A party-list lawmaker welcomed the improvements being implemented by the new concessionaire at Manila International Airport but cautioned that rising terminal fees are becoming an excessive burden on passengers.
“In just a few months, we’ve already seen significant progress—the demolition of the old hotel building to make way for Terminal 5, the introduction of new shuttle services, and the creation of an OFW lounge and dedicated immigration desks. These improvements show a real commitment to providing better service for our travelers,” Rep. Brian Poe of the FPJ Panday Bayanihan Party-list, vice chair of the House committee on appropriations, said.
While acknowledging the upgrades, Poe expressed concern over the steep fee increases that accompany them. Domestic terminal fees are now at P390, while international terminal fees have risen from P550 to P950.
“While facilities improve, our people continue to feel the weight of higher costs. Modernization should not come at the expense of affordability. The gains we celebrate today will lose their value if ordinary Filipinos are priced out of them,” Poe emphasized.
Acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez confirmed that terminal fee revenues are shared, with 82 percent remitted directly to the national treasury. Poe argued that this provides an opportunity for the government to use part of those revenues to subsidize passenger fees.
“If the government already receives the majority of the revenues, then why not return a portion to the people? Redirecting some of those funds to subsidize terminal fees would allow modernization to truly benefit everyone, not just the few,” he said.
Poe reminded that transportation policy impacts every Filipino. “Every DOTr decision reaches the grassroots. Let’s make sure that our people feel these changes not only through better facilities but also through fairer, more affordable costs. That is how modernization becomes meaningful,” he said.
