To Rename the Airport, Drilon says, “Leave NAIA alone”

A plan that would have changed the name of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to Ferdinand E. Marcos International Airport drew criticism from former senator Franklin Drilon on Wednesday.

Drilon remarked in a statement that the next 19th Congress will, “has more urgent things to do than to rename an airport, such as how to arrest inflation and address the surging oil prices.” 

“There is no compelling reason to change the name of NAIA. Any proposal to rename NAIA will always be seen as political and divisive,” he added. 
 
“This obvious attempt for ingratiation is actually a disfavor to President Marcos Jr. It will not augur well with the call for unity of the Marcos administration. Leave NAIA alone.” 

Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr., a representative for Negros Oriental, claimed in his bill that renaming the airport “after the individual who has contributed to the idea and execution of the aforementioned noble undertaking” is more fitting.

However, the NAIA’s international runway and related taxiway were constructed in 1953, according to the Manila Foreign Airport Authority (MIAA), while a control tower and terminal building for international travelers were finished in 1961.

Four years after the opening of what is now known as the Manila International Airport, Marcos Sr. was elected president in 1965.

The Manila airport was renamed after the late opposition senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., who was slain there on August 21, 1983, after Republic Act 6639 was passed in 1987.

“It is representative of the heroism of human rights violation victims like Ninoy Aquino so that name has been institutionalized and should not be changed because that…will be a revision of history,” He said in ANC on wednesday

“I think we should be able to stop at its inception all these efforts of historical revisionism…They are starting with the renaming of the national airport. I will oppose that and I think many legislators will also oppose it.”

In his statement, Drilon claimed that renaming the nation’s primary airport would divert Congress’ attention from pressing measures that might boost the economy, fortify the healthcare system, and prevent a future decline in the country’s educational system.