Duterte wants DOTr to give passengers more seats at airports

After seeing passengers whose trips to the provinces have been cancelled sleep outside the terminals, President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday ordered that more seats be placed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Following a meeting with officials in Malacanang on Tuesday night, Duterte ordered Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade to remove some of the restaurants at the airports to make way for more seats for waiting passengers.

"'Yung mga gustong umuwi nag hintay sila ng sarili nilang scheduled flight or... most of them were sleeping outside the buildings there. andito naman sa pantalan nakita ko pinaupo sila parang you know," Duterte said.

Thousands of locally stranded individuals have found themselves sleeping on cartons outside airport terminals after their flights to the provinces were cancelled.

The government issued a moratorium on the return to the provinces amid the COVID-19 pandemic after some local government units said they had no more room at their isolation facilities.

"Alam mo 'yang airport na 'yan, kung sino nag design niyan g--o, sabihin mo sa kanya. Walang upuan. Iilan lang ang upuan. Kapag ang mga flights nag patong, 'yung iba naka tindig," Duterte said.

"What's really worse is that merong restaurant diyan sa labas na malaki. Palisin mo 'yung restaurant lagyan mo ng upuan kasi 'yung iba mg merong mga bata, mga buntis," he added.

According to Duterte, this was a "classic" case of government neglect.

"Kawawa 'yung tao. This is a classic case of government--and I must admit inabot ko ang problema, e di kasali ako. I'm not washing my hands. This is a failure of government, neglect," Duterte said.

"Art, lagyan mo ng silya lahat 'yan. 'Yang restaurant diyan kung ma-terminate mo contracts, terminate them. Because I need them to seat the passengers waiting," he added. -NB, GMA News