One of the monumental failures of this administration, which the president conveniently omitted in his last SONA, is the serious deterioration of our transport system, land, maritime, and air. Let us just focus first on air travel. Traffic congestion of incoming and outgoing flights is becoming intolerable, even obnoxious. Passengers have to be transported by bus to and from the aircrafts, even amidst raging rains and flooded runways. Travelling businessmen, professionals, tourists, and vacationing families are made to wait inside the aircraft before the plane is given clearance to take off or to land. And there is no government official who dares to talk to them and mitigate their woes.
Because of the gross incompetence of government officials, and sometimes also due to the lack of customer orientation of many airline personnel, travelers are given hard times and too much inconvenience, which only proves that domestic air travel in the Philippines is not fun at all. Secretary Mon Jimenez should tell Secretary Joseph Abaya that he is not doing his job. This writer is a constant traveler and in the last three months I have been travelling to Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and Cebu for my many speaking and seminar engagements as well in the remaining months of the year for the Bar Examinations review. I do not find these travels pleasant at all.
If the DOTC Secretary and his bureaucrat minions cannot even address the MRT problems, how can they ever be trusted to solve the air traffic woes? If this kind of problem happens in Japan or in Taiwan and Singapore, the DOTC head would be sacked within 24 hours, if he does not have the delicadeza to tender his resignation. If he cannot do anything, he does not have any business staying a minute longer in his post, even if he is an LP stalwart. Like Secretaries Alcala of Agriculture and Abad of Budget Management, they should follow Ecot Petilla of Energy. They should resign but not to run for senator. Their continuance is hazardous to LP politics. They are bringing the party down.
Incompetent and inept cabinet officials who have the temerity to accept very technical posts should, at least, have the humility now to admit that they are not up to the demands of their positions. They should not make the people suffer by their continuing and unabated mediocrity and their total lack of concern for the well-being of their constituencies. They should save the president from the burden of having to apologize for their unquestionable inefficiencies and ineffectiveness. They are the liabilities to this government and a continuing punishment of hapless travelers. Because of them, the LP bet for president, Secretary Mar, will continue to lose political support.
Because of unwarranted delays experienced by incoming and outgoing flights, many business appointments are cancelled. Business contracts are violated and some passengers experience physical, emotional, and psychological strains in the airport terminals which are overcrowded, not well-ventilated, and are lacking in seats and clean toilets. Some passengers are just sitting on the floors and no airport officials are going out to help them cope with the predicament. Airport officials are completely devoid of customer orientation. If I have the power, I shall fire all of them. Immediately. They are a bane to the "daang natuwad."
Nobody is thinking about traffic volumes. No one is looking at the bigger picture. No government official is thinking about the people who need to travel often. I strongly suggest that these people go to Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, or Jakarta and observe how other Asians manage their airports and their air traffic. Then after seeing the excellence there, they should be ashamed enough and tender their immediate, unconditional, and irrevocable resignation. They should commit professional "hara kiri" by resigning. If they cannot do their jobs, they should be honest enough to go and save the people from their chronic incompetence and indubitable mediocrity. No more and no less. Immediately.