Travelers out of NAIA in 25 minutes? DOT misses the point in less!

Perhaps as an attempt by the Department of Tourism (DOT) to start off the 2013 tourism campaign on the right note, Tourism Assistant Secretary Benito Bengzon Jr. reportedly claimed that it takes passengers arriving at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) – dig this – only 25 minutes to complete the airport process-from disembarkation to clearing immigration and customs to getting a cab or meeting the welcome wagon outside the airport. This claim is being made amid the NAIA being branded as one of the world’s worst airports for 2011 and 2012.

“The advantage of NAIA is that in about three to four minutes, from the time the plane touches down, it is already at the bridge or tube … taxi time is shorter at Naia compared with bigger international airports abroad,” Bengzon told reporters before Christmas.

“You try to check your watch when you travel to a large airport. Taxiing after landing really takes time and sometimes you have to go through a bus gate so you will still have to be shuttled to the terminal,” he said.

manila_airport_queueFurthermore, according to the article, that “advantage”, if effectively marketed, could supposedly attract more tourists to the Philippines.

It remains to be seen if this claim is actually an advantage in the first place.

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So what if it supposedly takes only 25 minutes? And where exactly did they get the figure of 25 minutes from? Did they conduct a time study of that airport process, or did they just throw a random figure in minutes and hoped people would be awed?

One can cast doubt on this “advantage” being claimed by the DOT in one simple phrase: Quantity does not necessarily mean quality.

Sure, you can have passengers out in 25 minutes, but that time period can seem such an eternity if going through an aging, derelict, and poorly maintained excuse for a building that the Philippine government and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) call an airport. If you have substandard bathrooms, unfriendly and corrupt staff, insufficient seating, and rampant bribery scams going on, the 25 minutes can be the worst period in the traveler’s journey. What are the MIAA, the NAIA officials, and the DOT doing to address these real and tangible concerns? By the way, these are the complaints that commentators on the website “The Guide to Sleeping in Airports” actually mentioned.

Obviously, delays and queues are bound to happen in many places in the arrival process. From taxiing of the aircraft to the queues of getting through immigration and customs, and especially waiting for one’s baggage to arrive, these are all possible delay spots. What is more important than forcing the entire process to stick to a particular time is to make sure that the each step in the process flows smoothly and comfortably for the arriving passengers in the first place. The improvement in processing times will come naturally once the process is smoothed out.

As a side note, the article also mentions that MIAA officials have yet to separate arrival figures of tourists from returning overseas Filipinos. So why exactly are they doing that? It doesn’t matter to me whether the arrival is a foreign tourist or a returning overseas Filipino; the arrival process should be made smoother and better for all.

It doesn’t take Assistant Secretary Bengzon 25 minutes to completely miss the point, does it?

Perhaps, as Bengzon claimed, this is a little-known “advantage”, but that may be so simply because it is not even an advantage at all. If Bengzon and other like-minded officials think they can sweep all the dirt of the NAIA under the rug by claiming a fast “passing-through time” then they better think again. The commentators on that very same article seem to think so, too.

Why did I emphasize that quantity and quality are not the same? Let’s use, as an example, one of the best airports in the world, Singapore’s Changi Airport, one which I’ve been to a few times. It is a marvel in design, and the passenger going through this airport has multitudes of options to go through while waiting for their ride into the city. They have comfortable seats, lounges, and the airport terminal is generally clean and bright, maaliwalas, as we would say in the Filipino language. If one wants to talk about the airport process, which Bengzon mentioned, what matters more than a time standard is the smoothness of the flow of the process, and Changi Airport’s design is a great example of it.

I’ve limited the discussion here to the process of going through the airport. Getting a taxi, if you don’t have a car, and getting around the city are entirely separate experiences. They could be horror stories, depending if the taxi operator tries to scam you for an exorbitant fixed rate, or if he purposefully takes the longer route because you don’t know any better, or if your living accommodations are a dump, etc. Manila was a dump, so wrote a blogger back in 2011. Unfortunately, it still is.

The DOT shoots itself in the foot again. The inanity and stupidity of the Department of Tourism – more fun in the Philippines, indeed.

102 Replies to “Travelers out of NAIA in 25 minutes? DOT misses the point in less!”

  1. It is that kind of press release which the average pinoy would gladly soak up and still say “proud to be pinoy!!”

    Empty kaldero, lots of noise, nothing inside.

  2. That stupid propaganda by that naia maggot is so ridiculous. Every time my father comes home via an international carrier, he always comes out of naia1 in 1 hour (or even more) after the plane he rode arrives and connects in one of the airport’s tubes. Even one of my cousins also has the same story.

    1. I’m sure there are many foreigners and returning nationals alike who will readily dispute the 25 minute claim.

      1. I must have been through NAIA at least five or six times a year in the past twenty years; I have never, ever, got though, arriving or departing, in 25 minutes. If two full flights arriveclose together you can spend an hour and more in the immigration queue and I have spent half an hour getting bags very often.

        1. And so the question persists:

          Where did Assistant Secretary Bengzon get the 25 minutes from? Did he do a real time study of normal operations, or did he just pull a seemingly impressive figure out of thin air? (or probably the DOT’s ass)

  3. The important thing is not so much the time spent at the airport, but the comfort of the passenger as they go through it. 45 minutes in an airport with great-smelling and regularly working facilities like a 5-star hotel, instead of 25 minutes in a chaotic terminal that smells like hell, is much better.

    1. I’d rather be in a better airport terminal like NAIA 3 than waste my time in a shithole terminal like NAIA 1. As a matter of fact, everytime me and my dad go on a business trip, we always take our flights at terminal 3 since its better than that old shithole terminal 1.

      1. It’s just too bad that if you’ll be flying on international airlines, you’ll be forced to naia1 instead since all of them operate there unless you’ll be flying with All Nippon Airways.

  4. I only have one experience with NAIA / Ninoy (or make that two, I also have to leave the country). It took me about 1.5 hrs (90 mins)to get out of T1 (Nov 2011), then taking a free taxi-van going to T3. T3 was really heaven compared to T1.

    Going from T3 to T1 with a taxi-van (PHP 20 or so) gave me a short insight at Manila (by day light). On the way back there was a large big queuee for the check-in at T1. The rest was going okay and smoothly.

    Arriving at Ninoy was worse than departing from Ninoy.

  5. To add:
    JFK and LAX are far worse compared to Ninoy. To get by customs and immigration takes much longer at JFK and LAX than Ninoy.
    Smaller airports like Mactan-Cebu is heaven. That is similar to smaller European airports. The smaller the faster, is my personal experiences.

    1. I can relate with JFK. Both Americans and non-Americans alike complain about how much that airport sucks. Which is why I prefer to go to New York by bus (Port Authority).

      Back to the topic of NAIA, instead of fixing the problems that are already glaringly obvious and staring them in the face, the Manila International Airport Authority has the gall to make such a dubious claim.

      1. I cant imagine they (MNL) can hold up that 25 minutes statement. I dont know what the farthest away gate is from the exit but boy most airports need a stiff walk to get to customs and immigration and then still go to get your luggage.

        From the bigger airports, within Europe my fav airport is LHR, outside Europe it is HKG.

        1. Exactly, Robert. It seems that they just quoted a random figure and thought people would be impressed.

          Chek Lap Kok in Hong Kong is a big improvement from the old Kai Tak airport. I’ve never been around Europe so I can’t say much about the airports there 😛

    2. I believe that major cities like Manila have the responsibility of improving the quality of entry and exit points, especially through air travel. Manila, being one of the densest cities in the world, deserves an international airport that not only can accommodate more than its current capacity, but one that at the very least TRIES not to present Manila as an urban shithole.

      1. @MidwayHeaven,

        I do agree with you. But I am also thinking about who are the owners of the airport (who owns the shares) or is it public “property” (owned by the national or city government for 100%?). I dont know who owns Amsterdam Schiphol Airport but I am sure the dutch national government owns a “golden share” as well as the city government on which soil the airport has been built. Why do I think that both national and city government own a share? Bec they dont want to get the airport end up in “foreign hands”. Depending on how many shares the national and city government own, the more or less they have to say about the airport. The same applies to airliners that at one point were publicly owned (by the national government) or still are. If I am not mistaken Air France is completely owned by the French government.

      2. “Manila, being one of the densest cities in the world…”

        I just have to say, that’s true in more ways than one.

  6. if its true that the whole process can be done in 25 minutes then the claim was factual. it is the author who assigned motives and made up a story where there was none. the title saying “misses the point” assumes that there’s a point. but thats just the author’s assumption hehehehehehe you wanna talk tourism theres a lot of places i can show you here in mindanao, but youre more interested in feeling superior and i cant help you there

    1. Did you actually try to read and understand the article, or did you just pull that comment of yours out of your ass?

      You can go join the DOT in the corner because both of you are point missers.

      So what story did I make up, hmm? What motive did I “assign”? And where did I say I was interested in feeling superior? Be specific.

      1. first of all minute is a measure of time not quantity hehehe. one move checkmate but i will indulge… the point was about the speed you get out of the airport, something that is important to a lot of travelers. but instead of disproving that claim if you are so inclined, you shift the discussion into something that was not even the subject. and purposely use one of the best airports for comparison. were not there yet with out airports but people are working on that. lots of people are working on improving tourism, but of course we are all inferior to you

        1. Victim mentality at its worst. Nobody will believe in what you say since it’s a defeatist comment.

          Or maybe you’re just trolling. I’m positive you’re on the latter.

          On-topic: Tourism improvement is questionable. Also, you have a logical fallacy here. Time IS quality.

        2. How about discussing that nonsense of yours with foreign aviation enthusiasts on airliners.net as well hmmm? Oh wait I forgot. You hate foreigners pala because you think they’re evil and that pinoys are for more better than them. And about your illogical thinking about time. Tell that to the airline companies who puts a lot of on-time everyday frequency flights for passengers to choose what time of departure and/or arrival they prefer to take.

        3. One move checkmate? Yup, if there’s such a thing, you did that to yourself in your last comment. And you’ve got two strikes because sablay itong dalawang comments mo.

          first of all minute is a measure of time not quantity hehehe

          Ok, smart-aleck, or pilosopo, tell me, can you count/measure time or not? If yes, then it is a quantity My gosh, even a grade-schooler can answer that question faster than you, and has better reading comprehension than you do.

          I’m entirely on point in disputing that 25 minute claim. What’s not on point is how you understood it, and you keep on diverting the discussion.

          I will indulge your obvious lack of reading comprehension by shoving up your behind the otherwise obvious point I was trying to make here:

          Does quantity necessarily mean quality?

          or, more specifically:

          Is the 25 minutes you spend through the airport necessarily comfortable?

          And what’s wrong with using one of the best airports for comparison? I didn’t say anything about inferiority, you did.

          People have been working on the NAIA for several years, where are the results?

        4. if you miss a meeting because of delays will the airport’s beauty be any consolation? time as it is used in this discussion is more of a quality issue than quantity. quantity is 5 eggs. 25 minutes is how long it takes, its not quantity sorry. you cant see results if you are preconditioned to condescend to anything filipino

        5. There you go again with your illogical thinking with the addition of using the word delay as an excuse. You’re twisting the argument again with your nonsense dumkopf. Of course many airlines are having delays yes but naia is far more worst considering the fact that the longest runway for widebody aircraft is just one. Can you imagine a lot of widebody jets (and even international airlines or sometimes local airlines like Cebu Pacific using narrowbody aircraft) are wasting precious time falling in line to wait for their clearance to takeoff or land on using that only long runway?

        6. Ano daw?

          25 minutes is how long it takes, its not quantity sorry.

          how long it takes = amount of time = quantity of time. How hard is that to understand?

          if you miss a meeting because of delays will the airport’s beauty be any consolation?

          This is a strawman argument, but let me borrow a statement from another GRP writer:

          “OMG! If you have to ask it means you won’t understand the answer!”

          Unfortunately, you haven’t been able to dispute the message of what I wrote here so you’re resorting to questioning my tone. Too bad. If you see condescension then that’s not my problem; it’s yours. Then again, Pinoys always see condescension when someone always gives them feedback on how they can improve themselves.

          Strike three! YOU’RE OUT!

        7. In addition to my previous post, your illogical thinking about time is like comparing apples to oranges. And please use your common sense. Just because a foreigner is advising you what really needs to be done right doesn’t mean that they are always evil. Ang hirap sa iyo puso iyang inuuna mo hindi utak if you know what I mean. Ang hina naman ng IQ mo day tapos magmamayabang ka pa na mas-magaling ka kaysa sa mga bumabatikos sa iyo dito. Here have an F-. Now get lost and weep.

        8. Do we even ask to play the strawman card when we are just stating concrete facts woman? Nagpapalusot ka na naman e talunan.

        9. How did you come up with the assertion that beauty = quality/comfort? I never mentioned anything about beautification. They’re not necessarily the same.

          Then again,Filipinos would prefer beautifying to cover up shit instead of getting rid of the shit anyway.

          Come up with a convincing argument first before you go around demanding that your questions be answered, mmmkay? It’s back to the end of the line for you.

        10. Well to answer your question woman: no, hindi, dili, いいえ, non, nein. Because I am not interested on your stupid game Jigsaw. You’re just asking that question to go hostile on us again eh dumkopf? Mana ka talaga kay jon-assole day.

        11. never mind beauty then dont get hung up on semantics. so you’re saying its ok for you to be delayed as long as the airport is comfortable. not all would agree with this because for some of us time is important

        12. “never mind beauty then dont get hung up on semantics.”
          Are you saying that because of your dysfunctional pro-poor mindset of yours again basurero? Ano ba tingin mo palagi sa paligid mo basura? ang dumi naman pala ng utak mo day. Kaya pala ang hilig mong kumain ng pagpag e.
          “you’re saying its ok for you to be delayed as long as the airport is comfortable.”
          What the hell am I reading? i don’t even understand what your saying. Are you spamming again troll?

        13. Excuse me sendonggirl,

          How convenient for you to discard that line of argument and claim other people to get hung up on semantics when it was you who started that bullshit in the first place

          first of all minute is a measure of time not quantity hehehe

          time as it is used in this discussion is more of a quality issue than quantity. quantity is 5 eggs. 25 minutes is how long it takes, its not quantity sorry.

          The readers can judge for themselves who has made more sense so far, no?

          so you’re saying its ok for you to be delayed as long as the airport is comfortable.

          I didn’t say that, you did. But if we can have both, why compromise?

          The NAIA, until the present, exhibits neither. And as long as the MIAA, NAIA officials and DOT keep making excuses, dubious claims, and bullshit instead of working to get results it will stay that way.

          O, baka naman sabihin mo bayaran ung mga nagsulat dun sa website na “Worst Airport” ang Manila.

        14. domo is mad because he cant understand hehehehehehehehe hay naku.

          fa, naia has neither? it has 1 of 2 kaya nga topic natin 25 minutes nlang pag exit dba? honest civil servants are hard at work in making it 2 of 2. ok?

        15. Umm, and that’s why I’ve been explaining, very well I might add, in this article, why the 25 minute claim is utter bull, misses the point, and is completely meaningless.

          25 minutes compared to/based on what?

          O, ayan, naintindihan mo na?

          The only counter-argument you can come up with is “he said 25 minutes, ah basta, let’s believe him! NAIA said they’re improving the airport, ah basta, let’s believe them!”

          The travelers who commented on the yahoo article and here beg to differ, as you’ve seen. As do I, because I’m a frequent traveler too.

        16. well you conceded the accuracy of the 25 minute claim when you decided to focus on the supposed quality. because you devalued the time and wanted to emphasize quality and comfort. but now you shift gears and say both are important. be consistent for once

        17. Ano ba ang gusto mong palabasin? Just focus more on either quality or time? Both of them are very important because they are the key factors for satisfying a passenger in the airport. But not for you because you sound like some jeepney driver who doesn’t give a damn on how uncomfortable your passengers are on your jeepney because the only thing important for you is just their money and drive them from point A to point B. You just hate your life do you?

      2. Devalued time and wanted to emphasize quality and comfort?

        Please stop putting words in my mouth.
        Go look for that word “devalued” in my article; you won’t find it.

        Again, answer these two basic questions in the article, and stop meandering the discussion:

        Where did the 25 minutes come from?

        Does that quantity necessarily mean quality?

        If you can’t answer these, you don’t have a point.

        1. 1. i dont know you came up with that number. you said it was true but the point was whether it was “actually an advantage”

          2. kaya nga we already have 1 of 2. we have quantity but quality we’re still working on. do you understand now? i will help you understand your own article

        2. Hmm, you don’t know where that number came from? You thought it came from me? I can’t imagine, then, how you will be able to help me “understand my article” seeing that you haven’t even read it well, much less understood it.

          Read it again, as many times as needed, and look for the parts that say:

          where the 25 mins claim came from, and,
          where I explicitly said that the 25 mins claim was true.

          Let’s assume we have quantity (e.g, let’s assume that the 25 mins claim is true), but you said so yourself: we’re still working on the quality. So we don’t have quality now. Therefore, that quantity of time does not translate to quality of time.

          Speaking of time, stop wasting everyone’s by doing your homework before leaving a comment, mmmkay?

        3. other airports have quality but not the 25 minutes they take two hours so we’re roughly equal with them

        4. If we’re roughly equal with them, how come travelers have branded NAIA as one of the World’s Worst Airports two years in a row?

          25 mins in a shithole like NAIA versus a different time (let’s say longer) in another airport that is better equipped, cleaner, and more comfortable.

          Apparently, based on the feedback on the Sleeping in Airports website, travelers don’t mind sacrificing a bit of time so long as the pass-through is more comfortable.

          So is this 25 min claim (assuming it’s true) actually an “advantage” over other airports?

          If it’s actually not true (those who reacted to the yahoo article and this one apparently don’t think so), then the NAIA has nothing going for it.

          This is why bragging about “25 mins”, whether it’s true or not, misses the point.

          And that is the point I’ve been trying to make which has flown over your head from the very start.

        5. because majority of travelers are into superficial things like the airport experience, because these are the things easily noticed. these are also the facebook and twitter crowd and more likely to post on such a website. just the name alone sleepinginairports hehehe

          i would argue though fa, that the minority (who value time) are those who “matter” (at the risk of sounding conceited). they’re not likely to post reviews online. like businessmen perhaps or managers that are always shuttling around and are in a rush all the time

        6. Answer this, then:

          Is time-comfort an either-or proposition?

          One may have to prioritize developing one over the other but any airport authority worth its weight can’t afford to neglect or devalue (ayan ha, I finally used that word) either, because they both contribute to the overall “welcoming committee” experience.

          It doesn’t matter whether it’s the majority who post reviews or that minority who don’t (which you say “matter”). If the 25 min claim is true but the traveler was put through hell they will come out complaining just the same.

        7. im tired of answering questions hehehe why time slows down on wild card weekend?

          what i do know is that those who complain are louder and more likely to post than those who are thankful. so the naia positive reviews should be spotted maybe +21.5

        8. Tired of answering questions? That’s your problem, not mine.

          If there are those whom you claim to have positive reviews for NAIA, where are they? They don’t post? Tough luck and too bad for NAIA.

          Will it be worth it for NAIA officials to go look for these positive reviews if they exist? Maybe.

          Meanwhile, it doesn’t change the fact that there will be travelers who will still complain about NAIA. It doesn’t change the fact that several years of “working on it” have yet to translate into tangible improvements.

          You can ask all the travelers in the world to be patient about ongoing improvements at NAIA, but you can’t stop people from complaining out loud. NAIA officials want the complaining to stop? Then they should start producing tangible results. They want to claim something as an advantage? Then they should be able to back it up against all scrutiny.

        9. 2 years later and this sendongpieceofshit troll is still proven wrong about how Naia would improve under “her” idol’s leadership.

          Hate to say we told you so, sendongwhore but……

          We told you so

    2. And here you are again dumkopf attacking the author with your twisting nonsense even if the facts are very clear. You’re a female version of jon-asshole you know: isa ring dakilang mangongontra. Have you or any of your relatives ever experienced to come out of naia1 in just 25 minutes or less from one of the airport’s tubes?

    3. So sendonggirl

      “if its true that the whole process can be done in 25 minutes then the claim was factual. it is the author who assigned motives and made up a story where there was none. the title saying “misses the point” assumes that there’s a point. but thats just the author’s assumption hehehehehehe you wanna talk tourism theres a lot of places i can show you here in mindanao, but youre more interested in feeling superior and i cant help you there”

      A wonder you can also stratify. But I’m not saying you’re correct nor the blog poster.

      One must distinguish the departure and arrival. For me, the departure is always the problem but not arrival.

  7. Twenty-five minutes? Nope, their “damage control” press releases are even too late for their intended purpose.

  8. They mean: “magalagay ka siguro.” It will be less than that; if you grease their palms with foreign currencies…

  9. 25 minutes just to clear immigration on arrival if you’re lucky. More than 25 minutes to pick up luggage at the carousel that spews tons and tons of boxes. Can’t the airport people separate luggage from cargo?

    I’ve encountered several “entitled b@sterds” escorted thru all the lines and go thru in less than 25 minutes. They were local politicians, I was told.

      1. That’s just it, I can’t understand why the Manila airport needs a lot of “greasing the wheels”. Everyone who runs and works in that airport could sure use more of elbow grease instead.

  10. I unfortunately have to use naia every month.

    Is he saying 25 mins is the mean, median, or a once in a lifetime occurrence. publish the figures/study!!

    I have never experienced it.

    Maybe rather than focus on blatant lies they should focus on improving what is more akin to the gateway to hell.

    desperate marketing tantamount ti sheer deceit.

  11. My sincerest apologies for this next de-tour.

    This story is so far fetched that I dont believe it but maybe some of you can acknowledge or confirm.

    July/August 2012 my partner went to Singapore from Mactan-Cebu. Her group of 6-8 mature adult people were delayed eventually for 24 hours. Finally they had to buy new plane tickets with another carrier departing the next day. She blamed (high and low) it was because they had to pay bribes to the customs/immigration officer at Mactan-Cebu. The school experienced the same event (bribe) last year (2011), my partner said.

    I think the leader (school’s manager?) of the group forgot some important documents/papers. And why wouldnt they have learned something from last year’s event. I would be on my guard.

    I rather would expect an immigration officer trying to get a bribe from an ignorant foreign tourist who has more money than a bunch of Pinay school teachers.

  12. FallenAngel since naia is not only very congested but cannot be upgraded anymore because it reached its capacity, what’s your opinion about changing the premier airport of the Philippines to Clark since it has a very huge land to upgrade the airport there even more for millions of passengers every year? Yes it may be far from Manila but so as Narita, Incheon and Chep La Kok which are also far from their capital. All it needs is a high speed underground train to Manila.

    1. You know, I used to cringe at the idea because Clark is far away from Manila. But I’ve also been to Kuala Lumpur; the airport is about an hour or so from the main city. Over time I’ve come to the realization that the distance between the airport and main city matters less and less as long as the travel is comfortable. It helps if the sights aren’t ghastly to look at (diba, Claire Danes?)

      I agree that NAIA is beyond redemption/salvaging. The other two NAIA terminals are such a waste; why don’t they settle the issues surrounding them first, and then start putting them to good use?

      As long as they build that railway line (I’m guessing it’s going to be above ground instead of underground), the Clark-Manila transit time should become less and less of an issue.

      As you pointed out, developing Clark presents a more than adequate solution to NAIA’s congestion problem, plus it would be beneficial to the surrounding areas too.

      I believe Ramon Ang was planning to build a $6 billion replacement to NAIA somewhere near, but I haven’t heard much more since.

      However, I think BS Aquino’s government is averse to developing Clark, simply because it’s in the heart of Arroyo country.

      Ben Kritz makes a compelling case for Clark in the link below:

      http://grbusinessonline.com/wp/the-case-for-clark-airport/

      1. Clark is the key for cojuangco-aquino strategy to develop tarlac as new business/tourist capital. hence, so much focus on arroyo (because of pampanga control), buying airline, land/resorts around subic, road extensions, and of course either hanging on to HL or getting 10 billion which they most probably now prefer.
        1st step – remove arroyo influence

      2. Yeah I read that article before and I agree with Ben Kritz. And to think he’s such a great person for being a CEO of Cathay Pacific before and now an IATA CEO, it’s very rubbish of Tony Tyler to say that Clark is not the solution to be the new premier airport for this country only because many foreigners want to visit Manila. The reason most of the foreigners land usually at Manila is obviously because that’s where they’ll take their connecting flights to other places in the Philippines. Most of them especially tourists prefers to go to provinces like Cebu and places with beaches like Boracay instead. Moreover, did he ever visited Manila and see how overcrowded the place is?
        About that planned replacement of naia, there’s a rumor that they prefer placing it in Bulacan.
        And yes the cancellation of Clark Airport’s master plan is just another of the aquino-cojuanco mafia’s “daang matuwid” propaganda only because it’s gma’s project.

  13. Twenty-five minutes my ass! I wait for my luggage longer than that! The claim is completely BOGUS! However, I hope this author (or anyone at GRP) will explore something that was touched on here. The tourist arrival numbers. I have said for years on end that the arrival numbers published by the DOT are misleading since they also include arriving “Balikbayans”. I am sure, if they show ONLY foreign tourist arrivals, the actual number would be reduced by at least 50%.

  14. in other news, year to year tourism arrivals increased by 8%. but dont let the truth get in the way of the propaganda

    1. So what if foreign arrivals here grow? Not only you’re being off-topic again, you’re still denying the fact that our country is a basketcase. You’ve done nothing but sugarcoat any negative of this country with that minor news of yours in order to make yourself feel better. Sige banatan mo ulit ako. Iyan naman ang hilig mong gawin di ba tarantadong inutil?

      1. bat kita babanatan im sorry im not gay. do you get a hardon from me noticing you? i have been ignoring you because personalan style mo and im all about the issues. but you keep on attaching yourself to me and following me around the comments section hehe

        1. Look who’s talking. YOU’RE the one who keeps on attaching yourself to us dumkopf. Marami na ngang hindi sang-ayon sa iyo, pinipilit mo pa rin maging isang dakilang papansin dito sa kakapost mo ng mga walang kwentang post na puro spam lang.

    2. Sendonggirl/jonas, that’s nothing to brag about. Check the ASEAN Tourism Report:

      http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_TTCR_ASEAN_Rankings_2012.pdf

      The Philippines is 94th in tourism competitiveness, way behind other ASEAN countries such as Singapore (10th), Malaysia (35th), Thailand (41st), Brunei (67th), Indonesia (74th) and even Viet Nam (80th).

      Stop bragging about niggling details such as an 8% growth in tourism, when countries with lower GDP growth are found to be more interesting that the Philippines itself.

      1. so lets ignore the 8% growth, but by all means discuss about this 25 minutes to exit the airport. who gets to decide which number is niggling? you?

        1. I don’t need to be the messenger of “niggling details” when the statistics speak for themselves.

          Now you’re just clutching at straws and being pointless.

        2. Ask that “growth” of yours to the intellectuals. Oh wait. Anti-intellectual ka pala because you hate to be criticized.
          That aside, lemme ask you this question again that you didn’t answer: have you or any of your relatives ever experienced to come out of naia1 in just 25 minutes or less from one of the airport’s tubes? If so how? Is it because you’re a VIP who was given priority?

        3. apparently, another troll full of mediocrity easily impressed with a mediocre growth. The troll actually take in comfort in the thought her boss did a great job as if that figure was way better than the previous years.

        4. which intellectuals? who decides who the intellectuals are? you? hay naku domo il just text when the topic is the latest travails of sarah lahbati so you can contribute.

        5. Hey sendongslut. Borrowing from Glados’s words, see that’s you. That’s how dumb, stupid, malicious and whiny you are. You’ve been wrong and irrelevant about every single rebuttals you’ve ever done to us including your last one. You’re not smart. You have no class. You embrace mediocrity and moronism. You eat pagpag everyday. You’re even pretending to be a girl. You still didn’t answer my question. Oh wait! You’re tired na pala on answering questions. How unfair of you since I already answered your question about strawman game. Where oh where did your life go so wrong? Your parents hated and beaten you very much? Oh how pity of you to apply that problem of yours to us.

        6. Five days later, and sendonggirl never came back with the data I asked her to present.

          She was all show and no go.

  15. my comment was not accepted try again: kris aquino paid 32 million in taxes for one year now are we gonna bitch about some association dues? really? why you talk about businesses when the topic was association dues. you are confused sir

  16. Maybe Benito (DOT) can give us a lay down of his 25 minutes. He didnt even talk about that 25 is an average. A 80 year old will need much more time than a 25 year old disembarking from the plane and walking the distance to Immigration and the luggage belt.

    Benotio should be able to rub it down in sections for us.

    – walking from plane to first “obstacle” (Immigration)
    – walking from Immigration to Customs
    – walking from Customs to Security check
    – walking from Security check to luggage belt
    – from luggage belt to exit and waiting for a taxi, bus, train, metro or whatever/whoever.
    – taking a break to visit the toilet
    – taking a break to buy something to eat, drink.
    – taking a break to make some phone calls letting other people know he/she arrived safely.

    It not only depends on the person and his/her age but also at what gate the plane arrived. Not each gate is close to all “obstacles”.

    The 25 minutes mentioned is maybe in the best case scenario (wishful thinking) and maybe with the least delay at any obstacle. In that case it is heaven. But its far from reality and not very realistic.

    Maybe, just maybe it took me about 25 minutes when I arrived at Mactan-Cebu. But then Mactan and Naia are not similar and not identical. So its not fair to compare those two.

  17. Wonder why there’s no charge or some sort of tax when you arrive I think there’s at least 3 stops when you leave, OFW tax, airport tax, immigrant tax, what happens if your out of money? How many other countries expect you to make all these kinds of payments when the ticket has already been purchased? The air port could improve if they just added the welfare charge to your ticket purchase.

  18. here’s a solution I posted in PEX a while back:
    http://www.pinoyexchange.com/forums/showthread.php?t=537060&page=4

    What needs to be done NOW is to refurbish and rehabilitate the airport by different stages/phases similar to what have been done to London Heathrow, so as to have a more modern efficient airport.

    But personally, I would not rather go with this route and prefer to have a new airport outside Metro Manila (heck, technically outside Luzon) so as to adopt to the future development. An airport in a densely populated and developed area will be an aviation transportation & security nightmare waiting to happen, hence the old HK airport from Kowloon was moved to Chek lap Kok island. My proposed solution is to built an artificial island through reclamation several kilometers west of Manila, approximately at the center of Manila Bay to be connected via underground tunnel to Metro Manila’s major transportation hubs (provincial railway stations, LRT/MRT stations, bus stations, ports, NLEX/SLEX connector roads, etc.). The reclaimed materials will be coming from:

    a.) dredged silts of the PASAMAR river systems (Pasig, San Juan, & Marikina), NMTT River systems (Navotas-Malabon-Tenejeros-Tullahan), Paranaque River and their tributaries and its esteros ==>Metro Manila’s natural waterways;

    b.) dredged materials from Laguna Lake

    c.) dredged silts of Bulacan river delta & riversystems and its tributaries (marilao-meycauayan-Obando river, Calumpit river, Angat river)

    d.) dredged silts and lahar of Pampanga river delta

    e.) treated waste materials from dumpsites and landfills of metropolis and provinces adjacent Manila Bay (Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Pampanga, Bataan).

    Besides addressing the inefficient domestic (yes, including the domestic) and NAIA terminals (yes, including T2 & T3) as country’s premier air transportation hubs, the proposed solution also addresses the following major issues:

    1.) Flooding

    – By doing (a), you are thereby clearing and increasing the capacity & efficiency of Metro Manila’s natural waterways thus a more flood-resilient Metro Manila

    – By doing (b), you are increasing the carrying capacity thus increasing the flood resiliency of Rizal & Laguna municipalities surrounding Laguna Lake.

    – By doing (c) & (d), you are increasing the flood resiliency of Pampanga & Bulacan provinces thus never again ‘Pedring’ & ‘Quiel’ devastation

    2.) Traffic

    – By removing the airport in the middle of densely populated metropolis, you are decongesting Metro Manila’s traffic problem. A freeway/expressway, even a railway traversing the heart of Metro Manila is now more feasible by removing/rerouting the unnecessary road networks that used to be the ‘arteries’ of the road network system to-and-fro both the international & domestic airports. The tunnel from airport to major transportation hubs further increases the efficiency to regional movement.

    – By doing (a), (b), (c), and (d),preferably up to navigable depths, you are providing an alternative mode of transportation – water transportation. This is particularly important to local/domestic tanker and cargo ships because increasing their traffic volume, number and distance of routes means reduction of traditional land-based movement of goods by cargo/haul and tanker trucks in our roads.

    3.) Waste management

    – By doing (e), you are increasing the capacities (and even maybe reopening) of existing landfills thus no need for new land fills. By removing the contents of existing fills, you are increasing the buffer for waste disposal for future generations. Also, by removing and rehabilitating existing land fills, these landfills can be utilised to produce electricity by building and installing a waste-to-power generation plant = a more sustainable approach to waste management.

    4.) Increased Biodiversity
    – By doing (a), (b), (c), and (d), you are potentially reviving the river ecosystem thus attracting different river/estuarine life and migratory birds.

    5.) Urban Redevelopment

    – Removing the airports will also remove the restriction of erecting tall buildings. Currently, building in Metro Manila are restricted to build up to 250 m (even lower as you go near the airport) due to air traffic requirement from Civil Aviation Authority. Without height restrictions, we can now build taller buildings thus a more efficient use of space.

    – The area occupied by the airports is prime real estate thus it can be sold to private developers. The income generated from this WILL be used to fund the development of the new airport in an artificial island in Manila Bay

    – Or use the space to develop worthy of hosting an Olympic event!

    6.) Enhanced economic activity

    – By addressing the issue on traffic and efficient logistics of goods and people, you are increasing the economic activities.

    – Having an urban redeveloment will trigger the influx of money to real estate and construction industry and other spillover industries thus providing jobs and an increase in economic activity in the region.”

    ======

    The above mentioned solution is an amalgamation of inter-related megaprojects addressing several issues in one major undertaking which will take much longer time than any president’s term. Thus, megaprojects like these in other countries, bills/laws are enacted and agencies are created to be the admistrator/manager and implement the project (regardless of who is the current country leader) to maintain continuity and stay on-track. The implementing/administrator/managing agency, in turn, is/will be co-terminus to the completion of the project.

    =======

    Another way to generate fund from the airport is by privatizing its operations. Classic example is the British Airport Authority (BAA) which manages the operations of several airports including London Heathrow International Airport (3rd busiest airport in the world). Unknown to many BAA is owned by an international consortium led by Spanish conglomerate Ferrovial.

    =======

  19. The airlines who rent this airport pays a lot of money to the operators. Unless they don’t spend it on what is required. They must employ more and upgrade facilities.

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