Airport stinks and no place in the inn

Student athletes and tourists who flocked to Puerto Princesa for the opening of the Palarong Pambansa got an uncomfortable welcome upon arriving at the city’s airport which is currently undergoing much-needed rehabilitation and renovation.

It was learned that the recent deployment of four five-ton air-conditioning units to the airport by Transportation and Communication Secretary Leandro Mendoza failed to improve matters at the airport since the chillers could not be used in the open-air makeshift terminal.

The DOTC deployed the air-conditioners after Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward Hagedorn lambasted it for failing to provide an adequately-equipped temporary terminal while the rehabilitation of the old terminal building was ongoing.

Hagedorn said  the renovation has turned the airport into a “stinking, termite-infested hellhole that could collapse anytime”.

Transportation from the aiport has become a problem, and this city found itself suffering traffic congestion for the first time. The city’s hotels apparently could not also cope up with the instant boom in tourism. A number of tourists, including Manila-based media men that were supposed to stay at the city’s Legende Hotel, had complained of missing hotel room bookings that have already been confirmed weeks before their arrival yesterday.

The “homeless” tourists, fortunately, were provided temporary quarters by Mayor Edward Hagedorn while awaiting vacancies in the city’s hotel rooms. – Rainier Allan Ronda