Hontiveros sees no need to rename NAIA: It’s a reminder of People Power Revolution

Lone opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros sees no need to change the name of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), explaining that it was named after the democracy icon to remind the Filipinos of the 1986 People Power Revolution.

"Hindi na kailangang palitan ang pangalan ng NAIA," Hontiveros said in a text message shared to reporters when asked about a proposal in the House of Representatives seeking to rename NAIA to Ferdinand E. Marcos International Airport.

(There is no need to change the name of NAIA.)

"[H]indi dapat burahin ang mga pamana at paalala sa atin ng People Power.  Isinabatas na NAIA ang magiging pangalan ng airport bilang paalala sa buong mundo sa kabayanihan ni Ninoy Aquino at ng lahat ng mga Pilipino noong panahon ng People Power  Revolution," she added.

(We should not remove the legacy and our reminder of the People Power Revolution. The law was passed to name the airport as NAIA to remind the whole world about the heroism of Ninoy Aquino and all the Filipinos who fought during the People Power Revolution.)

"Ang kamatayan ni Ninoy sa airport na yan ang isa sa nagsilbing mitsa sa pagpapabagsak ng diktatura at sa tuluyang pagkakaisa ng bansa tungo sa demokrasya," she went on.

(Ninoy's death in that airport was one of the events that sparked the fall of the dictatorship and the country's unity towards democracy.)

Hontiveros also said the current name of the country's main airport does not confuse the Filipinos and even the foreigners who visit the Philippines.

"[M]aging mas malinaw sana ang batayan ng mga panukala. Napakahaba ng panahong gugugulin ng mga panukalang ito sa Kongreso, kaya dapat ay sulitin nating mga mambabatas ang panahon na yan para sa mga panukalang mas tutugon sa pangangailangan ng mga Pilipino," she said.

(The basis of the proposed measure should be clear. These measures will take a lot of time in Congress. That's why the lawmakers must make use of their time on measures that will address the needs of the Filipinos.)

In an interview Wednesday, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri said he prefers to rename NAIA to Manila International Airport (MIA) as renaming it to Ferdinand E. Marcos International Airport would only spark the quarrel between the "yellows" and "reds."

House Bill 610

In filing House Bill 610, Negros Oriental Representative Arnolfo Teves Jr. said it is more appropriate to name NAIA to Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., the father of newly-installed President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

The Negros Oriental solon said Marcos Sr. has "contributed to the idea and execution of the said noble project.”

Apart from Teves' bill, Duterte Youth Party-List Representative Drixie Mae Cardema also filed House Bill 1253 which seeks to rename NAIA to MIA.

The party-list representative argued that "the name of the international gateway of the country should have not been politicized in the first place."

In 1987, the Manila International Airport  was renamed to Ninoy Aquino International Airport through Republic Act No. 6639 during the term of the 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. 

According to the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) 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.

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 MIA to meet the needs of the coming decades, MIAA said. — RSJ, GMA News