Good housekeeping

“Baka naman yung surot, daga at ipis sa NAIA ay gusto lang umalis ng Pilipinas sa hirap ng buhay at naghihintay ng masasakyan.”

So goes a comment on social media. Our dark Pinoy humor brightens up harsh truths to make us smile.

Seriously, the bed bugs hiding in the airport terminal’s chairs were bad enough. Then a passenger noticed a fullgrown rat running near the ceiling of Terminal 3. Then there are cockroaches. NAIA never misses an opportunity to keep its status as one of the worst airports in Asia and the Middle East, according to business travelers.

Yet, these natural pests are the least of our worries about the current dismal status of NAIA. The more nefarious of NAIA’s pests run on two legs and have been milking the airport to fatten their wallets. Most likely, the NAIA management didn’t hire the best pest control specialists. Not surprisingly, NAIA management now refuses to identify who these people are.

None of these should be surprising. Unfortunately, we are not known for good housekeeping, especially for public buildings managed by the government. Almost every government office looks old before its time because of poor maintenance.

A former NAIA GM was so surprised their power system failed because of lack of maintenance. “Kailangan ba yun?” was what I recall was his reported reaction when technicians from the power company gave their findings on what caused the airport’s blackout.

I suspect that culturally, we are not used to cleanliness... not used to practicing good housekeeping unless it is our house. Look at all our major cities and see how dirty the surroundings are. We have no sense of responsibility for public spaces, which explains littering everywhere. San Miguel is spending billions cleaning the Tullahan and other rivers including Pasig but it looks like a never-ending mission.

Even our malls, with the possible exception of the Rockwell Power Plant in Makati, are struggling to keep their premises clean. My test for good housekeeping in malls is to visit the rest rooms.

I was at Robinsons Magnolia last week and like their Galleria mall, the restrooms could be cleaner and brighter. Some Ayala malls are not that great either. SM and Ortigas are trying very hard. At The Podium and at Estancia, janitors are present at all times in the rest rooms to clean up after careless users.

But the best is Rockwell Power Plant and only because Tong Padilla, Rockwell Land chairman, keeps on going around to make sure everything is up to his very high standards.

So, whether we are talking about government or private sector-run buildings, chances are cleanliness and maintenance are not up to decent standards. Maybe it is a matter of cost cutting for some or maybe it is simply because management has no appreciation of why cleanliness is good business. Or maybe still, their janitors and cleaning crews are not motivated nor trained to appreciate how important their jobs are.

And if we are talking of government janitors, they probably got the job as a political favor and are under the impression that they should only pretend to work and collect their pay every 15th and 30th.

Governments have substantial budgets for maintenance. It is easy to guess that the funds are likely misused. That’s why I am not too inclined to have a nuclear plant here because we will not run it by the book and the government regulators would tolerate some cutting of corners in operations. Basta pwede na yan… until one day hindi na pala pwede.

But Filipinos can be trusted to follow international protocols if our lives depended on it… like flying commercial airliners. Our major carriers do things by the book, even taking planes out of operation if the ability to follow regular maintenance is curtailed, as was the case with the Pratt and Whitney engines recently. Our airlines had to charter other aircrafts while their own planes were sidelined waiting for P&W to supply the parts that must be changed after so many hours of use.

I am sure most of us can’t wait for San Miguel to take over NAIA to save us further international embarrassment. But getting rid of “surot” rats and cockroaches, the real ones and the two legged variety, is not easy. These pests are like our politicians: once they have established residence, they stay for good. Still, RSA texted me promising that passengers will enjoy a good experience at NAIA after they take over.

But we all have a responsibility to keep NAIA respectable. Everyone in the airport, including passengers, should keep their surroundings clean. Every little bit counts. The Filipino reputation is at stake.

Two choices

The late Singapore PM Lee Kuan Yew once said he had two options: Either I get corrupted and be in the Forbes list of the richest people and leave my people with nothing. OR I serve my country, my people and let my country be in the list of the top 10 economies in the world. He chose the second option.

A journalist asked some Philippine politicians what they thought.

The politicians said, “there are two options but the second option is already taken by LKY. We have no choice but to take the first option.”

Boo Chanco’s email address is bchanco@gmail.com. Follow him on X or Twitter @boochanco