NAIA bed bugs possibly imported, says pest control

AIRPORT CONDUCTS DEEP DISINFECTION

The bed bugs that have infested the Ninoy Aquino International Airport may have originated from a different country. 

This was the assumption of NAIA Terminal 3 Pest Control Services Operations Supervisor Mike Buño in a 24 Oras report by Mariz Umali on Thursday.

“Compared po doon sa mga surot na meron tayo rito, mas malalaki po siya. Kalimitan po, for example, dun [yan nanggagaling] po sa mga bagahe or dun sa mga pumapasok satin bagahe or gamit na dala galing ibang bansa papasok sa terminal,” said Buño.

(Compared to the bed bugs we have here, these are bigger. Usually [they come], for example, from the baggages or from the items brought inside the terminal)

The airport earlier conducted a deep disinfection of chairs allegedly infested by the parasites.

They shared that deep disinfection lasting at least three days per batch were conducted quarterly, in addition to daily disinfection routines conducted on the said chairs.

“Kalimitan sa treatment na ginagawa natin ang namamatay lang po is yung mga adult, so yung itlog po hindi naman kayang patayin ng chemical kaya tayo nagko-conduct ng quarterly treatment,” Buño said.

(Usually, only the adult bugs die from the treatment we conduct, and the chemical couldn’t really kill the eggs, which is why we conduct a quarterly treatment.)

“How can that be particularly that these chairs are made of steel? We’re not going to make excuses, but I saw the chairs. How can a bug stay there unless somebody brought it there? I’m not saying hindi pwede mangyari, it can happen,” added Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Eric Ines.

The NAIA management is currently awaiting recommendation on further disinfection procedures for pest control and has said that they were willing to cover medical expenses for victims of said infestation.

“We would like to apologize for the inconvenience. We would like to assure the public that every time they come over here, we would see to it that everything is okay. We’re looking into the possibility of probably getting more gang chairs na bago. Yung iba pinipinturahan na,” Ines said. 

Meanwhile, Senator Grace Poe said such an infestation affects other countries.

“That’s an issue in other countries as well. In France, train stations and some hotel rooms are affected. There is an increasing infestation problem,” she said in a statement.

The senator urged the management of Philippine airports, as well as other maintenance offices, both private and public, to make it a practice to regularly check, disinfect and thoroughly clean facilities.

“Cleaning and disinfecting should be a standard operating procedure not just during a virus outbreak or infestation,” Poe stressed.—Jiselle Anne Casucian/RF, GMA Integrated News