themselves into instead of jostling into a limited area especially during peak arrival hours.
The parking areas for waiting vehicles should have shade trees and ought to be better lit, as indeed the roads that lead to and from the airports. NAIA 2 fares better here, but both terminals suffer from inconvenient arrangements for parking vehicles. The distance one has to travel to get out of the area to pick up a passenger with many heavy pieces of luggage is far.
Now for the systems.
The first one that needs comment is the cursory nature of the security checks in both terminals, especially when there is a long line of cars. There should be more inspectors during certain hours. I notice that while the guards are strict with taxis and public utilities they seem not as strict with privately owned cars, especially newer “up market” cars and particularly SUVs with heavy window tints. “Mahirap na pong mapagalitan” (It proves difficult to get scolded), smilingly said one guard I mentioned this to. “Mabibigat po ang may mga ari,” he said. (These are socially and politically influential people.)
I am thankful that many of the security officers are mindful of the elderly and will give us the privilege of going directly to the head of a line in deference to our age and our growing weakness (!). Some of the personnel manning the X-ray machines seem mindful of this as well, but the treatment is not uniform. I think the courtesy should be extended to the disabled and the ill (temporary or otherwise).
I know people will say, “Hey, all these will cost the government a lot.” I know. But I also know that we have been looking for good ways to pump-prime our economy. And this is a good investment while we are waiting for a decision on NAIA vs. DMIA, which even if decided now, is not likely to happen until at least five years from now, given the need to build the transport infrastructure to make DMIA truly a world class terminal.
Where will we get the money?
Many months ago, in separate papers, former AIM Professor Romulo Neri and current AIM Professor Ron Mendoza, pointed to the highly probable source, our international reserves.
Both gentlemen had looked at our international reserves levels and these were pegged at $60-65 billion, the equivalent of something like 10 months of essential imports. Both pointed out that the Greenspan-Guidotti ratio states that the absolute essential is three months only.
This leads me to the following calculations. When we divide 60 by 10 we get 6. Multiply that by three we get 36. Using Greenspan-Guidotti we will need only $18 billion as international reserves. Let us say we want to be “sigurista” and put aside six months. That is $36 billion. That leaves us $24-29 billion to use for pump- priming, way above the measly P72 billion earmarked so far. Compared to the available funds, the NAIA repair and rehab monies will be miniscule, but the dividends will be great.
Now is the time to take action and have our legal minds work on accessing those funds from BSP quickly and putting them to good use. There is money there to invest in infrastructure constructions, upgrades, repair, rehab, and maintenance, which should generate a lot of steadier employment not only for the terminals but many other key government facilities and government-managed tourist spots (Luneta Park and the Roxas Boulevard area, for example).
There is money there to help clean the Pasig, Laguna de Bay, and the Manila Bay areas that are currently made dirty by our effluence.
I think that once we start the physical clean-up, we may just be able to shift to the needed mental clean-up we need as a nation.
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By: Mario Antonio G. Lopez – To Take A Stand
Source: Business World, November 1, 2011
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