TOULOUSE, France — We left Heathrow Airport at 2 p.m. Thursday taking a 2-hour British Airways flight to Toulouse. If there is anything I can say about Heathrow International Airport, it is a huge airport, ten times bigger than the Mactan-Cebu International Airport. Just for the record, 21 years ago, the British Airport Authority was the first to show interest in leasing MCIA because this was their expertise, and during the time of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher England leased many government properties that it became vogue. If that proposal pushed through, the BAA contract would now be at its closing stage.
Anyway, while there is no doubt that Heathrow airport is huge, it is a professionally-run facility, after all, it is one of the biggest airports in the world. But count us lucky that Terminal 2 of MCIA is a beautiful airport that the British cannot help but admire. One thing that Heathrow has that we do not yet have are parking buildings that dot the entire airport facility. But one thing that we noticed very clearly was while Heathrow is one of the biggest airport terminals in the world, the vehicles going to the airport are so organized, there is literally no traffic.
One thing I can say about the British Airways crew is that their flight attendants do not help passengers with their luggage. While I slept on the plane, my elbow was sticking out and this flight steward simply pushed his cart to awaken me and he didn’t care to apologize for his mistake. These white Caucasians think that they are superior beings.
Arriving in Toulouse for my first-ever trip there. I was surprised to see that their airport was designed properly. We were met by Airbus industry executives who brought us to our hotel in downtown Toulouse. I have never been to Toulouse, but passed by this city on my way to Lourdes, which is a two-hour ride from Toulouse. By Thursday we will be going to Lourdes from Toulouse. This will be my third trip to this miraculous facility made famous by St. Bernadette whose incorrupt body is not in Lourdes, but in Nevers where she became a nun and died. No, I won’t write on our visit to Lourdes anymore because I already wrote about the significance of this Marian visit.
The reason why we are in Toulouse is because Philippine Airlines invited us for their first Airbus A350 XWB (extra-wide body) delivery. PAL has ordered six of these wonderful aircraft with an option to purchase another six when PAL President and Chief Operating Officer Dr. Jaime Bautista signed a purchase agreement with Airbus Industries President and CEO Fabrice Bregier during the Singapore Airshow. But I can’t report on this event yet as it will happen this Friday. So this will be reported in this corner by Monday next week.
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Since President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte came out in the open to blaspheme God, calling him “stupid,” this Presidential faux pas continues to bring so many comments in social media networks. To ease the pressure, President Duterte met with Archbishop Romulo Valles who is currently the head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. That meeting in Malacañang undoubtedly eased the pressure and a moratorium was done.
But it seems that something was still lacking, at least in the mind of President Duterte. And so a couple of days ago he issued this statement saying: “If it’s the same God, I’m sorry, that’s how it is. Sorry, God. I said sorry, God. If God is taken in a generic term by everybody listening then that’s well and good.” As the old saying goes, “All’s well that ends well.” I just hope that the Duterte critics would move on like the president.
For the heck of it, until today we haven’t heard former president Benigno “PNoy” Aquino apologize for the Hong Kong tourist massacre or for the untimely deaths of the 44 Special Action Force troopers. To his credit, despite his popularity getting a small size, the president already resigned. This is how things have always been with President Aquino and how things have changed since Duterte became president.
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For email responses to this article, write to vsbobita@gmail.com. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.