Passenger convenience in NAIA remains PRRD’s priority: Palace

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte holds a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the Malago Clubhouse in Malacañang on June 30, 2020. SIMEON CELI JR./PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA – President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s preference to remove restaurants at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to make room for more seats is because he prioritizes passengers over businesses, Malacañang said on Wednesday.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made the remark after the President instructed Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade on Tuesday night to get rid of some restaurants at the country’s main gateway following reports of stranded passengers camping outside while waiting for their flights.

Roque said the President noticed that there were not enough seats for passengers waiting for commercial flights.

“The mandate of the President yesterday (Tuesday) was no one should be left sleeping outside just because there’s not enough space in the airport. If need be, get rid of the commercial establishments because the priority should be the passengers and not the businesses,” he said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel’s Headstart.

Roque said the President recognizes the need for passengers to also buy food while waiting for their flights but noted that seats at the NAIA were lacking.

“As much as possible, he wants more seat capacity so that the passengers won’t have to leave the airport facilities and go outside to wait for their flights,” he said.

Meanwhile, Roque said people stranded at airports were locally stranded individuals (LSIs) and not overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were immediately brought home to their respective provinces after undergoing quarantine and testing.

He, however, said that both LSIs and OFWs are qualified to receive assistance until their flights are ready to leave.

“The President’s order is to house them and to feed them and (Interior) Secretary (Eduardo) Año assured the President that ‘we are doing this’,” Roque said.

In a public address late Tuesday night, Duterte asked Tugade to remove some restaurants at the NAIA to make room for more seats for passengers, saying the thought of passengers standing while waiting for their flights bothered him.

The President also ordered Año to gather LSIs camping near NAIA and provide them with food and shelter as they wait for their flights.

The national government has begun assisting LSIs by bringing them to the Villamor Airbase Elementary School and the Philippine State College of Aeronautics to receive food and accommodation as they wait for available transportation.

The government has earlier launched the “Hatid Tulong” program to assist LSIs stranded in Metro Manila due to travel restrictions imposed during the quarantine period.