After tanim-bala, tanim-daga? Congressmen speculate

March 7, 2024 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Following videos of bed bugs and rats infesting the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), some congressmen said yesterday that the rats may have been planted to undermine the administration of President Marcos.

“This is very unusual to say the least, because at first there were reports of bed bugs, then came rats. If you ask me if this may have something to do with destabilizing the present government, yes, it’s very possible. That is my – Delon Porcalla

take,” Rep. Raul Angelo Bongalon said.

“And I don’t think we should wait for another incident of tanim-bala to happen again,” the Ako Bicol party-list congressman said, referring to an extortion scheme during the administration of Benigno Aquino III in which airport personnel planted bullets in the luggage of Filipinos about to leave for abroad.

Bongalon suggested that “airport management” and “NAIA officials” issue “a certification that the airports are now pest-free. Because, again, this will put the administration in a bad light because it is our (principal) gateway.”

For Deputy Majority Leader for communications Erwin Tulfo of ACT-CIS party-list, the NAIA management has no one to blame but itself.

“I think the main problem lies with NAIA management. The solution for this is very simple. Let the pest control guys clean those chairs. I have observed that there are more janitors in the airports than guys from pest control,” he said.

“This is the job of pest control and not the janitors. I think the management committed a mistake here, because they forgot to deploy pest control guys,” Tulfo added.

He noted that NAIA’s buildings are old and need “good maintenance for the upkeep. It’s very embarrassing because that is our international airport, and we have foreign tourists coming in.”