Still in a state of denial

It’s so irritatingly funny how certain government officials under the administration of President Benigno “Noy” Aquino lll respond to public criticism, especially those coming out in media. Instead of facing criticism head on, they circle the wagons to defend their fellow administration official, or officials, under fire. Rather than get their act together to solve the perceived problem or problems, these administration officials instead come out swinging against the messenger of criticisms.

Take for example the case of officials at the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), an attached agency of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) headed by Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya. The MIAA runs the three passenger terminals Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) 1,2 and 3 and also the old Manila Domestic Airport called NAIA-4. The MIAA is headed by retired Philippine Air Force (PAF) Gen. Angel “Bodett” Honrado as general manager and while each NAIA terminal has its own respective managers.

These officials have been getting much flak for their seeming inability to address the deteriorating public services in all our airport terminals here in Metro Manila. Yesterday, no less than two of President Aquino’s official spokespersons, namely Edwin Lacierda and Abigail Valte went to NAIA-1 for an unscheduled press conference with airport reporters.

Honrado, as MIAA chief in particular, has been under fire after the NAIA rehabilitation projects failed to meet the original date of completion by January 2015. Though a former Air Force general, Honrado has no background in airport management. He was also once detailed at Presidential Security Group (PSG) as close-in military aide of Mr. Aquino’s late mother, former President Corazon Aquino.

Instead of cracking the whip, Abaya however took up the cudgels for the embattled MIAA chief, citing Honrado was not at fault as some technical problems had generated the delays. Like Honrado, Abaya was once also another close-in military aide of the late Mrs. Aquino at the PSG.

Abaya reportedly described the delays in some of the NAIA rehabilitation projects as “tolerable.” It is unclear what is the basis of the DOTC Secretary to come to this conclusion.

Lacierda and Valte chimed in as presidential spokespersons to strongly take exception to reported public complaints and media criticism on the unfinished repairs and renovations at NAIA-1. To explain their unexpected presence at NAIA-1, the two Palace mouthpieces cited seeing posted photos in social media that purportedly showed public satisfaction in the ongoing improvements at NAIA-1.

As the principal international gateway to our country, our three NAIA terminals process millions of foreign and local travelers. The bulk of these travelers are our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who come in and out of our airports twice or thrice a year.

NAIA-1 alone reportedly accommodates as many as 13 million passengers each year. Precisely, the renovation and improvement of facilities were intended to address the congestion at NAIA-1 which has been tagged as “one of the world’s worst airports.”

Sadly, the country’s premier airport was named after the late father of President Aquino, the slain Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.

The air travelers’ – especially foreigners’ – first interaction with Philippine government is through these airport terminal services and facilities. Arriving late Sunday night from abroad, the first thing I noticed upon setting foot at NAIA-1 was a dimly lit passageway going to immigration. Perhaps NAIA-1 is skimping on electric bills?

Since NAIA-1 is that small, it was fortunately just a short walk out of the dim aisle from the disembarkation tube, into a fully lighted corridor. The newly installed V-shaped ceiling lights and newly carpeted corridor gave the NAIA-1 a spanking fresh look. So this is undeniably a big physical improvement at the arrival area.

That is, until you use the comfort rooms at the baggage carousel areas which now have a new look but with the same old problem: lack of running water. I do not know why this simple housekeeping problem remains unfixed. The ubiquitous water dipper though is at hand.

The bigger challenge for ordinary travelers like us is bringing luggage out of the arrival to the parking lot. With luggage-full trolley, gravity pulls you down from a very steep ramp. As I gathered, there is no plan to fix this problem because our administration and airport officials do not go through this physical difficulty as they are met by government-issued vehicles at the doorstep of NAIA-1 arrival area.  

Definitely, however, these repairs and renovations would help improve airport convenience, especially for passengers arriving from long haul flights. But up to now, these repairs and renovations have not been completed since they started early last year. 

According to NAIA-l manager Dante Basanta, the ongoing P1.3 billion worth of rehabilitation projects in NAIA-1 alone “are already more than half-finished.” Citing they are on the final stretch of Terminal 1, Basanta promised yesterday to complete the rehabilitation of passenger movement areas by the end of this month. For non-passenger areas, he vows to meet by July this year the target date to complete them.

But the rehabilitation of NAIA-1 should have been finished and done with by the time the country hosts the international meetings preparatory to the holding of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ summit in November.

The first of the APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) took place last month in Clark Freeport and in Subic Freeport. At least some 300 foreign delegates are expected to participate in the next round of APEC-SOM that started yesterday in Tagaytay City, Cavite.

     At least 21 heads of state are coming to the country for the APEC Leaders’ summit. Except for the highly visible tight security with PSG also now manning the NAIA terminals, the Aquino administration officials running our premier airports are still in a state of denial of their own failures. To borrow a famous phrase, NAIA officials failed to meet “time on target” completion of the assignment.