NAIA Terminal 1 in various stages of rot

Despite a huge yearly budget of P2.860 billion for operational and maintenance of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal-1, the passenger facility, which was opened in 1982, was allowed to deteriorate into its present sorry state.

Built at a cost of P700 million and was then a pride to every traveling Filipino, the terminal has become a national shame due to neglect and indifference of airport officials who are supposed to see to it that the facility is properly maintained.

The condition of the old international terminal is aptly described by Parañaque Rep. Ed Zialcita as "full of shit." Zialcita is not alone in condemning the dilapidated state of the facility as others also echo his call for its closure as "hazardous to health and safety of the traveling public."

The call for the closure of the "antiquated terminal" finds its basis on its present condition where departing passengers have to be wary of the catch basins that are scattered on the floors for the rain water coming from the leaking roofs. And to add to the inconvenience of both departing and arriving passengers, including the people working inside the terminal, foul odors emit from its toilets, and waters flood their floors due to leaking faucets and broken pipes. This is especially true to public comfort rooms at both the arrival and departure areas outside the building. The rubberized flooring of the terminal at both the second and third levels for arrivals and departures have been disjointed for its long use where it has been blamed as the cause of accidents involving elderly passengers tripping on protruding parts of the rubberized walk-ins.

The only two service elevators that operate from the ground floor to the fourth floor of the building are, often than not, out of order due to poor maintenance. Not to mention the broken stairs that people use when the elevators are not working.

Florencio Montalbo Jr., project manager of Terminal-3, and who represented the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) in the recent congressional hearing of the controversial NAIA-3, admitted that the equipment and facilities of NAIA-1 are old, and they bog down every now and then.

Moreover, NAIA-1 experiences frequent brownouts and its supposed automatic secondary power cannot immediately response to a given situation due to poor maintenance. Twice this year, the entire building was shrouded with obnoxious black smoke when its airconditioning units broke down.

And why construct more unnecessary infrastructures when there is a plan to transfer the operations of NAIA-1 to NAIA-3? The people are asking.

In a message in the 2001 Annual Report of the MIAA, Airport General Manager Edgardo Manda said: "Although airport security and safety was our major priority, our campaign of introducing new mechanisms for enhancing operational efficiency and affording the public with better services was equally successful. A considerable number of rehabilitation and upgrading projects concerning vital equipment were commenced last year."

If these were so, Zialcita asked: "Why is it that NAIA-1 has become a national shame?"