(MANILA BULLETIN)

Amid the reported issues of traffic congestion, long queues, and presence of rats and bed bugs, OFW Party-list Rep. Marissa “Del Mar” Magsino is urging the House of Representatives to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, into the state of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

“Bugbog na yun imahe ng ating bansa bilang tourism destination dahil sa paulit-ulit na isyu sa NAIA na siyang main gateway ng ating turismo, at isa ding mahalagang susi sa ating labor migration bilang pinto ng migration corridors sa pagitan ng Pilipinas at mga host countries,” said Magsino in a statement.

(The image of our country as a tourism destination has been damaged due to the perennial issues of NAIA, which is our main tourism gateway and also an important key to our labor migration as it serves as the door to the migration corridors between the Philippines and the host countries.)

Under House Resolution (HR) No. 1615, which she filed, the appropriate House committee has been tasked with addressing the issues plaguing NAIA. These issues “impact the convenience and health of traveling passengers and tarnish the country's image on the international stage”, she said.  

The call for an investigation on NAIA comes after the spread of videos in social media showing incidences of bed bug bites and sightings of rats and cockroaches within the airport’s terminals.

Magsino noted that while these unusual incidents highlight the inefficiencies of the pest control and maintenance systems in particular, it still raises pressing concerns regarding public health safety.

“Given the repeated problems in NAIA and its tag as one of the world’s worst airports, we have to look into the compounded issues, more so since NAIA has revenues to address basic operational concerns such as sanitation and congestion,” the minority lawmaker said.

According to Magsino, the net income of Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA)—the agency responsible for NAIA—reached over P3 billion for fiscal year 2023.

As the country’s primary gateway, the increased passenger traffic has resulted to traffic congestion within the airport complex and surrounding roads.

Despite a maximum capacity of 32 million passengers, NAIA is currently handling at least 50 million passengers.

Magsino emphasized the need to craft immediate measures to address these headaches and in turn erase the airport's negative reputation.

“In the end, we all just want to push for NAIA's competitiveness as an international gateway and safeguard the interests of passengers, especially our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs),” she stressed.