Solon proposes to rename NAIA to 'Ferdinand E. Marcos International Airport'
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 5) — Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. filed a bill seeking to rename the country's main gateway Ninoy Aquino International Airport to Ferdinand E. Marcos International Airport.
Under House Bill 610, Teves said it is "more appropriate to rename it to the person who has contributed to the idea and execution of the said noble project."
He also noted that the air hub was "done during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos Sr."
READ: TIMELINE: The NAIA rehabilitation project
The country's main gateway was previously called Manila International Airport (MIA). It opened in 1948, under the administration of President Manuel Roxas.
The Manila International Airport Authority said in its website that NAIA's international runway and associated taxiway were built in 1953, and its control tower and terminal building for international passengers at the southwest intersection of the runways were completed in 1961. https://www.miaa.gov.ph/index.php/about-miaa/history-of-miaa
The late dictator was elected president in 1965. He declared martial law in 1972, the same year he signed Executive Order No. 381 authorizing the development of MIA with the establishment of the Committee on MIA Rehabilitation and Improvement.
The late Senator Ninoy Aquino, the staunchest critic of Marcos, was assassinated at the tarmac of MIA in 1983.
In 1987, Republic Act No. 6639, which renamed the Manila International Airport to Ninoy Aquino International Airport, was enacted without executive approval under President Corazon Aquino's administration.
Teves' bill was filed on June 30, but a copy of it was only released to the media on Tuesday.
Once House Bill 610 is enacted, the renaming will take effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two newspapers of general circulation.
"It is more appropriate to bear the name that has contributed and [left a] legacy in our country to make the Philippines a center of international and domestic air travel, who has instituted and built or conceptualized the project," Teves said.
The bill was filed last June 30, but a copy of it was only released to the media on Tuesday.
