Aquino, Roxas inspect airport, harbor, bus terminal as Holy Week starts

MANILA, Philippines—Services to passengers at Metro Manila’s major land, air and sea terminals have gotten significantly better from last year, but more improvements still need to be made.

This was the assessment by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) on Monday following President Benigno Aquino III inspections at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the Manila North Harbor and the Cubao Bus Terminal.

DOTC Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II said Mr. Aquino, who made the same rounds last year, noted improvements at Naia, North Harbor and the Cubao terminal.

“Last year, there was really chaos. Now, people are queuing properly and we (have) more security measures,” Roxas said.

Despite the improvements, Roxas said Aquino found several problems that he wanted to address immediately.

“One example the President saw was that some of the urinals were not that clean. I will make sure that this is dealt with,” Roxas said.

The President’s inspection kicked off at 10 a.m. Monday at the Manila North Harbor.

Accompanied by Philippine Ports Authority officials, Aquino and Roxas boarded the MV St. Michael Archangel, a commercial vessel with passenger capacity of 1,929, docked at Pier 2 and scheduled to depart later in the day at 3 p.m.

The ship was bound for Misamis Oriental with stops in Bacolod, Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro.

Mr. Aquino and Roxas checked if there were enough life saving devices on board such as life jackets, life rings and fire fighting and other emergency equipment.

Data from the Coast Guard showed that some 147,000 passengers boarded more than 1,000 vessels that sailed to various destinations nationwide over the past 24 hours (from April 1, 6 a.m., to April 2, 6 a.m.).

By 11 a.m., Aquino was at NAIA terminal 3 in pasay City.

At one point, the President even lined up beside a passenger outside the NAIA terminal 3 to see how long travelers had to stand in line before getting inside the building.

“Our benchmark is that it should take a passenger ten minutes at most to get into the terminal. The PSG (Presidential Security Group) was already telling the President to get inside because he was exposed outside the terminal. But he wanted to see for himself,” Roxas said. “Fortunately, it only took them five minutes,” he said.

“We are gradually improving facilities in the airport to better serve our people especially during occasion like observance of Holy Week.” Roxas said.

“We want to advise our people to allot more time when they travel this Lenten season. Don’t make the travel plans last minute to avoid the crowd and reach their destination as planned.”

The President took his lunch with top airport executives before leaving for a bus terminal in Cubao, Quezon City. He arrived there at around 1 p.m. for a 30-minute inspection that focused on the random drug-testing centers set up by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).

At the Cubao bus terminal, the LTFRB conducted pre-departure briefings to some 30 drivers, 11 were also subjected to breath-analyzer tests, which estimates blood alcohol content, while 30 drivers volunteered for drug testing.

The random drug testing was first conducted by the LTFRB on bus drivers during last year’s observance of Holy Week.

“We are making random drug testing a regular part of our Ligtas Biyahe program to make sure that our bus drivers are fit to bring passengers to their destinations safely,” Roxas said. “We are doing this to ensure the safety of our bosses–the Filipino travelers.”