International standards only

What a time for the US Federal Aviation Administration to announce what it did about the state of Philippine aviation. The FAA yesterday confirmed that it had downgraded our rating from Category one to Category two. It slammed us for “outdated aviation regulations, poor training programs for safety inspectors, and substandard licensing for air frame and engine inspectors”. This, when we are about to inaugurate a new airport of “international standards,” kuno.

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And this, as we are also bracing for the fall-out from the unheaval that the transfer to the new territory will surely cause. Already, porters relying for their livelihood on servicing arrivals and departures at the present (up to today, that is) airport, have realized to their horror that there won't be a need for them anymore at the new one. Why? Because there will be pushcarts for everybody and passengers can push their own luggage to the counters by themselves.

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Frequent travelers, too, are aghast at the thought that they will have to leave for the airport at least two hours, maybe even three, before their scheduled flight, and pray all the way that no funerals are taking place in Silay when they go there. And, as my businesswoman friend kept saying even before the facility was finished, who would dare to leave on a dawn flight or arrive on a late night when the sugarcane lining the highway is fully grown?

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Another friend had the shock of her life when she realized that the “international standards” of the new airport does not mean that those who want to go abroad need not travel to Manila anymore, and can simply board their overseas flight right here. Sorry, dear friend, this one will be good for the same destinations the old one was servicing, for the next few years maybe. You will still have to buy a ticket to Manila if you want to go to the U.S. , to Saudi Arabia , or Japan . But you can now enjoy an escalator, airconditioned waiting areas, a tube to get into your plane. Isn't that wonderful enough? Never mind the road, they may later get to that.

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But oh, we in the DAILY STAR really mourn the transfer of the airport to such a far away place. Now, we only have to sprint there when dignitaries arrive, or when we are sending off or meeting personal friends. We can also wave to them when they pass on their way downtown. Not after tomorrow. But that is supposed to be progress, even if the next few months may make us feel as if we are retrogressing. But the one thing we still puzzle over is, why has the President said “Pass” in what is supposed to be a momentous event for the region? Hasn't she presided at all inaugurations of this magnitude?

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We sympathize with Mayor Oti Montelibano and the officials of Silay who must have been readying a really grand affair for the inauguration. News reports yesterday said they had allotted some P1 million for the event, but the Provincial Board played kill-joy and disapproved it. Maybe the board members thought that, anyway, the President will not be there. But Vice President Noli de Castro will be, and as the truism goes, he is “only a heartbeat” from the presidency.

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Meanwhile, let us entertain ourselves by peeking into the developments of the American election. Last night, we heard that Mitt Romney had won in the Republican primaries in Michigan , beating the two front runners. Isn't it strange? In Iowa , it was Mike Huckabee, in New Hampshire it was John MacCain, now it is Mitt Romney in Michigan . Now Romney is bragging that he is going to also get South Carolina and make a “comeback to America ”. Will somebody tell him that one swallow does not make a summer? Anyway, let's wish them all luck, so long as Hillary makes it!

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Have you heard? A recent study has reportedly shown that it was Christopher Columbus who caused the spread of syphilis in Europe . Oh my. Maybe they will also say later that it was Hiawatha who infected the settlers with AIDS. Luckily Lapulapu took care of Ferdinand Magellan, otherwise the Spaniards may have blamed him for bringing dengue there.*

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