First off, I would like to congratulate SCMAP’s Visayas chapter, led by its president Gilbert Cabataña, for the success of the Vismin Supply Chain Management Congress, held last July 15 at the Bayfront Hotel in Cebu.
The event, which boasted of an esteemed panel of speakers and a thoughtful agenda – centered on the impact of technology and innovation on supply chain processes and practices – attracted 174 participants. “I believe this is the biggest gathering of supply chain practitioners so far in [the region],” Cabataña says. From what I’ve seen, I’m inclined to agree. It is definitely a good showing not just for the Visayas chapter, which has taken the initiative in leading the supply chain industry in their area, but also for SCMAP as a whole, as it seeks to become a truly national organization representing the profession.
Attending the Vismin Congress meant flying to Cebu, which was a good opportunity to see the state of our airports. With Manila’s transportation system very much in the news these days, it was a good time to look at whether our airports are really up to speed.
Of course, there were the things you’d typically expect. This being a domestic Cebu Pacific flight, we had to board our planes via their shuttle buses; the planes were not docked on the boarding gates, but on the taxiways. There wasn’t enough space, I reckon.
The boarding area was filled with people – again, an expected thing, but I can’t help but think the space is so cramped it could be risky when emergency situations arise. It wasn’t clear where passengers boarding our flight in Cebu, or others flying to Dipolog, were supposed to sit.
Work on the Mactan Cebu International Airport is very much underway: already the existing terminal had reconfigured its layout, meaning a bunch of surprising new stores – but more importantly, all passengers now go through one pathway for security inspections. I appreciate that the airport now has facilities that allows you to scan your boarding pass’ bar code, much like in other airports around the world (I experienced it personally in Incheon). Manila, you have some catching up to do.
But what’s all that if my flight is still delayed? We booked the 2:10pm flight to Manila, but left at 3:45pm. The aircraft, apparently, left NAIA late, not immediately cleared by the control tower. Thus, a domino effect: the boarding gates were really crowded, with impatient, bored passengers.
Upon our arrival, the number of waiting relatives and well-wishers was so high, I had difficulty exiting the terminal. Crowd control was definitely needed.
“At least we did not go through something worse,” my colleague Annette Camangon told me a few days later. She’s right. We did avoid the recent hullabaloo at NAIA, when a crack on one of its runways forced flight cancellations and diversions to Clark.
In an interview with ANC, Clark International Airport’s head Emigdio Tanjuatco III admitted that his facility is not ready for a surge of flights, as there are less slots: CIA’s capacity, he says, is 30% lower than NAIA’s. While he welcomes initiatives to expand Clark to accommodate increasing air traffic to Manila, he believes it should be done gradually – not just in terms of how many aircraft it can accommodate at a given time, but also in terms of facilities for customs and immigration, as well as the road network leading in and out of the airport.
Last week, newly installed transportation secretary Arthur Tugade vowed to look into building an additional terminal or runway (but where exactly?) to accommodate the influx of passengers into NAIA, which has been operating above capacity.
There is a lot of work to be done. Getting all this sorted – and, again, this will not be accomplished at the end of President Duterte’s six years – will improve not just Manila, but also Cebu, and all the other major cities in this archipelago. Of course, it’s not just NAIA that needs a look in, but all airports across the country as well. These initiatives have been delayed for so long – it’s about time they take off.
Henrik Batallones is the marketing and communications executive of SCMAP. A former board director, he is also editor-in-chief of the organization’s official publication, Supply Chain Philippines.
