Marcos denies privatization of NAIA

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) will not be privatized, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. clarified on Monday.

"We have no plans to privatize anything. There's no plan to privatize anything.
Rather we do the opposite. When Secretary Jimmy Bautista is talking about that, I think he may have been, maybe he misspoke or he was misinterpreted," Marcos said in a panel interview.

"You cannot privatize an airport to begin with. Hindi mo... they cannot own the airport, a private firm cannot own the airport," he added.

This came after it was reported that the Department of Transportation has doubled its efforts for the possible privatization of the airport.

Secretary Jaime Bautista has said the DOTr is working with the Asian Development Bank for the preparation of the terms of reference for NAIA's privatization.

The DOTr said should the privatization pushes through, the NAIA can increase its aircraft capacity to 50 or even 55 aircraft movements.

On the first day of 2023, 282 flights were canceled, diverted, or delayed after the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) recorded a technical issue at the Philippine Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC). Some 56,000 passengers were affected at the NAIA.

The incident has virtually shut down Philippine airspace for several hours and was the subject of Thursday's Senate investigation.—LDF, GMA Integrated News