Wet welcome

I got in from Iloilo last Sunday evening as Glenda was giving Manila a good drenching. Unfortunately, we got a good drenching as well. Since we were on Cebu Pacific, we came in via the old domestic airport, where there are no passenger tubes to disembark from, just an old-fashioned stairway that they roll up to the plane’s door. Although it had a roof, that did nothing to keep passengers dry since the wind whipped the rain into horizontal sheets. At the foot of the stairs we were given umbrellas, which again proved rather useless against the wind and rain. To make things worse–if it could get worse–the tarmac was flooded, in some areas with about two inches of water. We were, literally, drenched from head to foot by the time we got to the terminal building.

Inside there were two baggage carousels, one marked Asian Spirit, the other Cebu Pacific. Baggage from a previous Cebu Pacific flight from Davao was on the carousel, with passengers crowding around to get their bags. We figured we would get our bags from the other carousel, even though it was marked for Asian Spirit, but were unceremoniously told to wait at the other carousel with everyone else. Too cold and wet and tired to argue, we waited for the Davao passengers to get their bags, only to find our bags coming out on the Asian Spirit carousel.

The exit was all jammed up, with only one poor hapless lady guard checking everyone’s baggage claim tags. Once outside the madness continued, as cars waited to pick up their passengers, those behind honking furiously, and everyone getting another good drenching since there was no awning to shade you from the rain. I was just glad to be in my way home, where a hot shower and my bed waited.

I wonder how we can seriously talk about promoting tourism and enticing visitors to holiday at our beaches and other provincial destinations when infrastructure as basic as the airport is in such a sorry state. A stone’s throw away from the sorry excuse for a domestic airport is NAIA-3, a mothballed victim of political shenanigans. I don’t know what the plan is, but when NAIA-3 finally opens the domestic airport can move to decent quarters, and visiting our beautiful, beautiful country will not be such an ordeal.