Another rat has been spotted, this time at the ground floor of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3. A passenger witnessed the rodent scurrying across the floor near one of the terminal’s boarding gates.
He recorded the incident and uploaded it to TikTok, where it immediately went viral, gaining some 500,000 views and more than 4,000 likes.
The video shows the vermin passing through several passengers on its way to a wall before crossing another walkway. One airport staff member was seen walking over a bench as the rat approached.
The passenger called for NAIA management to take action, saying he was aware of the rat problem that surfaced recently, but was not expecting to see it for himself.
Passengers have also uploaded videos of bedbugs and a cockroaches at terminal seats over the past week.
The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) met with the pest control and housekeeping service contractors on Monday to address the issue.
MIAA general manager Eric Jose Ines gave them an ultimatum to perform according to their contract terms or get banned from future biddings on services.
The MIAA instructed terminal administration groups to deploy more inspectors to monitor contractors’ work and re-evaluate housekeeping and pest control procedures. In the meeting, contractors committed to increasing their surveillance and disinfection operations, and employing periodic replacement of chemicals used for deep disinfection.
Ines took responsibility for the pest sightings and pledged to prevent them from happening again.
Earlier, janitors and other maintenance workers appealed to Ines not to terminate their contract following the series of infestation reports.
Air travelers took to social media to complain about being bitten by bed bugs on the benches in the departure area of NAIA Terminal 2. A few days later, another incident was reported, where passengers spotted a rat in Terminal 3.
However, a lawmaker claimed that the NAIA pest woes might be part of efforts to discredit Marcos administration, akin to the of “tanim bala” or planting of bullets scam on hapless travelers.
House Assistant Majority Leader Raul Angelo Bongalon said the fact that viral pest stories were posted in succession might mean there is a deliberate attempt to discredit the Marcos administration by encouraging criticisms on the country’s airports.
“Is it possible for this to become destabilization against the present government? It is possible. That is my take,” Bongalon said.
“This needs to be addressed by the management or NAIA officials and perhaps they can issue a certification that the airports are now pest-free. Because, again, this will put the administration in a bad
light as we know the airport is a gateway to various countries,” he said in Filipino.
“Napaka-unusual lang po ano. Kasi una, surot. Ngayon daga na naman. Eh hindi na po natin dapat hintayin na dumating pa sa punto na yung tanim-bala ay bumalik na naman ((It’s just so unusual. Because first, bugs. Now it’s a rat. Well, we shouldn’t wait for it to get to the point where the ammunition plant is back again), ” Bongalon noted.
“So, I guess, we have a colleague here in the House of Representatives who will call for a legislative investigation with regards to this issue because it is really so embarrassing,” he added.
For Deputy Majority Leader for Communications Erwin Tulfo of ACT-CIS party-list, the NAIA management has no one to blame but itself in the recent viral video showing rats and bedbugs plaguing the facilities of the country’s premier domestic and international airport.
“I think the problem lies with the NAIA management. The solution to that is simple, we have pest control, don’t we? Clean the seats. I seem to notice that there are many janitors there but there is no pest
control,” he said.
“Janitorial job is different from that of pest control technicians. It won’t take much of them to see if some pests like rats are present in the premises,” he added.
Tulfo noted that the NAIA facilities are already old and the airport management should also look at making renovations for the sake of the country’s reputation to tourists.
“is an old building and thus needs better maintenance… It is an international airport terminal and its is embarrassing for us if tourists or other foreigners see creatures like rats roaming around premises,” he said.
