Justified increase in rates

We all want better airports that are cleaner, faster, more efficient. But for years, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has been asked to deliver all that while charging the lowest terminal fees of any major airport in the country.

Today, a passenger flying out of NAIA pays just P550 for international departures and P200 for domestic and these terminal fees haven’t changed in two decades. In the same period, the airport has grown to handle more than 50 million passengers a year, more than any other airport in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, regional airports that serve far fewer travelers have long increased their fees. In Davao, Iloilo, Bohol, and Kalibo, passengers pay P900 for international flights and P350 for domestic. Mactan-Cebu charges over P1,000 for international departures.

For over two decades, NAIA kept its terminal fees unchanged even as other airports across the region adjusted theirs to keep pace with inflation, rising operating costs, and growing passenger expectations.

Holding the line may have helped travelers in the short-term, but it also meant delaying the upgrades and improvements that passengers have been asking for and deserve.

This is one of the reasons the government entered into a public-private partnership to rehabilitate and modernize NAIA. The proposed increase to the terminal fees is part of that long-overdue effort.

Even with the impending increase to P950 for international and P390 for domestic, it will still fall within the range of other Philippine airports and remain far below international benchmarks. At Singapore’s Changi, passengers pay the equivalent of over P2,600. In Bangkok and Tokyo, the figure ranges from P1,200 to P1,300.

Passengers are not being asked to pay more without seeing results. Barely a year since New NAIA Infra Corp. took over, improvements are already being felt. The air-conditioning works. Queues at security and check-in have shortened. Escalators are operational. Curbside traffic has improved. More CCTV cameras are now active. There’s a new lounge for overseas Filipino workers at Terminal 3 and more.

But to sustain this momentum, it needs support, and that includes pricing that reflects the scale of service it is expected to provide.

Neophyte lawmaker demands action

Neophyte Las Piñas Rep. Mark Anthony Santos, a long time city councilor, is starting his term with a bang after he asked Public Works and Highways Secretary Manuel Bonoan to reallocate around P140 million for the construction of the C-5 Diversion Road toward flood control projects in the city.

He called on Bonoan to reallocate the funds for critical flood control initiatives, including drainage systems, canals, waterways, and riprap repairs, instead of pushing forward with the controversial C-5 road.

The urgency of the issue was underscored by a recent flooding last July 9, which forced over 208 residents from 50 families in Barangay Pamplona Tres to evacuate after overnight rains submerged homes and streets.

For more than a decade, Las Piñas has experienced frequent flooding due to inadequate drainage capacity cannot accommodate large volumes of rainwater during storms. Prolonged and intense rainfall often overwhelm the city’s drainage infrastructure, leading to surface runoff and widespread flooding.

The P140 million is actually part of a P450-million budget which was originally allocated for certain projects in the city but was transferred allegedly without authorization.

The lawmaker discovered that district engineer Isabelo Baleros, head of the Las Piñas-Muntinlupa District Engineering Office, recently wrote Assistant Regional Director Montrexis Tamayo of the DPWH NCR, requesting that 27 projects for the city with a budget of P450 million be transferred to the Regional Office-NCR as the new implementing agency.

One of the projects included in the transfer is the construction of the C5 Diversion Road.

C-5 spanning 43.8 kms is a network of roads and bridges that connects the cities of Las Piñas, Parañaque, Pasay, Pasig, Quezon City, Taguig and Valenzuela.

Unresolved matter

With President Marcos scheduled to deliver his midterm state-of-the-nation address (SONA) on July 28, Filipinos will more or less have a picture of what to expect not only in the coming year but also during the remainder of the President’s term.

According to one media report, more than half of the President’s priority legislative measures have either lapsed or have been signed into law in the first three years of Marcos’ term or 33 out of the 64 Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) bills.

The President is expected to ask Congress to prioritize the passage of these remaining proposals.

Some pet bills are back to square one in the next Congress after failing to hurdle the 19th Congress. These include the Amendments to the Secrecy of Bank Deposits. Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act, Amendments to the Universal Health Care law, the much-delayed National Land Use Act and the Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery bill.

The LEDAC has also listed six bills that have been ratified at the bicameral level as measures that need to be passed before the start of the new Congress. These include the Open Access in Data Transmission Act and the Amendments to the Investors’ Lease Act and the Rationalization of Mining Fiscal Regime.

There is something though that a lot of Filipinos want to hear from the President even before his SONA.

This is about the number of courtesy resignations tendered to the President as early as last May but have not yet been acted upon.

There is a need to put closure sooner than later to the ongoing government revamp if we are to attain normalcy in public service.

State officials whose tenures hang in the balance could not dispense their duties and obligations effectively and efficiently thinking that any day could be their last in the office.

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