Solon wants NAIA renamed to Ferdinand E. Marcos International Airport

From Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to Ferdinand E. Marcos International Airport.

This is how Negros Oriental Representative Arnolfo Teves Jr. wants the premiere gateway to the country to be called under his House Bill No.610, which states that “it is more appropriate to rename it (NAIA) to the person who has contributed to the idea and execution of the said noble project.”

He cited that the project was created during the presidency of late president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the father of the incumbent chief executive.

In 1987, the Manila International Airport (MIA) was renamed to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) through Republic Act No. 6639 during the term of late President Cory Aquino.

It was named after late senator and opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. who was assassinated in the airport when he returned to the country on August 21, 1983.

Aquino was the staunchest critic of the late president.

“It is more appropriate that it would bear the name of the person who has contributed and left a legacy that makes the Philippines a center of international and domestic air travel, who has instituted and built or conceptualized the project making it the pride of our country,” Teves said in a statement on Tuesday.

The congressman called on Marcos to prove during his tenure that he can be at par, if not better, than his father.

“I would like to see President BBM to be at par or even better than his father, which I think kayang-kaya niya naman (he can do it) and is very likely,” he said.

Marcos Sr., Teves said, was “one of the best, if not the best president we ever had.”

In May this year, NAIA was named the world's worst airport for business class travelers, said a study conducted by American luggage app Bounce.

According to Bounce's Business Class Index, NAIA has a 0.88/10 business class score, ranking 38th out of 38 busy airports all over the world.

The study looked at the airports' number of lounges, number of destinations served, percentage of on-time flights annually, and Skytrax rating.

History

According to the Manila International Airport Authority website, the country's premiere airport was originally a US Air Force base until 1948, when it was turned over to the Philippine government's National Airport Corporation. The fledgling civil aviation airport's facilities were nothing more than the current domestic runway and a small building as its only passenger terminal.

"With the abolition of National Airport Corporation in 1951, ownership and management of the airport fell to the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) under the Department of Commerce & Industry. In 1956, the CAA was transferred to the Department of Public Works, Transportation & Communications," MIAA said.

It added that the first 13 years of the airport were marked by the building of infrastructure dedicated to international flights.

The international runway and associated taxiway were built in 1953, and 1961 saw the completion of a control tower and a terminal building for the exclusive use of international passengers at the southwest intersection of the runways. This system came to be officially known as the Manila International Airport.

In 1972, Marcos Sr. promulgated Executive Order No. 381, authorizing the development of Manila International Airport (MIA) to meet the needs of the coming decades, MIAA said. —LDF, GMA News