APPARENTLY determined to ensure the security of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) has posted an invitation to bid regarding the installation of perimeter fences for Nayong Filipino and the abandoned compound of Philippine Village Hotel, amid fears it could be used as staging point for crime.
The invitation to bid is to secure the whole area from becoming a staging point for bad elements that its crumbling infrastructure could also pose a safety risk to the airport security. Bidders are advised to secure their documents for proper procedures not later than Tuesday, November 14, 2023.
MIAA Officer-in-Charge Bryan Co already notified Pasay City Mayor Imelda Calixto-Rubiano on their security concerns about the property. “Given its abandoned state, the building’s security has become increasingly compromised, making it susceptible to trespassing, vandalism, and other criminal activities.
The possible presence of these criminal elements not only jeopardizes the smooth functioning of the airport terminal but also raises serious concerns about the possibility of terrorist activities being planned or executed from within the structure and undermines the overall safety of the area. As such, we ask for your intervention for MIAA to be allowed to secure the area,” said Co.
Last June 25, 2023, MIAA 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 NAIA, specially Terminal 2 and the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing.
In a statement, 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 9 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 fire trucks 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 urged 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 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.
