By David Faustino Castro
The general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority has read Atty. Emil Jurado’s article, ‘The Worst Ever,” dated Feb. 9. His points regarding the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in particular are well taken.
We would like to assure Atty. Jurado that, despite the issues being thrown at the airport management, these are not being taken lightly. All means are being carried out to attend to passenger concerns.
The issues of bullet planting and, recently, collapsing ceilings, have been properly addressed.
For one, chances of bullet planting have been eliminated following a change in procedure: screening officers are not allowed to even touch the baggage of passengers. Proper authorities such as prosecutors from the Department of Justice and public attorneys have been deployed to the terminals to assist passengers who claim to be victims of the bullet scheme.
The restaurant involved in the collapsed ceiling incident, secondly, had been closed pending investigation and proper renovation. Needed inspections are in place to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
Finally, please note that the Sleeping in Airports survey has removed the Naia from the list of its worst airports worldwide. The rehabilitation particularly of Terminal 1 was cited to have removed the Naia from the said list.
In this line, we would like to invite Atty. Jurado to a tour of the facilities of Terminal 1 so he could personally witness the improvements made at the airport. This includes, of course, improvements of its comfort rooms which you claim to be filthy.
David Faustino Castro
Public Relations Officer Manila International Airport Authority