Even Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri was not spared from some of the troubles being experienced at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Zubiri called out NAIA after encountering an escalator that according to him, has been inoperable for the past two months.
In an interview on Monday, April 29, Zubiri told reporters that this particular escalator had been broken since he attended the 148th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in March.
"There must be some sort of transparency accountability pagdating dito sa mga airports natin (when it comes to airports). Siguro, ayokong sabihin na incompetent ang ating officials (I do not want to call our officials incompetent) but they have to work double time," he said.
Zubiri mentioned that he even took a picture of the escalator to show Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista himself.
"Before I left for the IPU, presidential visit pa ng presidente ng Czech Republic sira na yan, pagpunta ko po ng IPU sira pa rin yan, umuwi na ko it's already how many months na, hindi pa rin gumagana itong escalator na ito (during the presidential visit Czech Republic, it's already broken, when I went to the IPU, it's still broken, and when I went home after how many months, it's still not working)," he said.
"This is just a freaking escalator ay kaya ayusin ng SM yan o ng Ayala Malls (that can be fixed by SM or Ayala Malls)," he added.
Zubiri mentioned this amid another inconvenience air travelers have been experiencing since the weekend which is the repair of NAIA Terminal 3's cooling towers which have stopped working, one more difficulty under Metro Manila's extreme heat.
He added that they should immediately transfer NAIA under the hands of the San Miguel Corporation (SMC)-led group SMC-SAP Company and Consortium, the winning bidder for the operations and maintenance of NAIA.
Zubiri also complained about how packed and untidy Laguindingan Domestic Airport is and that he is eyeing to file a resolution to conduct an inquiry regarding the delay in the airport's upgrade under the Aboitiz Group.
Meanwhile, Sen. Grace Poe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Services said that NAIA and Iloilo airport management must address at once their malfunctioning air-conditioning systems and elevators that are causing inconvenience to passengers.
"We want to find out how the P190 million we have set aside in the 2024 budget is being utilized for the Iloilo airport's repairs and maintenance. During deliberations, we have fought hard for the budget and we want to make sure its benefits trickle down to the people," she said.
"As the hot weather continues to scorch us, we want to remind all the country's airports to beef up the maintenance of aircon, electricity, and similar facilities to avert breakdowns and accidents," she added.