Duterte Youth party-list seeks to rename NAIA to Manila Int'l Airport

Duterte Youth party-list Representative Ducielle Cardema has refiled a measure seeking to change the name of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) back to Manila International Airport (MIA). 

In filing House Bill 1252, Cardema said the name of the country's biggest airport, as enacted under Republic Act 6639, is based on a political move because it was named after martyred Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., husband of the late President Corazon Aquino and father of the late President Benigno Aquino III.

"The name of the international gateway of the country should have not been politicized in the first place," Cardema said.

"Our nation's capital is named Manila, therefore our country's international gateway to the world must be known as the Manila International Airport as  a sense  of pride  for  our  country's capital."

Cardema also said her proposal would be convenient for foreign visitors.

"[This is also] for foreigners to easily locate our main gateway when traveling  to our country and across the world. In view of the foregoing, the passage of this measure is sought," she said.

Ninoy Aquino, then an opposition stalwart, was assassinated upon his arrival in what was then the Manila International Airport on August 21, 1983. He was shot in the head.

The assassination intensified protests against then-President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., who was ousted from Malacañang on February 25, 1986, following the three-day People Power Revolution. He was replaced by Cory Aquino.

Marcos is the father of incumbent President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
 
Cardema filed the same measure during the 18th Congress but it languished in the House Committee on Transportation.

Negros Oriental Representative Arnulfo Teves also earlier filed a bill seeking to change NAIA's name to Ferdinand E. Marcos International Airport. 

At the Senate, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri said he prefers to rename NAIA to Manila International Airport, as renaming it to Ferdinand E. Marcos International Airport would only spark the quarrel between supporters of the Marcos and Aquino families.

Lone opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros, meanwhile, sees no need to change NAIA's name, explaining that it was named after the democracy icon to remind the Filipinos of the 1986 People Power Revolution. —KBK, GMA News