Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 6) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday apologized for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) system breakdown on New Year’s Day, and vowed that the government will ensure that such incident will not happen again.
“I’m sorry. Of course, we have to apologize to our kababayans (countrymen), especially those who came from abroad, dahil limitado ang kanilang bakasyon (because their vacations were cut),” Marcos told reporters following his inspection at the airport.
“Humihingi ng inyong paumanhin. Ngunit gagawin namin ang lahat na hindi na maulit ito,” he added.
[Translation: We are asking for your forgiveness. But we will make sure that this will not happen again.]
Thousands of travelers faced flight disruptions and were left stranded on Jan. 1 after a technical issue hounded the country’s main air hub.
Marcos acknowledged the work that needs to be done for the establishment, citing “technical and contractual problems.”
He added that he has asked the Transportation Department to speed up negotiations with suppliers to help upgrade airport equipment.
“Ang sinabi ko lang kay Sec. Jimmy (Bautista) [What I told Sec. Jimmy] is to make sure that we fast-track all, whatever negotiations we have,” the chief executive noted.
“And beyond that is to have a proper backup system so that if the whole system fails, we have a complete system ready to go.”
Government officials, including Congress, have vowed to investigate the airport mess.
