House joins fray for Naia 1 rehab

The House of Representatives is getting into the act and will look into the reasons the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) was voted one of the worst in the world.

In filing House Resolution No. 1839, Representative Eulogio Magsaysay of the party-list group Alliance of Volunteer Educators (Ave), said a major airport in bad shape compromises the public welfare and affects the local tourism industry.

Magsaysay asked the House committee on transportation and communications to see how the problems at Naia’s Terminal 1 could be addressed through legislative action.

A 2011 review by the “The Guide to Sleeping in Airports,” a popular website with over 7,200 airport, train and bus station reviews, ranked the Naia Terminal 1 as the fifth worst airport in the world and the worst in Asia for 2010.

It based the ranking on polls and user reviews. Complaints about Naia included safety concerns, lack of comfortable seating, rude staff, hostile security, poor facilities, few services to pass the time, bribery and extortion by employees and other hassles of being at the airport.

Rated worst of the worst

Worldwide, the Naia was ranked higher than such airports as Paris’ Beauvais, Reykjavik’s Keflavik, Frankfurt’s Hahn, London’s Lutton and the Los Angeles International Airport, which was rated the worst.

“Despite these reports, MIAA General Manager Jose Angel Honrado believes it is unfair to label the terminal as the worst in the world since much has been done to improve it,” Magsaysay said.

“The terminal has been a frequent target of criticism of travelers who say it is congested and filthy,” Magsaysay said.

He said Honrado had addressed some of the complaints, including sanitation, theft and extortion, which had been resolved since last year.

Magsaysay asked the committee to summon representatives of the Department of Transportation and Communications, Manila International Airport Authority and other agencies concerned to shed light on the matter. Cynthia D. Balana