MARCOS GOV'T PROTECTS CORPORATE PROFITS, NOT FILIPINO TRAVELERS, IN AIRPORT FEE CRISIS

The Makabayan bloc lambasted the Marcos Jr. administration for continuing to prioritize the profits of the San Miguel Corporation over the welfare of ordinary Filipinos and the domestic tourism industry, even as the Middle East conflict drives fuel prices and travel costs to punishing new highs.

While the Department of Transportation has reportedly ordered the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to reduce Passenger Service Charges and navigation fees, this directive applies only to CAAP-operated airports and explicitly excludes the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA)—the country’s largest and busiest gateway, operated by the San Miguel-owned NAIA Infrastructure Corporation (NNIC).

The four (4) NAIA airports cater to 130,000 passengers on a daily basis (50,356,465 total in 2024) and 750 flights per week (293,433 total in 2024). By estimates, about eighty (80) percent of all air passengers in the Philippines enter or exit from the Philippines through the NAIA airports.

So why did the DOTr limit only its directive to reduce fees paid by air passengers that only use airports managed by CAAP? Why did the DOTr Secretary not extend its same benefit to the supermajority of air passengers who use the NAIA airports? The CAAP and the MIAA are both attached agencies, and are equally under the supervision, of the DOTr. And yet, the DOTr only extended its mantle of protection to CAAP-airport passengers.

This selective reduction exposes the government’s pretense of action. Para saan ang rate reduction kung hindi naman sakop ang NAIA? The administration is pretending to provide relief while ensuring the most painful charges remain untouched at the airport where they matter most to the public.

President Marcos Jr. has long had the authority to immediately revoke MIAA Revised Administrative Order No. 1, series of 2024, which imposed unconscionable increases on all NAIA fees starting September 2024. His continued refusal to do so raises the unavoidable question: mas mahalaga ba ang kita ng San Miguel Corporation kaysa sa kapakanan ng bayan? Yung kakarampot nga na fare hike para sa mga tsuper sinuspend pero ito nandyan pa din.

The government should stop misleading the public with claims that 82.16% of NAIA revenues go to the MIAA. This is blatantly false when it comes to the Passenger Service Charge—the largest revenue stream at NAIA and a direct burden on every passenger. Of the P950 terminal fee paid by an outgoing international passenger, P705.40 goes to NNIC. Of the P390 paid by a domestic passenger, P334.60 goes to NNIC. Kita ng korporasyon ang pinoprotektahan, hindi ang mamamayan.

The Marcos administraton should suspend all airport and seaport terminal fees nationwide—a measure that would provide immediate, tangible relief to travelers, tourism-dependent MSMEs, and workers during the peak summer season.

We demand that President Marcos Jr. immediately revoke MIAA Revised Administrative Order No. 1, series of 2024, and order the suspension of terminal fees at NAIA and all airports. The government must stop protecting monopoly profits and start defending the people from the compounded crises of war-driven oil shocks and corporate greed. ###