SEN. Ralph Recto is opposed to the planned sale of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 1 for P100 billion and has suggested that the government preserve and refurbish the “vital facility” sitting on a prime real-estate property in the heart of Metro Manila.

In a statement released on Thursday, Recto cautioned privatization proponents that bringing in investors to operate or acquire Naia 1 may not be the right remedy to take it out of the list of the world’s worst airports.

He also warned that selling it just because it was tagged the “world’s worst airport” was “premature.”

Instead of pursuing an outright sale of the property, Recto recommended the adoption of the plan of the Department of Transportation and Communications to first subject Naia 1 to a major face-lift to rid it of some of its ugliness.

He also suggested that airport revenues, estimated to run in billions of pesos annually, be used to refurbish the terminal that was erected by a Filipino company and designed by National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin.

“Are we now desecrating the work of a National Artist just because a blog of airport istambay has a different view of what is beautiful?” he asked.

 “If we sell [the airport] to a private group, we could be letting go of a cultural structure that once defined the country as the home of Asia’s first airline,” he said, referring to  Philippine Airlines.

“And if we let a private investor take over Naia 1, this would surely result in higher airport fees and may pose some security risks,” Recto said, pointing out that no country allows a private sector or foreign group run its major airport.

“Not all the woes of the government could be remedied by running to the private sector,” he added.

According to Recto, the DOTC could also work on the lifting of Naia 1’s blacklisting by the US and European aviation agencies while upgrading the 30-year-old airport terminal.

Awash with cash?

Meanwhile, according to a nongovernmental organization, the Naia earns P8.5 billion in cash from terminal fees every year, which is more than enough to renovate the 30-year-old airport and redeem it from the tag of being the worst airport in the world.

Speaking on ANC’s Headstart on Thursday, Robert Lim Joseph, chairman of the Tourism Educators and Movers of the Philippines (TEAM Philippines), said he does not believe there is no money to renovate the Naia 1 and make it truly world-class.

“Airports are always profitable. There is so much money here. That is why the Naia 3 was built. They wanted to make it private. Ang problema lang sa Naia 3 in-overprice nila...There were too many kickbacks,” he said.

Joseph said the airport collects P750 in terminal fees per passenger, or an average yearly total of P8.5 billion in cash from the 10.5 million passengers that passed through the Naia last year. This does not include earnings from the concessionaires, the airlines and even the parking lot, which all bring big money to Naia.

He said the airport was earning so much money that it even offered to finance the construction of the airport in Bohol.

“This was during the time of [former President] Arroyo and it was approved but they found out hindi pala pwedeng gawin ’yun because part of the funds have to go to the national government. Also, they are a civilian authority. They are not legally bound to do so,” he said.

Joseph called for an audit of the terminal fees to determine where the money is going.

“The big question is—where do the terminal fees go? It is nice to have it audited. Dapat ma-audit ’yan,” he said.

A travel web site, Guide to Sleeping in Airports, earlier ranked the Naia as the “world’s worst airport” due to poor facilities, bribery and security concerns.

“Bribery and theft exist. Airport taxes are collected, but the money does not seem to go toward the betterment of the airport. Document holders have been told their papers are not correct, but a fee of x amount should clear up the matter,” the web site noted.

On Wednesday Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Jose Angel Honrado said he would accept the travel web site review as a challenge but noted that some of the criticism was unfair. He also denied that airport restrooms had no toilet paper or running water while staff accused of extortion have been removed.

(With abs-cbnNEWS.com)