Dirty windows

We are still a far cry from being seen as a clean country. Just recently, respondents on an interactive website on what travelers thought of the NAIA Terminal 1 gave less than edifying comments, enough to rank the said airport terminal as the worst in Asia , and fifth worst in the world!

Airports are supposed to give a first impression to incoming visitors, a window of sorts as to what to expect from the country being visited. But if they had the misfortune to land and disembark in Terminal 1 where most of the international airlines are hosted, they might have regretted making the trip altogether!

Comments were scathing, and that’s putting it lightly. Terminal 1 has been likened to a bombed-out ruin, even a cattle yard, only worse. And that’s just for starters. There’s the lack of order, uncomfortable seats and the frustrating lack thereof, filthy toilets, rude staff and security personnel, even scams and bribery within the airport systems!

 Recently, an immigration official tried to allow seven people suspected of being victims of trafficking. There are no amenities nor rudimentary creature comforts to while away the time should one’s flight become del ayed. Staying at the terminal for more than an hour is like time in jail!

 Sadly, I have to agree with most of these comments. Although they are confined to Terminal 1, they merit taking them in and doing something about them. To the credit of the current airport manager, that’s what he is trying to do. Terrible as the comments may be, they provide the points by which the airport should improve on.

Who likes filthy toilets anyway? There is nothing like a clean, state-of-the-art bathroom with a floor you can eat out of! Hotels strive to make their bathrooms, whether the public ones or those located in the guest rooms, the best and cleanest. It is the gauge by which these establishments are truly judged. An airport should do the same. And it’s not like airports do not have the money to better themselves. All Philippi ne airports charge terminal fees. NAIA terminals charge P750 per passenger! Where do the funds go? We’re talking millions right there, in Manila alone.

Looking at the best airports – Singapore , Seoul and Hong Kong – all Asian by the way, I can understand why they are the best. Cleanliness, efficiency, order. That’s what an airport should be.

Terminal 2 and 3 are a little better, as the website too acknowledges. Thank heavens for small favors! Seriously, there is a need to address the complete makeover of Terminal 1. Not only is it necessary, NAIA, or the old MIA, is historic. This is where a man was martyred. Where the mustard seed of revolution was sown. Where a window to freedom was carved out. If for that reason alone, NAIA should be restored, then preserved. Hopefully, it will no longer be seen as a bombed out ruin, but a shrine.

And it doubles as an airport terminal too.