DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT PROBLEMS DISCUSSED ON SENATE

Broken escalators, dirty toilets, and overcrowded terminals. Those are just some of the problems at the airports investigated by the Senate committee on public services.

According to Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, many passengers including senior citizens are forced to use the stairs even with their suitcases because of the broken escalator that has not been repaired for almost five months. 

Several problems experienced on airports in the country (Photo courtesy of Jesse Bustos/Philippine Star)

“When President Marcos visited the Czech Republic, it was already broken, I was going to the IPU (Inter-Parliamentary Union) and it is still broken. Now, I am back home, it’s already how many months, these escalators are still not working,” he stated.

In the hearing of the Senate committee on public services related to some airports in the country, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) admitted that some elevators and escalators in Terminals 2 and 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) are unserviceable.

MIAA explained that they have brought the issue to the Mitsubishi contractor but they said there was a delay in delivering the spare parts so the agency just bought new spare parts from others to make the escalator work.

It is said that MIAA's target is to repair the escalators and elevators before turning the airport over to the private concessionaire in September. But even at airports in other provinces, passengers also experience perversion.

At Laguindingan Airport, it is said that there is almost no place for passengers to sit because the terminal is crowded, even the bathrooms are dirty and muddy.

According to Iloilo Mayor Jerry Treñas, the situation is the same at the Iloilo International Airport with air conditioners no longer working. They are said to have been given funds to build them but they are said to be unable to use them because they still need a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Transportation and Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

“These airports are key facilities in getting to and from areas, as well as for tourists coming to the country. I am exasperated beyond words by what is going on,” Zubiri said.

“Airports are gateways to the country, and in terms of perceptions, it is very important that there is a good perception from initial arrivals of guests and overseas Filipino workers,” Sen. Mark Villar on the hearing stated.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has been urged by senators to inventory all domestic airports in the country due to a number of complaints over the last five months regarding technical issues, including malfunctioning escalators and air conditioning systems.

Source: Philippine Star

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