EDITORIAL - Open Terminal 3

Nobody really believed all that bluster about the government opening the NAIA Terminal 3 last June 21. But failure to meet its self-imposed deadline should not make the government lose its resolve to open the new airport terminal ASAP.

Airports leave the first, last, and sometimes the only impression of a country on visitors. Airports are often a reflection of the environment that awaits people seeking to do business or stay for leisure in a particular country. Our neighbors realized this a long time ago and built spacious, efficient, modern airports they could be proud of, supported by infrastructure such as "magnetic levitation" railways connecting the airports to city centers.

True enough, our airports are a reflection of the state of the nation: crowded, inefficient, with modernization efforts stuck in litigation and bogged down by corruption scandals. It takes supreme effort just to keep airport lavatories clean and stocked with toilet paper and enough water for flushing. But never mind – we try to distract visitors from airport flaws by welcoming them with live music provided by rondallas at the arrival area. Entertainers, after all, are among our biggest exports.

Now we have a new airport terminal that has come to symbolize everything that can go wrong when doing business in this country. Germany’s Fraport AG has alerted the business community particularly in Europe about the pitfalls of doing business here. Its local partners in the Philippine International Air Terminals Corp. have sold their shares to the Manila Hotel Corp.

No matter who ends up controlling Piatco, there are three priorities. One is to improve the regulatory environment to reduce the risk of another Piatco-type scandal in other big-ticket government contracts. Another is to prosecute and punish those accused of corruption in the Terminal 3 project. And lastly, that terminal must be opened soon. The country needs it, and it cannot be left to rot away from disuse.