Long lines welcome balikbayans at NAIA

The flood of "balikbayans" coming home to spend Christmas here is stretching the manpower resources and taxing the facilities at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminals 1 and 2, and even the Manila Domestic Airport.

The large number of balikbayans on board international flights from the United States, the Middle East countries, and Southeast Asian nations such as Singapore and Hong Kong has been causing long queues in immigration lanes at the arrival areas of NAIA-1 and 2.

While some balikbayans complain of the long lines, many endure the long wait because it means they would soon be seeing their relatives.

"It’s okay to wait in line. The airplanes are so full of OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) like us going home to spend Christmas here," said one balikbayan who arrived from the US on board a Philippine Airlines flight. "We kind of expect it."

Engineer Octavio Lina, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) assistant general manager for operations, said balikbayans started arriving in droves last Dec. 12.

"We have been continuously coordinating with the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for the smoother and orderly processing of the travel papers of the arriving passengers so that the queues can be minimized as much as possible," he told The STAR.

As much as airport officials would like to add more immigration lanes to accommodate the arriving balikbayans, Lina said "space limitations prevent us from adding more immigration counters. And there is also the question if they (BI-NAIA) could assign examiners to man additional counters since they also have their manpower limitations."

He pointed out the lack of space is one of the main reasons why MIAA is very determined to pursue its efforts to finally open the controversial and still mothballed NAIA Terminal 3.

"NAIA-3 has enough immigration lanes to accommodate huge arrivals like the volume that we see now. If we can open the NAIA-3 next year as planned, then we’ll not have this problem," Lina said.

The MIAA is now in the process of arranging, for the second time, a "soft opening" for NAIA-3 in March next year. The agency had earlier scheduled the soft opening last March 31 but this was called off by MIAA general manager Alfonso Cusi when a 100-square meter portion of the terminal’s ceiling in the arrival lobby hall area collapsed just four days before the scheduled event.

A subsequent investigation conducted by the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines found that poor workmanship and the use of sub-standard materials caused the ceiling to collapse.