Charges mulled vs MIAA execs over terminal fee

MANILA, Philippines - A senior administration lawmaker and leaders of several non-government organizations are considering filing graft charges against officials of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) for “willfully and maliciously” forcing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to pay terminal fees despite being exempted by law.

OFW Family party-list Rep. Roy Señeres and other migrant workers’ groups welcomed the temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Pasay regional trial court on the MIAA and Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Memorandum Circular (MC) 08, which integrated the P550 terminal fee with the cost of the plane ticket.

“It is also our wish that we would not have to eventually bring the matter to the ombudsman against the airport authorities for willfully, deliberately, and maliciously stepping on a right of the OFWs,” Señeres, a former ambassador and chairman of the National Labor Relations Commission, said.

The lawmaker and at least 11 other religious groups and NGOs earlier filed a petition seeking to permanently scrap MC 08. Judge Tinagaraan Guiling of Branch 109 handed down the TRO.

The petitioners went to court after President Aquino did not act on their appeal for a recall of what they said was an illegal MIAA directive.