Renaming NAIA silly, unnecessary

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is no longer a candidate just trying to win enough votes to propel him to the presidency. He has actually won it and is now calling the shots from Malacañang. His unprecedented mandate of more than 31 million votes no doubt gives him the robust confidence to lead his people better than some of his predecessors who have had to deal with a fractious, broken nation.

But as big as his mandate is, there is never any unanimity in the governed. Even those who voted for him may have voted grudgingly, not really because they liked him but because he just happened to be the better choice in a field of tough choices. And lest it be overlooked, the number of voters for that election was listed only at some 65 million out of a population of more than 110 million.

In other words, close to half the population, for whatever reason, did not get to vote one way or the other. What I am trying to say is while it took only 31 million to make PBBM president, his presidency encompasses all of us 110 Filipinos, including the millions who did not vote one way or the other. He therefore has to be very sensitive in consideration of those who have to regard him president, not by choice but by default.

I know that one of the things, if not the main thing, that fired up his desire to become president is the need of PBBM to find redemption and closure, for himself and for his family. The Marcoses have been reviled like no family has been reviled for more than 40 years. As I said many columns back, PBBM can make a left turn or a right. He can be vindictive or be objective and get his own shot at real greatness.

To me, although I would very much like to impart this to PBBM unsolicited, is that his winning the presidency, in a manner so convincing and astounding that even the whole world, with the Pope thrown in, has acknowledged with best wishes, is the greatest of all vindications. To me, PBBM needs to do or say nothing more to prove the Marcos name has been fully restored.

I am writing this now because I am aghast that some congressman would actually do something as stupid as file a bill seeking to rename the Ninoy Aquino International Airport into the Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr. International Airport. What for? Not that I am against the renaming itself. If such a change is warranted why not? But if it was not possible previously, perhaps it can be done later, when PBBM is no longer president.

To do so now is to miss the point of what I have been saying all along, that PBBM does not have to do or say anything to prove redemption of the Marcos family name. That has been done already by his remarkable ascendancy to the highest office in the land, an ascendancy that put to shame every Marcos hater, critic, or political enemy. Nothing can ever surpass or demean that distinction and honor anymore.

To rename the Ninoy Aquino International Airport into the Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr. International Airport, is spiteful and insensitive and goes against the grain of what it means to be restored or redeemed, which is a lot about being humbled by the honor and privilege of a second chance. There is dignity and honor in letting NAIA stand. For PBBM to serve with dignity and honor is more than any name etched in stone.

Besides, the international airport in Manila has been described by a number of organizations and institutions as one of the worst airports in the world. Surely, anyone seeking redemption would not want his name associated with something that has been described in such unflattering and derogatory terms. Enough of these inane and useless renamings.

“To rename the Ninoy Aquino International Airport into the Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr. International Airport, is spiteful and insensitive”