Gloria abolishes $1 fee for baggage carts at NAIA

A load off many a traveler’s back.

President Arroyo ordered yesterday the abolition of the $1 or P40 fee for the use of baggage trolleys or pushcarts at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

During a pre-departure press conference at the Edwin Andrews Air Force Base in Zamboanga City, Mrs. Arroyo called up NAIA general manager Edgar Manda to order the scrapping of the baggage cart fee.

"I have instructed the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to stop payment for the use of baggage pushcarts in the international airport. The passengers, especially foreign businessmen and tourists and incoming overseas contract workers, deserve courtesy and service and not the unnecessary hazards and expenses for the use of pushcarts," the President pointed out.

Queues inevitably form not only at the baggage carts’ station but also at the booth where $1 or P40 is paid per cart.

"So the airport is the first and the last place keenly observed by the visitors. So let it not be said that the airport is the place where travelers are subjected to inconveniences and onerous burdens," the President said.

Despite the budgetary deficit problems of the government, this presidential directive will mean the abrogation of the private concession contract of the baggage trolley operators with the NAIA.

President Arroyo, however, failed to say how much the government will lose with this move.

The President’s directives came after similar fees imposed upon use of baggage pushcarts or trolleys in domestic airports were abolished last month after the Arroyo administration took over.

The imposition of $1 on baggage trolleys or pushcarts was first implemented as part of the World Bank-prescribed revenue generating measures for the government. – Marichu Villanueva