This is a re-posted opinion piece.
P-Noy and his sisters dutifully visited the gravesite of their parents to honor them as we all honor our departed love ones at this time of the year. I just couldn’t help thinking that if P-Noy truly wants to honor his father, he will do something drastic to fix up the airport terminal named after him… the same place where he was martyred. Nothing dishonors the memory of P-Noy’s father more than having that embarrassing structure reputed to be the world’s worst named after the great Ninoy Aquino.
Every time the plane I am on lands at NAIA and the stewardess announces “We have just landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport…” I can’t help adding in my mind an obvious but as of now still mercifully subliminal message… the world’s worst airport! Here is how one website puts it: “Last year we were number one in Asia, and the fifth worldwide. This year we took the championship trophy home! Worst Airport in the World, yo!”
And it is not just the physical plant that’s nauseatingly bad. Among the problems cited by the reviewers in that Internet website were theft and bribery. “Forget about sleeping in this airport! You will not want to even close your eyes here! Bribery and theft exist. Airport taxes are collected, but the money does not seem to go toward the betterment of the airport. Document holders have been told their papers are not correct, but a fee of x amount should clear up the matter,” the site said.
“When I asked a security guard where the smoking area was he told me to follow him … and took me out on to the tarmac where he then insisted on a bribe before he let me back into the terminal. How does one say ‘no’ to a security guard with a gun?” the reviewer asked.
“Their arrival ramp is not user friendly because it slopes downward!! If you happen to be pushing your loads of baggage through this ramp watch out or your baggage might get to the bottom of the ramp before you!!” tiffycality complained. That’s my big complaint too.
We do have quite a problem cleaning up NAIA… and not just the four decades worth of grime on the building. Apparently, we also have a serious people problem there. The retired military types running NAIA who should have known better how to manage security seem to have allowed our worse behaved countrymen to prowl the terminal and do their worse. NAIA is as much a police and discipline problem as it is a civil works problem. Maybe this is a symptom of our lack of pride influenced by the decrepit surroundings. Maybe if the airport premises inspired the Pinoy pride in ourselves, even the crooks will be ashamed to display their worse side. Hindi bagay!
On the upgrade of the physical plant itself, Bill Luz who co-chairs the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) representing the private sector e-mailed me to explain that “when we started the project in April before the online stories and blogs came out… Our strategy was to work with the NAIA staff of architects and engineers so that the project details would already be embedded within the organization. They did all the detailed technical drawings and went to Budji Layug and Royal Pineda for approval and clearance on the specs. Even the basic material specs were provided by Budji and Royal; the NAIA architects used those specs for cost estimates and used alternate approved materials whenever originals could not be found.” I wrote about this NCC effort last Monday.
Ayun naman pala! They have internal capability to do the obvious all these years but the fact that nothing was done until the NCC moved in shows past and present Presidents have been appointing the wrong kind of people to run NAIA… people with no imagination and no leadership. What can anyone expect from retired Air Force generals who should have stayed retired? Or from the political operators like the one Ate Glue appointed there and was tagged in a Comelec probe for alleged electoral magic in Mindanao? Airport terminals can be best run by people who have experience running private sector property management companies like malls. The name of Ayala Land’s Tony Aquino comes to mind as a good example of one such type of person. Or Tong Padilla of Rockwell Land. At a minimum, they keep their mall toilets clean.
The basic mission, according to Luz, was to transform NAIA into a “boutique” airport in comparison to the region’s larger international airports and improve the passenger’s travel experience to and from the Philippines in terms of service, comfort, and facilities. The whole idea was to create a new “Modern Filipino” gateway to the Philippines to welcome and send off visitors.
“Rather than try to compete on size, the concept was to compete on service and customer experience. No thought was entertained to change the structure of the building or to expand its present size since maintaining and not affecting the structural integrity of the building was of paramount importance… There are many other problems at NAIA but the main point is that it is possible to fix these problems and create the improvements if a decision were to be made now.” Get that, Sec Mar Roxas… decide now.
I hope no one raises the question of affordability. The proposal spearheaded by the NCC will cost a billion pesos, well within the affordability level of NAIA. Speaking on ANC’s “Headstart,” Robert Lim Joseph, chairman of the Tourism Educators and Movers of the Philippines (TEAM Philippines), said the airport collects P750 in terminal fees per passenger, or an average yearly total of P8.5 billion in cash from the 10.5 million passengers that passed through NAIA last year. This does not include earnings from the concessionaires, the airlines and even the parking lot, which all bring big money to NAIA.” Where do all that money go?
How long will it take for this miracle makeover to happen? Luz expects “the rehabilitation should take only around eight to 12 months… the architects planned the construction to proceed in sections so the airport operations could continue uninterrupted. If the bid documents could be approved and published in November, bid awards can be done by January. Some facilities can be ready as early as eight months,” Mr. Luz said. “It’s very possible that we will have the new airport by early 2013. The terms of reference are nearly done anyway, and we are only waiting for the MIAA board to approve the project then it can be published for bidding,” he continued.
But it is difficult to take the word of Bill Luz on it. The NCC had been ignored through the years. His co-chair, DTI Secretary Greg Domingo seems quietly unenthusiastic. We still have to hear DOTC Sec Mar Roxas talk about it. Better still, we should hear it from P-Noy himself. Given that nothing significant by way of infrastructure has happened or even began to happen in the year and a half of P-Noy, being able to deliver this NAIA 1 makeover in a year or less will be a big morale booster to everyone. Kaya pala natin if we put our minds to it. Getting it started could hopefully give us the momentum to get the stalled PPP projects going too.
I am told that Sec Mar is aware of the NCC initiative and is actually working with an advisory board in charge of the program composed of Budji Layug and Royal Pineda, Andy Locsin, Shamcey Supsup, Dennis Garcia, Bill Luz and Louella Guiterrez and Jose Martin Aliling. That’s good to know. But I am naturally suspicious of committees and boards when it comes to making decisions. In the end, it is P-Noy and Mar who can get this going quickly.
The new emphasis on exquisite passenger experience means if there is one place to make sure P-Noy’s Daang Matuwid is followed, it should be at the NAIA terminals. There should be zero tolerance for graft and corruption, petty or otherwise in the facilities. The least we can do to honor the man who thought we were worth dying for is to make sure we can be truly proud every time it is announced that a flight has landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. I hope Ninoy’s son thinks so too!
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By: Boo Chanco – Demand and Supply
Source: The Philippine Star, November 2, 2011
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