Courtesy: Bambit Gaerlan
THE Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) has sought the immediate intervention of the Pasay City local government in addressing the significant safety and security risks posed by the derelict Philippine Village Hotel (PVH) to human life and property in its vicinity, specifically the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) with utmost concern to Terminal 2 and the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing.
The Philippine Village Hotel Inc. (PVHI) and other parties with interests on the PVH have been barring efforts of MIAA to secure the premises.
In his June 20, 2023, letter to Pasay City Mayor Imelda Calixto-Rubiano, MIAA Officer-in-Charge Bryan Andersen Co expressed deep concern that the PVH’s abandoned state “has increasingly compromised the building’s security, making it susceptible to trespassing, vandalism, and other criminal activities…[including] the possibility of terrorist activities being planned or executed from within the structure” which would jeopardize the operations of the airport complex.
Originally envisioned in 1999 as a domestic hub, Terminal 2 can serve nine million passengers annually.
Co requested that MIAA be allowed to secure the PVH area, not only from criminal elements, but also from natural and manmade disasters.
He cited two past incidents when MIAA personnel and equipment sent to put out fires in the PVH area were barred entry, clearly violating the Fire Code of the Philippines.
The first incident occurred on November 20, 2021, when MIAA firetrucks were denied entry to respond to a basement fire in PVH.
In response to a June 7, 2023 report, the MIAA fire brigade was allowed entry 15 minutes after their arrival, but only with the assistance of the Airport Police Department.
He also appealed to Mayor Rubiano to conduct a comprehensive structural assessment on the hotel to determine its level of risk for structural failure, collapse, and damage which may warrant its demolition.
The recent earthquake that was felt in Metro Manila last June 15 also highlights the urgency of the engineering assessment due to its proximity to the passenger terminal and aircraft movement areas.
Although it has not been operational since 2001, the dilapidated hotel structure still stands within the land of MIAA which was transferred from Nayong Pilipino Foundation by virtue of EO 58 issued last September 29, 2011.
This poses what MIAA describes as grave threats that could be mitigated with the help of the Pasay City LGU to “ensure the safety and security of the airport complex, all those associated with its operations, and the general public.”
