From Ninoy To Macoy: Lawmaker Seeks Renaming Of NAIA

A former key official of the House of Representatives has filed a bill that seeks to rename the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) into Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. International Airport, the late former president and father of President Marcos.

House No. Bill 610 of former deputy speaker Arnolfo Teves Jr. justified that it is “more appropriate to rename the NAIA” to the person who has “contributed to the idea and execution of the noble project,” with the facility put up during the first Marcos presidency.

“This project was done during the time of the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.,” Teves explained.

“It is more appropriate that it would bear the name of the person who has contributed and left a legacy that makes the Philippines a center of international and domestic air travel, who has instituted and built or conceptualized the project making it the pride of our country,” he added.

Formerly the Manila International Airport, where the late opposition senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. was assassinated on Aug. 21, 1983, the airport was named after the slain husband of the late former president Corazon Aquino, whose ascent to power was mainly due to protests against the elder Marcos’ administration.

This was after Congress passed the legislation and Aquino signed Republic Act No. 6639 in 1987.

In a previous privilege speech he delivered, Teves urged the younger Marcos to be “at par or even better than his father.”