Last time I was at PP airport was 2013,
and it is indeed small, cramped, crowded, hot, in relation to the big number of
passengers. Below were posted by a friend, JB Baylon, in his facebook wall. JB regularly
flies Manila-Puerto Princesa-Manila (sometimes, Manila-Rio Tuba-Manila, on a
private jet). Well said, not much to add.
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March 29, 2014
STEAMING HOT IN PUERTO PRINCESA
AIRPORT.
Scenes from the PPS airport, Puerto Princesa tonight...there were about
four planeloads of passengers sweating in the sauna like atmosphere of the
departure area of terminal....But wait: each passenger pays P100; there are
about 3,000 passengers a day, 30 days in a month...Where does all that money
go? CAAP? DoTC? Is someone fooling around with the funds, because we passengers
sure feel someone is fooling around with us! Or maybe some idiot from CAAP or
DoTC wants us to feel we are truly on a tropical island in a tropical country
by making us sweat even as we depart Puerto Princesa? FIRE SOMEBODY!
The additional problem is that our
government functionaries use VIP lounges and are given special treatment that
takes them through an experience far different than the one the regular Joe
goes through. Vaclav Havel spoke of the dangers of these as he himself
experienced as President of the Czech Republic... Someone should get fired.
April 4, 2014
NO ONE HAS BEEN FIRED YET???
Dear Mr.
President, Secretary Jimenez, Secretary Abaya:
Facebook is once again getting
filled up with horror stories of travellers going through hell, especially at
our airports, including the airport complex that we have decided to name after
Your Excellency's father -- and which now ranks among one of the worst in the
world. Yet, at the same time, we go to town telling the world to come over
because it is more fun in the Philippines. Can't we get our act together on
this one? In Puerto Princesa alone, I figure that about 2500 passengers exit
PPS daily, each paying P100 as terminal fee. Multiply that and you get P250,000
for the day, times 30 days x 12 months and....the air-conditioning fails right
before summer while the Xray machines conk out! Where does the money go? And
that's only PPS, Mr. President, Messrs. Secretary. Then again maybe you don't
notice this because, well, you don;t go through the process we ordinary mortals
go through: security check, baggage inspection, check-in queues, terminal fee
payments and then the sometimes never ending wait in the waiting rooms that are
steaming hot not only because it is summer but because 1) the cooling systems
conk out and 2) flights are delayed so 3) there are more people in the area
than it was built to serve! And no one has been fired yet?
Frankly, I am stunned that no swifter
action has been taken to remake our international airport into one that would
bring honour to the man for whom it is named....as if no one cares! As I have
said before, were I President with an airport named after my father that would
rank among the worst in the world, some people would go missing the next day
and the next day and the day after until I find an airport administrator who
knows how to get the job done. In your case Your Excellency, being far more
gentle than I am, you could just fire them, couldn't you? But why haven't you?
What -- or who -- is stopping you?
We want more tourists but our infra is
shot. We want more flights but delays are unbelievable because our infra is
shot. We project travel here to be fun but our own locals are cursing travel to
high heavens because our infra is shot. Ok, let's not shoot anyone anymore but
can you at least fire someone?
Or do you want us, the Filipino people,
to be the ones to do the dismissing ourselves?
By the way, that is not a threat but
feel free to read it that way if it so pleases you.
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