Reforms to turn our airport back into a jewel

We all know our country as the Pearl of the Orient. We have Asia’s first airline. But not many of us remember our Manila International Airport (MIA) as a jewel of an airport with its L.V. Locsin-designed terminal building and modern facilities then.

After 30 years of neglect and mismanagement, our premier gateway is now tagged perennially as one of the world’s worst airports. We wait until the last minute to be at the dreaded airport and can’t wait to leave it asap. When we travel back, the entry into the terminal jolts us that we are truly back home in our beloved and bedeviled country.

What makes it so bad? The problems are clear—unnecessary queues, senseless policies, loitering staff, concessionaires, and obstructions all over. Add the confusing or nonexistent signages, absence of essential facilities, free public Wi-Fi that is a joke even on the telcos, smelly and out-of-order washrooms. Unseen and worse are the broken tubes, malfunctioning trolleys, ugly décor, conking power, and clogged water supply. Simply, it is a chaotic experience.

We are not even talking about the “tanim bala,” lost or pilfered luggage, pastillas scam, trafficking, and corruption. But it’s always a call for action founded on hope and energy for the future, for a better world for our children. We may not have the best infrastructure, but surely, we can lead the world in service excellence and system optimization if we put our hearts and minds to it.

The current MIA team is a new start. I disclose that I help out in some of the initiatives. These include the removal of lines that serve no purpose. One line is the vehicle inspection that was hastily put up post 9/11 and never reviewed. Second is the X-ray security check at the entrance to the terminals that is a major cause of long wait.

For those arriving, you will see less and less Coast Guards in camouflage at the tarmac halls until they all report back to the West Philippine Sea where they are more needed. The hellish One Health Pass application and the related queues after many hours of flying is now streamlined. E-gates, the end state of up-to-date border control, are now being activated when before they were just relegated to the stockroom.

I recall about 10 years ago when we first removed half of the forms needed to depart and arrive—no more for departing foreigners and arriving Filipinos. We also removed the advertisements at the back of the immigration forms—the only such forms in the world where we ask for passenger details in front, and call for cosmetic surgery at the back.

Still further back, do you recall when the use of trolleys cost you a dollar for each? That was also banished.

Terminal 2 will be repurposed for purely domestic flights as it was designed to be by March 2023. As it is, a few Philippine Airlines international flights are now in T1. Terminal reassignments ought to be dynamic based on flights and passenger numbers. Flexibility requires a responsive top management and committed personnel working together.

In Davao airport, the pointless predeparture boarding pass check is now gone—freeing up the hall toward the final security check. Collecting parking fees just to enter to pick up or drop off passengers was removed. Changes in other airports are happening, including the revival of flights to Baguio.

My pet peeve and a collective hassle is the repeated checks of documents by security guards. These are being progressively removed. More guards are now in plainclothes without batuta and guns. Real and effective security is unseen with a full SWAT on 24/7 standby for any untoward incident.

Gone will be the loud whistles of guards to shoo away vehicles like we were in a palengke. Traffic flow will be redesigned. Grab is starting its operations. Exorbitant or abusive car hires and taxis may yet be opened up to competition and the benefits to travelers.

Changes continue and collective reforms can happen. It is just five months out of the block. There are more actions needed, including structural and systemic issues that will require more time, more effort, and more resources. But it has to be done for us to once again be proclaimed truly a jewel of an airport. It is one arena where we can showcase internationally and nationally what we can achieve if politics and self-interests do not rule the day.

Happy holidays and safe travels, everyone!

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Geronimo L. Sy is a former assistant secretary at the Department of Justice.