The aging Ninoy Aquino International Airport really needs a major makeover to meet rising travel demand.
This piece of infrastructure has become an embarrassment to the nation of late, with power outages and glitches recently stranding tens of thousands of tourists and kababayans.
NAIA, as I’ve written in my past column, has failed to play catch-up with its rivals in this part of the world after years of neglect and underinvestment. Worse, with the pandemic nearly over and international travel strongly bouncing back, NAIA is poorly positioned to meet increasing passenger demand with sufficient levels of service.
Fortunately, a consortium composed of six of the country’s biggest conglomerates offered an unsolicited proposal to provide the first concrete and immediate solution to NAIA’s problems. The consortium assured NAIA would have the ability to serve up to 70 million passengers a year efficiently, or more than double its current capacity.
Now, here’s comes the catch. Will a modern NAIA with a much bigger passenger capacity not contribute to the traffic logjam in Metro Manila? The traffic gridlock in Metro Manila is worsening with the onset of the rainy season. Even without a heavy downpour, traffic in the metropolis is bad. Growing vehicle sales are also narrowing the roadways in the capital region.
An upgraded and bigger NAIA that can accommodate more air travelers will aggravate Metro Manila’s gridlock, unless the project incorporates a railway component. Modern urban centers in the world build and design their airports with a rail link to improve the accessibility of passengers to downtown areas or, in some cases, suburbs or distant cities.
The railway connection provides air passengers an option to avoid chaotic road traffic conditions in getting to their next immediate destination. American and European airports complement their airports with metros, or subways.
The NAIA is currently linked with toll roads designed to make travel in and out of the premier airport faster. Commuters using these toll roads, however, know better. The congestion toward the entry and exit ramps of these toll roads is severe and extends to the national roads.
Upgrading NAIA with a rail link could move air passengers to nearby provinces like Bulacan and Pampanga, or Laguna, Cavite and Batangas in the south with ease. The rail link could fetch the same passengers to Clark airport on their way to other destinations.
The same metros operate at airports in Beijing and Shanghai (Honggiao and Pudong) in China, Okinawa in Japan and Singapore.
An air-rail link will make NAIA a complete airport. Besides, it is more environment-friendly and sustainable than carbon-based transportation.
Telco’s reward
The strong commitment of PLDT Inc. to bridge the digital divide and protect the environment is finally reaping its reward.
PLDT continues to be the most valuable brand in the Philippines, based on an independent 2023 study of Brand Finance, a London-based business valuation and strategy consulting company.
Citing a 2-percent annual increase in brand value to US$2.6 billion, Brand Finance said the performance of the country’s largest integrated telecommunications firm contributed to the brand capturing a higher market share of the fiber industry, which led to a 45-percent improvement in year-on-year revenue.
The Brand Finance report noted PLDT’s consistent focus on innovation as a driver to improve customer service and propel the Philippines toward becoming a financial and technology hub. As one of the main drivers in its improved year-on-year revenue, PLDT Group’s investments in fiber technology was a key factor in receiving the prestigious award from Brand Finance, with a total fiber footprint of over 1.1 million kilometers as of end-March 2023.
“PLDT greatly appreciates the latest and prestigious recognition from Brand Finance for being conferred as the Most Valuable Filipino Brand this year. This inspires us more to continue providing the vital connectivity that powers our digital economy, enabling us to help transform the country into a globally competitive and digitally-empowered nation,” said Alfredo S. Panlilio, president and chief executive officer of PLDT and its wireless subsidiary, Smart Communications Inc.
“This recognition clearly shows that our efforts to proactively create brand loyalty, awareness, associations, and maintaining international standard of our products and services among our stakeholders are paying off,” Panlilio added.
Brand Finance also lauded PLDT’s deployment of carbon fiber cell towers, an environmental initiative that seeks to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide produced by up to 70 percent, compared to using traditional steel towers. Carbon fiber towers also use less land space, reducing the need for land repurposing.
“PLDT is a socially responsible corporation and seriously cares for our environment by deploying the country’s first carbon fiber cell towers, as well as solar panels in our facilities across four cities to reduce over 137 tons of greenhouse gas emissions,” Panlilio said.
PLDT in 2022 deployed solar panels in five PLDT-Smart facilities across four cities to reduce over 137 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
In support of the government’s digitalization goals, the citation reinforced the commitment of PLDT and Smart to bridge the digital divide―a mandate of the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Digital Infrastructure group, where Panlilio sits as a founding member.
The PLDT and Smart’s efforts recognized by Brand Finance are among the broad range of initiatives undertaken by the group in its drive to elevate customer experience and become the region’s leading environmental, social and corporate governance (ESC) telco.
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