Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Pilipinas: Lawmakers propose renaming NAIA

Aviation Updates Philippines – Three lawmakers filed House Bill No. 7031 on Thursday seeking to rename the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) into the Paliparang Pandaigding ng Pilipinas, the Filipino equivalent for Philippine International Airport.

Citing the designation of NAIA as the international gateway of the Philippines, Davao City 1st District Representative Paolo “Pulong” Duterte, Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Jay Velasco, and ACT-CIS Representative Eric Go Yap said “there is a need” to identify NAIA as “belonging to the Philippines.”

“With the proposed name, the airport will easily be identified as the international doorway of the country, in view of it being in Filipino language and branding it as the international airport of the Philippines,” the proposed legislation says.

The bill seeks to repeal Republic Act No. 6639, the law renaming the former Manila International Airport to its present name Ninoy Aquino International Airport. RA 6639 was enacted on November 27, 1987, more than four years after the assassination of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr at the airport.

There have been previous proposals to rename NAIA, especially ones that would supposedly revert to the original Manila International Airport. Back in 2017, Atty. Lorenzo Gadon filed that petition for the “sake of political correctness as well as rebranding for future, for the identification of the country it represents.”