The Department of Transportation could end up again as the government’s most incompetent agency. With the traffic snarl a regular feature in the metropolis, the department has failed to come up with the basic solution to ease commuters’ woes.
Six months into the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade has not acted with urgency to alleviate the traffic congestion in major urban centers in the country.
Airport congestion is also worsening, compounded by increased tourism arrivals. Air travel is supposed to be the most convenient way in and out of our country as an archipelago. But with the current condition of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, “convenient” might not be the most appropriate way to describe this route. Currently ranked the fifth worst airport in Asia in a recently conducted survey, Naia has certainly seen better days. Passengers now are at a tipping point in terms of both the airport’s capacity and their patience.
The country’s main gateway is designed to receive an optimal capacity of 30 million travelers per year. Its maximum capacity, meanwhile, is 35 million. From 2014 to 2015, the number of passengers that went through Naia’s terminals increased by seven percent to 37 million. This means at the peak of the “tanim-bala” issue, the airport has already exceeded its maximum capacity. The numbers this year will be more overwhelming.
Terminal congestion leads to long queues while in the process of checking in or retrieving baggages—a major annoyance for most passengers. Runway congestion, however, causes more serious problems. Most flights are either forced to wait before taking off or circle the air space for half an hour or so before landing because the runway is simply not equipped to accommodate more aircraft at this time. The foreign minister of Japan recently fell victim to the congestion when his flight had to be diverted to the Clark Airport after circling Naia.
The government early this year, though, decided to move forward with the rehabilitation and upgrade of the airport’s four terminals to address the sad state of air travel in the country. The National Economic and Development Authority cleared the proposed P75-billion Public-Private Partnership tender for the Naia project back in September. But the DOTr is taking its sweet time in releasing an invitation to bid, or the terms of reference for the project.
Two new proposals, one from Ramong Ang’s San Miguel Corp. for a new airport in Bulacan, and the other from a group that includes Henry Sy’s Belle Corp. for a reclamation and airport construction project in the bay area of Cavite, have sidetracked the agency. These are unsolicited proposals that would take several years to vet, process and implement.
Belle and Solar Group’s All-Asia Resources and Reclamation Corp. proposed to build a new international airport, seaport, economic zone and mixed-used real estate development off the coast of Sangley Point in Cavite worth up to $50 billion.
Ang, meanwhile, offered to build a new airport in Bulacan province, a revision of its 2014 proposal for a $10-billion airport on a reclaimed land in Manila Bay.
If the DOTr decides to prioritize these over the already approved Naia improvement plan, Filipinos and tourists are in for another decade of dreadful air travel.
At its peak operating condition, Naia can perform 40 take-offs and landings per hour. The proposed project seeks to increase the frequency and make the process more efficient by improving the runways and upgrading air traffic control equipment. The airport’s current state makes it virtually impossible to add more flights, adversely affecting the tourism and business sectors. This limitation presents a loss of potential revenue and opportunity for the whole country.
President Duterte has included the improvement of transportation system in its to-do list. But if it is truly concerned about the way our country is negatively perceived abroad, and sympathetic to the plight of travel-weary Filipinos, it has to make good on its promises.
The people at the DOTr have spent three months twiddling their thumbs. This Christmas season is as good a time as any to present our kababayans with something that might be conceivable within the next several years. It’s time to start the ball rolling on the Naia project.
E-mail: rayenano@yahoo.com or business@thestandard.com.ph or extrastory2000@gmail.com