The Department of Foreign Affairs has released almost P2.8 million in financial assistance to overseas Filipino workers who were stranded by the recent closure of the main runway of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
A total of 381 affected workers received the cash assistance on Thursday, bringing to 559 the total number of beneficiaries who have been served since Wednesday, the department said.
The DFA said the cash assistance would be released Friday night in all three Naia terminals.
Stranded OFWs who are still in Manila may still claim the P5,000 cash assistance at the DFA Office of Migrant Workers Affairs but only until the end of office hours on Friday, Aug. 31, while those abroad can do so at any Philippine Embassy or Consulate General until Sept. 30, 2018.
Manila International Airport Authority general manager Eddie Monreal, meanwhile, said he would stay at his post despite calls for him to resign following the chaos at the airport caused by a Chinese commuter plane that overshot the main runway on Aug. 16.
Airport and aviation personnel took 36 hours to remove the disabled plane of Xiamen Air from the main Naia runway, sparking calls for a congressional investigation.
Lawmakers called on Monreal to resign and questioned his capability and leadership.
But Monreal refused to budge Friday, and said he would stay unless the appointing authority or President Rodrigo Duterte tells him to do so.
“I respect the opinion of those who wish for me to resign. But I will not unless somebody tells me, meaning the point of authority—the President. I’m just following orders,” said Monreal during a morning TV talk show.
“I can look people straight in the eye [and say] that I did my best,” he said.
Monreal said it was not easy to retrieve the damage aircraft given the heavy downpour, the plane’s weight, and its load of fuel.
“We’re talking of four tons of fuel,” he said, adding that they had to consider the safety of MIAA and aviation personnel.
Under the regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization, the airline company, not MIAA, has the responsibility to remove disabled aircraft.
If the airline operator or owner fails to do it, the airport operator may take over and hire a third party to extract the aircraft, he said.
Monreal said they undertook the removal operation in consideration of the stranded passengers.
He said there is no specific timeline on how such operations should be completed because everything depended on the particular situation.
He said a similar retrieval of a crippled Thai Airways plane in 2013 that skidded off the runway took even longer than 36 hours.
Meanwhile, the MIAA board has approved the grant of original proponent status to the Naia Consortium for the airport’s rehabilitation.
The proposal includes the building of four parallel runways and a passenger terminal with 100 million passengers capacity per year. The concession period will run for 15 years.
Monreal said earlier that the best solution to prevent similar incidents is to construct a new airport with two parallel main runways.
The Transportation department is pushing for the development of other gateways to complement Naia and the Clark International Airport.
Monreal said at least two airport development projects are now being prioritized—building a new airport in Bulacan and developing the Sangley airport in Cavite.
This airport complementation strategy is aimed at decongesting NAIA, give travelers more options, and spread development across Luzon.
The new Bulacan airport, an unsolicited proposal from the San Miguel Holdings Corp., was approved by the National Economic and Development Authority Board on April 25, subject to
resolution of pending issues, including a submission of “Joint and Several Liability” agreement by SMHC and its parent company.
The Transportation department also welcomed the proposal of the Provincial Government of Cavite to develop the Sangley Airport. The approval process, however, will be defined after the Cavite local
government unit has determined the legal framework for its implementation.
Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Friday said she will push for the modernization of the Clark International Airport to decongest Naia, which she has advocated even before the Xiamen Airlines incident.
Arroyo said the terminal at Clark is now being improved and will be inaugurated in 2020.
“Actually I have been for it and it’s not because of any specific knee jerk reaction to any event. The terminal is under construction as we speak, scheduled for inauguration in 2020 and today is the opening of the bids for the new runway,” Arroyo said.
Arroyo pushed for the modernization of the Clark airport following an inspection Friday morning of the preparations being done for the eventual construction of another passenger terminal at Clarkfield in Pampanga.
This developed as Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, chairman of the House committee on banks and financial intermediaries, suggested that Naia management could use its P3.7-billion income for the airport’s modernization program after the Xiamen Airlines fiasco.
Evardone was among the thousands of passengers who were inconvenienced by the runway closure.
The Department of Transportation also pushed for the development of other gateways, including those in Bulacan and Cavite.
“The idea of having multiple airports is something that the world’s biggest economies do. Ideally, there should be a train service linking these airports, which is also being pursued by the government. This
complementation strategy was already part of the air transport roadmap from day one, and rest assured, that’s what we are going to do,” Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said.