That “Thrilla in NAIA” has revealed so many problems plaguing our international airports under the almost two-year administration of Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, III. The most glaring amongst these are that the Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) at the NAIA were not working, hence the only objective proof of the brawl between Inquirer columnist Ramon Tulfo and celebrity couple Raymart Santiago and Claudine Barretto are from those who used their cellphone cameras during the incident.
If there was a bombing incident at the NAIA, then those CCTVs, which have been hanging on the ceiling for a few years now since the NAIA III was operational, are utterly useless. I got this report from no less than Department of Transportation & Communication (DOTC) Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas himself who was interviewed on nationwide TV. I used to look up to Sec. Mar Roxas when he was a Senator and later as Secretary of the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI). But that interview only showed that Mar Roxas has become just like any other bureaucrat who are experts in giving out excuses for their failures. Is he also “noynoying” at the DOTC?
If you didn’t know, Sec. Roxas has been getting a lot of flak lately for suggesting that the airline industry cut or reduce their flights in order to solve the traffic congestion at the NAIA. It only proves that even under the supposedly “new” Aquino administration, the problems at the NAIA remain unsolved, problems that have been there since time immemorial. Cutting or reducing flights means less revenue and we will never make our tourism targets!
Sec. Mar is doing what we call a “band aid” solution, like when he mandated airlines to incorporate the Airport Terminal fee in the airline ticket. This was an issue that we discussed a long time ago when I was a director at the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA). The problem then and I’m sure that they would encounter this problem soon, is that instead of getting the money directly into the coffers of the government owned and operated terminals, the government would have to ask the airline companies for this money.
During my long stint at the MCIAA, I was always harping for the expansion of the runway to include a parallel runway system. The masterplan for the MCIA was done by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which only constructed a single runway. In short, they never thought that someday, our airports would be so congested it would need a dual or a parallel runway. Well, as it turned out, JICA too made a serious mistake at the island runway they constructed for Osaka, now they had to build another island beside it.
Today, NAIA has the old “T” type of runway, which allows aircrafts to fly in any wind direction. But then, those were for old piston engine propeller planes. Today’s jet aircraft can take off or land at any wind direction, although it is always preferable to take off or land against the wind and never with the wind. But then, the aviation planners in NAIA never cared to look further than their noses. They allowed a multi-national village to be constructed beside the old runway so now it would cost a lot of money if you widened the airport to accommodate a parallel runway.
If NAIA planners cannot even fix the main problem in their airports, I don’t think that this will be happening soon under the watch of DOTC Sec. Mar Roxas who believes that his stint at the DOTC is only temporary as his real goal is to become the next president. But now he is in a catch-22 situation. His failure as DOTC Secretary only reveals that he is not cut to be the next president of this country. I’m disappointed in Mar Roxas.
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When the defense team of Chief Justice Renato Corona was here last week, one of the major questions thrown at them was whether or not they would allow their client to testify before the impeachment court. Well, officially, they told us that they would never allow their client to be “thrown at the wolves” because of the fact that whenever a senator-judge throws a highly questionable or speculative question, they cannot object to it. But quietly, they told me that CJ Corona already told them that he was not afraid to testify before the Senate. So I guess this will be a big event next Monday.
Of course, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile agreed that before the Chief Justice will testify, his defense lawyers would have the honor to first have Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales as a “hostile” witness including those people who insist that they have seen his US$ 10 million bank account. Earlier CJ Corona already told the press that he had no such account. So call it a cliffhanger if you wish. But I believe that CJ Corona is telling the truth.
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Email: vsbobita@mo-pzcom.com