‘In disservice to the Filipino people’

I have struggled to write this column since Saturday morning Nov. 8 and today Sunday afternoon, it remains a struggle, given the national level of anxiety everybody must be having because of Typhoon Uwan.

- CITO BELTRAN

Who comes up with such names? “What's ina name?” they say but experience has taught me that the weirder or more colloquial the name, chances are the more destructive the outcome.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that as far as records go, typhoons beginning with a “Y” i.e. Yoling and Yolanda, both caused so much damage. Given the death toll from Tino, I pray to God Typhoon Uwan won't make all of us buang because of casualties.

Given the national government's headaches, I tried to exempt them from being on the bullseye for today. However, government inefficiency or, as I termed it, “disservice,” just makes it impossible to be sympathetic.

For starters, an acquaintance recently posted her before and after viaje or travel experience and the highlight was the pile up of travelers caused by the Bureau of Immigration which in turn reflected badly on the NAIA.

No matter how hard and how much the private sector invests in developing a world class airport, the New NAIA Infrastructure Corporation or NNIC works in vain every time the government side messes things up.

According to previous travelers, they have experienced faster processing, separation of OFWs and regular travelers, not to mention much better facilities for dining and pre-departure.

But last week was the third time I heard complaints about pile ups at the Immigration gates at the NAIA, often blamed on “volume of passengers.” HELLO! Passenger volume at airports is predictable and forecasted based on flights and confirmed seat sales.