Lawmakers have expressed their sentiments on House Bill No. 610 filed by Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo Teves, Jr., which seeks to rename the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to Ferdinand E. Marcos International Airport.
Rep. Teves explained that it is “more appropriate to rename it to the person who contributed to the idea and execution of the said noble project. This project was done during the time of the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.”
However, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said the measure has no factual basis. The airport was already built in 1953; years before the former president sat in power in 1965.
Meanwhile, Sen. Migz Zubiri said he is more inclined to support its renaming to its original name Manila International Airport to avoid further sparking the feud between the supporters of the Aquino and Marcos families.
“Ako mas pabor pa na gawin nating Manila International Airport. Ibalik na lang natin sa original name if no one will agree on a particular family name kasi siyempre, yellow against red na naman ‘yan, eh di neutral na lang tayo,” Sen. Zubiri explained.
Malacanang, on the other hand, has decided not to comment yet because the bill is still on its early stage.
“Malacanang has no comment yet on this one. It’s just been filed, after all. It has not been subjected to first reading so any reaction would be premature, if any is even warranted at this time,” Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles commented.
She added that the bill was not filed by Malacanang so they are not in the position to comment on its timeliness.
“This is not a bill filed by Malacañang so it’s not our place to indicate whether it is timely or not. It was the congressman who filed it so no comment for right now, particularly, you know, its very early stages really, it’s just been filed,” the press secretary added.