Manny V. Pangilinan’s offer to help fix NAIA mess receives thumbs down from dissatisfied telecom customers
Filipino tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan’s offer to help fix the technical problems at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), which resulted in hundreds of cancelled and delayed flights, received jeers from customers who said he needs to improve the services of telecommunications companies he chairs before sticking his nose in other issues.
Pangilinan, whose business holdings include SMART Communications and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., had tweeted that he himself was inconvenienced by the massive technical glitch in the NAIA’s air traffic control system which left thousands of passengers stranded at airports in the Philippines and various parts of the world on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2023.
In his follow-up post, Pangilinan said he managed to get home on 11 p.m. and thanked Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) for their “huge effort.”
In his next tweet, Pangilinan offered to help the DOTr and CAAP with technical matters such as required connectivities and redundant power supply protection. This apparently did not sit well with PLDT and Smart subscribers, who tweeted back with personal experiences of poor connectivity and unreliable service. Many also complained of irregular water supply from another Pangilinan business holding, Maynilad Water Services.
