NAIA and Bus Terminals Jam-Packed as Pinoys Go Back to Work and School

Published January 4, 2016 8:28am

With the holiday season over, it's back to school and back to work for many Filipinos on Monday, a report on Unang Balita said.

Those who spent their vacation in provinces have flocked to bus terminals, while those who went to Manila for the holidays trooped to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport for flights back home.

In Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, bus trips were already fully booked on Monday, but this did not prevent people from hoping to be chance passengers.

Police were on the alert to provide security to passengers, the report said.

At terminals in Balanga City, Bataan, buses were full within five minutes due to the volume of people wanting to get a ride in time for the first day of work or school on Monday.

Meanwhile, at the Odiongan Port in Romblon, the queue was already long for tickets. Some passengers even camped out on Sunday night to be able to get in line first.

In Legazpi City, Albay, passengers who had their vacation in the city had difficulty getting tickets to Manila since the bus company does not accept reservations.

Passengers had no choice but wait in line.

The dispatchers however said there were enough buses going to Manila on Monday.

In Baguio, the situation was almost the same, with passengers coming in droves to get on buses going to Manila.

Bus companies had to field out more buses to accommodate all the passengers.

They also gave the assurance there were enough buses for those going back to Manila.

NAIA

Meanwhile, at NAIA, passengers themselves have already expected there will be more people at the airport on Monday.

Many of them were going back home to the provinces after spending the holidays in Manila.

Several passengers went to NAIA early enough for their domestic flights to avoid any inconvenience.

One balikbayan family was seen with their luggage wrapped in cling wrap, since they said they heard the news about the laglag-bala scam.

Authorities reminded passengers to be at NAIA at least two hours before their domestic flight, and three hours before their international flight to avoid any inconvenience. —KG, GMA News

OTS Men face Probe over alleged Drug Smuggling in NAIA

By: Raoul Esperas, ABS CBN

MANILA – Several Office of Transportation Security (OTS) personnel are being investigated by the Manila International Airport Authority after a huge amount of cocaine was smuggled out of the country through the country's premier airport.

A high-ranking airport official told ABS-CBN News that airport officials were alarmed by the series of drug smuggling incidents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

These include the arrest of four Filipinas who were caught with 2.5 kilograms of cocaine in their luggage after arriving in Hong Kong.

READ: 4 Pinays slip out of NAIA with kilos of cocaine

Over the weekend, Thai Customs officials arrested two Thai nationals, identified as Siriwan Yodteerak and Aaew Wijit, after 2.6 kilograms of high-grade cocaine were found in a secret compartment in their luggage.

A report by the Bangkok Post said Siriwan left Manila through an AirAsia flight to Kuala Lumpur and boarded another plane at the Malaysian capital for a flight to Krabi, a southern province in Thailand. She arrived in Thailand on Sunday.
The report added that Siriwan's luggage which contained the cocaine was brought to Thailand on another flight. Siriwan was arrested when she came to claim her luggage, while Aaew was arrested at a hotel in Krabi.

Siriwan claimed she was paid 60,000 baht (P78,935) by Aaew's African boyfriend to smuggle the cocaine from the Philippines to Thailand. She said she had been offered several times by the African to become a drug mule but she declined all the offers.

TANIM-BALA

The reports of illegal drugs slipping out of the airport come as the OTS, an agency under the Department of Transportation and Communications, is under fire due to the series of alleged ''tanim-bala'' (bullet planting) incidents.
"How come OTS security screeners can detect a single bullet hidden in the luggage of OFW and other passengers but they mysteriously fail to detect the kilos of drugs inside hand-carried luggage of suspected drug mules?" asked the airport official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

READ: How victims are spotted in 'tanim-bala' modus

EXCL: 4 layer ng extortion ng 'tanim-bala'

The MIAA is now reviewing the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage at the airport to observe the movements of the 2 Thai nationals while they were at the NAIA Terminal 3.

During a Senate hearing this month, OTS administrator Roland Recomono explained that their x-ray machines at the NAIA cannot detect cocaine. He said the cocaine will only register as an "organic substance."

The screeners' expertise, on the other hand, is only limited to the prohibited items based on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), he said.

Senator Alan Cayetano, however, said the OTS can actually add items to ICAO's list, based onExecutive Order No. 311.

Manila-NAIA Terminal Fee Included in International Tickets

International passengers departing the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) will no longer have to line up to pay the terminal fee starting October 1. 

 

The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said it will start implementing the integration of terminal fee in the cost of airline ticket next month. The one-year transition integration program would start on October 1, while the full implementation of the policy would be October 2015. 

In a notice, the MIAA said the P550 international passenger service charge or terminal fee should be integrated into the cost of the airline ticket at point of sale. The move is expected to ease the congestion problem at the departure area in NAIA. 

The DOTC has also ordered the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority, the Clark International Airport Corporation and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to incorporate the terminal fee into the cost of tickets.

The MIAA reiterated that overseas Filipino workers, who have a certification from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration; pilgrims endorsed by the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos; athletes endorsed by the Philippine Sports Commission; and others authorized by the Office of the President, still enjoy exemptions from paying the terminal fee.

If the airline ticket is purchased online or abroad, these exempted passengers would have to pay terminal fee. Also, the exempted passengers should also pay the fee, if they cannot present the proper certification when tickets are purchased over the counter.

The MIAA, however, said the terminal fee could be refunded at NAIA if the passenger can present the overseas employment certificate, electronic ticket, boarding pass, and MIAA exemption certificate.

The "terminal fee" collected by the MIAA is used for the airport operations. Of the P550, the MIAA gets P390 for maintenance and upkeep, the national government gets P100 and aviation security gets P60.

The terminal fee for domestic flights has already been incorporated in airline tickets since August 2012.

No Longer Worst Airport?

By: ABS-CBNnews.com

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Mania will be upgraded with better comfort room facilities and new air-conditioning units before the year ends.

An estimated P32.6 million will be spent by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) for the rehabilitation of 121 toilets in Terminals 2, 3, and 4.

The project also includes the installation of major fixtures such as water closets, sensor-type urinals, lavatories, tiles, ceilings, and waterproofing works in comfort rooms.

Airport authorities said that as of August, around 15 percent of civil works had been completed.


A total of 26 toilet facilities will be fixed in Terminal 2. MIAA said 16 comfort rooms located in the passenger movement area are now undergoing repairs.

Out of 85 toilets in Terminal 3, 26 are being rehabilitated. The rehabilitation of 10 toilets in Terminal 4, on the other hand, will begin this month.

In Terminal 1, 54 toilets had been rehabilitated as early as 2010.

NEW COOLERS TOO 

The MIAA will also replace 36 air-handling units (AHUs) in Terminal 1 with newly procured units, 17 of which have been received by the airport authority for full installation by November this year.

The remaining 19 units will be installed and fully functional by March 2015.

In Terminal 2, 21 new air-conditioning units will be installed, 9 of which will already be in place within the month.

Structural retrofitting and other engineering works are also ongoing in Terminal 1. Operations are expected to normalize by March 2015.

NAIA Janitor Returns 634.807 Philippine Pesos

It hasn't been the first honest person on the International Airport in Manila. A janitor has returned a bag containing assorted documents and 634.807 Pesos in cash he found at the terminal 2 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport late Monday afternoon.

Marie Cherrie Lyn Cruz, of the NAIA T2 Lost and Found Section, reported that Janitor Ronald Gadayan first noticed the black bag unattended at the Gate 1 of the pre-departure area around 3:30 pm.

After 30 minute, the janitor still found the black bag prompting him to retriee it and inform authorities who consequently turned it over to the lost and found section.

At around 4 pm, a certain Manuel Manahan appeared before the office of the lost and found section to inquire if someone had found a black bag owned bis his employer, a passenger of PAL flight PR 849 leaving for Cebu.

Manahan, who claimed he was authorized by his employer identified only as Francis Chua, thanked Gadayan for returning the bag containing also the cash amount.