THE Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has been named by an interactive travel website as “the worst airport in Asia.”
But many Filipinos back home are still forgiving, even defensive in protecting the Philippines’ image.
For many kababayans who have been to other airports in the world, and those who frequently fly in and out of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport — their horrible personal experiences in the “gateway” to the Philippines had been so compelling to be left unsaid.
Never mind the dirty toilets, old facilities, and small lobby/entrance foyer, which make travelers line up outside the building just to check in, even during rainy days. What really makes Filipino cringe (even foreigners as well) is the work ethics and dishonesty they experienced in NAIA.
I personally had an experience with this custom inspector in NAIA 1, when I went to visit during the Christmas season in 2009.
As this “tatang” custom inspector was reading the custom declaration form handed to him by my husband, he was blatantly and unabashedly displaying a $50 bill clipped between the fingers of his other hand. He greeted my husband “Merry Christmas,” and asked if there was something that he should declare.
I found such behavior very questionable, even offensive. What was he trying to convey to my husband? Was he asking for a “gift?” Or perhaps a “padulas,” so his bagahe would not have to go through inspection anymore?
I had to move forward and make my face seen and upon recognizing me, he said: “Merry Christmas, Madam…kayo pala…Buti nakabakasyon kayo…”
Was it just me or was there something fishy going on?
My own mother lamented over the loss of her dollar cash, when her purse had to go through inspection in NAIA 1. She wondered if the airport personnel doing the inspection were trained in magic when she could not find her money anymore, after she boarded the plane.
Another friend, Maryanne Vargas, sent me a message regarding her own experience. She wrote: “HORRIBLE. NAIA Terminal 2! Watch out: Second time this happened, right by the security, your valuables get lost! YES SECOND time this occurred — inside JOB! They keep pinpointing at the janitor, the turnover! It’s horrible! Innocence, pretensions, [were] pretty obvious at that time! Need your help in spreading this Gel, victim[ized] twice, and [the] way it was handled seem to be conspiracy! What a shame!”
Unfortunately, it is experiences such as these that affect the way balikbayans and tourists think about all Filipinos — even those who are honest, respectful and are professional in the way they do their job.
I posted this on my Facebook page, wondering if others had experienced the same. My timeline was flooded with complaints.
I hope NAIA will address these complaints and concerns. No matter how nice the “It’s more fun in the Philippines” campaign may be, if in the airport our tourists and balikbayans continue to have these horrible experiences and impressions about Filipinos, then our tourism efforts won’t succeed.
Here are some of the comments of our kababayans:
“Yep. Happened to me. Lost a camera that way.” – Sam Simbulan
“Sabi nung kasabay namin na mga kano, nawawala daw yung sapatos nya at iba pa niyang mga gamit. Hiyang-hiya ako nung kinakausap kami. Nakakahiya kaya sa mga turista, lalo na yung mababait at magalang na kabataan. Dapat may nagmomonitor sa luggage area pagbaba sa eroplano. Dapat bang palitan yung ‘It’s more fun in the Philippines’ to ‘It’s more thieves in the Philippines?’ Nagbubulag-bulagan o may parte yung mga kinauukulan.” – Gilbert Yalud
“I had experienced [this], too. When we went home, our box [was] full but when we reached Laoag, the box [was] open. [They said] it’s SOP but when we reached home, [we] found out that t-shirts for pasalubong was gone. Miss Gel where can we make a complaint? [Do you have] any phone numbers [that we can call?] – Jean Ramiro
“Ang naririnig ko sa mga dayuhan, maraming mangnanakaw at puro pera ang binabanggit sa airport. Sabi nga ng dayuhan na narinig ko, may bayad ang toilet at ang mahal pa raw ng hinihingi, tapos ihahatid ka lang raw saexit, nanghihingi [pa] raw ng pera. Nakakahiya talaga sa mga dayuhan…kaya yong iba hindi na bumabalik.” – Joverie Alexandra Destiny
“We had a box of items accompanying us on our travels a few years back. When we retrieved our box, it had a gaping hole in it. 2 big cans of Milo and Nescafe were taken out. ‘It’s more fun in the Philippines.’ For WHO???” – Kim Madolara
“Even the immigration officers are not so welcoming, too. Pangit ng experience ko sa kanila, kung anu-anong mga papers hinanap sa amin when actually, we had all what they said in the website as requirements, when [we went to the] Immigration [desk]. Ang ending, daming tanong. I wouldn’t mind sana pero the way they asked was very unprofessional. If I didn’t have the patience, siguro nakipagtaasan ng boses na rin ako. When I asked bakit wala sa websites ng DFA yung mga requirements na hinihingi, ang sagot,’Ayy di talaga nilalagay dun.’ WHAT???Hay naku. Sana naman mabago ang sistema.” – Jerah Belle
“It happened to me, too. Not only [did they try] to get my passport for no reason. Good thing I didn’t give it because the other passenger handed hers and they demanded money in exchange of her passport. The lady is already late for her plane, so she gave in to the demand — so appalling! What a shame! I feel so disgusted until now.” – YnaYna
“I was also a victim of an immigration officer sa NAIA 1. Hinahanapan ako ng document na alam niyang hindi ko maipo-produce at that instance. Eh 20 years na akong pabalik-balik dito [galing] sa Middle East, pero first timeakong hinanapan ng [photo] copy daw ng passport ng asawa ko. Tapos walang name plate iyong immigration officer na gumawa sa akin nito. Buti na lang at pinaalis pa rin niya ako.” – Lida Bacamante Mauricio
“Naku, pati nga sa taxi dapat rendahan ng NAIA, para mapangalagaan ang balikbayan at mga turista. Eh grabe ang charge, sinigawan pa kami. Yun daw ang fare charge nila. Napakabastos pa nang nagbibigay ng resibo.Maayos kami nagtanong ng presyo, tapos napakawalang modo makipag-usap. Wala daw siyang pakialam kahit ireklamo pa siya.” – Candy Ann
“Ingat sa mga taxi sa NAIA dahil maraming kakuntsaba na mga hold-upper sa daan, lalo na kapag galing saStates ang pasahero.” – DSR
“The ‘LAGAY’ thing is still rampant in NAIA. We had the same experience last year nung nagbakasyon kami dyan. We were told by the customs officer na dapat daw ideclare namin yung mga gadgets namin or else daw we will be charged with extra tax daw. We were a bit confused, kasi [ang] pagkakalam namin, kung personal use naman wala namang tax ‘yon. I kept asking what [the tax was for] but sabi ng customs officer, kung meron daw kaming ibibigay sa kanya then di na daw nya irereport sa supervisor nya. Then, sabi ng asawa ko sige patawag mosupervisor mo. Tsaka nya lang nilagyan ng stamp ang papers namin. Pero sige pa din sya, then we just ignored him and went our way. Kung di lang kami pagod that time, I would’ve filed a complaint against him.” – Erin Dawn Dumaran
“Ang laki-laki ng airport tax na binabayaran natin every time aalis ng bansa tapos meron pa terminal fee. Wala ka naman makitang improvement sa facilities tapos nanakawan ka pa. Too much!” – Mike Castillo
“Wala pang respeto ung mga immigration officers sa ibang OFW, lalo na kapag nalaman nila na domestic helper, caregiver o kaya mga nag-Jajapan — ang baba ng tingin nila. Akala mo napakataas ng mga pinag-aralan kung makapanglait. Kung magreklamo ka, pahihirapan kang umalis. NAIA deserves a complete evaluation on everything, including safety, proper customer service and RESPECT, not just for foreigners but also for all Pinoypassengers. Sayang ang airport tax na binabayad, kung ang serbisyo trapo naman!” – Nicos Pontino Erickson
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
