Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade announced on Thursday, July 7, that airline companies have accepted the responsibility of maintaining the public restrooms in Manila’s airport terminals.
The firms on Thursday signed a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Transportation as regards the improvement and maintenance of the airport toilets and utilities.
“This was a big surprise to me. Why? Because number one there is a concomitant cost for them, noon di naman nila ginagastusan yan e, ngayon gagastusan nila… All for the interest of the public and showing their trust in the new administration,” he added.
Tugade said the MOA was in line with the Duterte administration’s principles of consultation, cooperation and trust between the government and the business community.
“I asked Mr. Lance (Gokongwei of Cebu Pacific), sabi ko, ‘Sir puwede ho bang humingi ng tulong?’ At sabi niya, ‘You know Art just ask for help and my company and group of companies will extend our support and cooperation’,” Tugade said.
“That was the same situation when I talked to other airlines. They said, ‘Just say so and we will help’,” he added.
Under the MOA, the carriers will be in charge of the improvement and maintenance, at their own cost, of public restrooms in the four terminals under the management of Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).
Executives from major airline companies—Gokongwei, Philippine Airlines President and COO Jaime Bautista, AirAsia Philippines COO Capt. Dexter Comendador, PAL Express President Bonifacio Sam, Cebgo President and CEO Michael Ivan Shau, and Philippine Airport Ground Support Solutions AVP for Finance and Administration Leah de Guzman Jore—signed the MOA.
“One of the basic problems which irritated the community is the issue of maintenance of the washrooms and utilities inside the airport,” Tugade said.
Tugade said the maintenance of airport’s utilities were bidden, however, the quality of service the contractors provided was disappointing.
