The Philippines has finally reached the pinnacle of combing ignorance with plain stupidity. Recently, on April 2nd. Manila International Airport, experienced a 6 hour blackout. The incident, caused by a failure of one of the airport’s generators’, had nearly crippled the terminal’s operation, forcing cancellations of numerous domestic flights and delays in at least four international flights. More than 14,000 passengers were reportedly affected by the fiasco. Hence, one of the airport officials proposed that the management should start consulting a ‘Feng Shui’ expert to get rid of the ‘bad luck’ that has been hounding the nations International Gateway for years.
Reporter Rudy Santos of the Philippine Star said a series of mishaps has hounded the airport of late, such as collapsing ceilings, suicide attempts by a couple of passengers, and the death of a security guard who was thrown off a motorcycle inside the terminal. Not to mention the tanim-bala (bullet in your bag) scheme, which thrust Manila International Airport into global headlines; exposing the persistent corruption activities among staff in complicit with some airport officials.
An Airport exec, who refused to be identified, said he had already recommended to NAIA 3 manager Octavio Lina that they should consult a Chinese geomancy expert to identify which area(s) of the establishment had ‘design flaws’ that were attracting ‘evil spirits’ to reside within and cause harm. Allegedly, they want these spirits ‘exorcised’ so as to get rid of the bad luck. Lina reportedly also vowed to bring the matter with their General Manager. Airport officials added they might also consider the services of a localshaman ‘to make sure that all the bases are covered’.
Meanwhile, a separate and more logical campaign on social media had been rolled out by concerned netizens who demanded that NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) be renamed back to MIA (Manila International Airport); supposedly to shake off the ‘jinx’ of the Aquino name, which many have noted to be associated with some of the nations scandals, calamities, and other problems, that have occurred since the 1986 Edsa1 disaster.
Now comes the part that everyone involved, has either avoided or ignored altogether. Their inability to take responsibility for what has happened. And this folks, is a classic trait with most Filipinos. The very notion that even the most minute sliver of fault could fall in their lap, drives them bonkers. And for them, the fix all solution, is to blame someone else. No matter how far back it goes. A perfect example of this, is with their nations President. For 6 years now, he has managed to pass blame upon every administration before him – in many cases, as far back as Ferdinand Marcos – for the faults of his administration. And he is not alone in this mentality.
So having said that. Let’s take a quick look at a number of things they could have done to prevent this recent mishap. As well as numerous others.
- Consulted the contractors and subcontractors involved in the original construction of the Airport.
- Consulted the building inspectors, and quality control teams, during each construction phase.
- Made sure regular maintenance was being conducted on an annual, semi-annual basis.
- Question why there was obviously no redundant backup unit deployed or ready.
- Hired qualified management personnel. Rather than incompetent friends or classmates of the President.
And the list goes on and on of what should have been done from the very start. But that costs time and money. And since they haven’t found anyone to pin this latest load of shit upon. Call in the witch doctor. And this amazingly stupid way of doing things, isn’t just plaguing their Airport. It’s a nationwide problem everywhere. And with everything. In short, the nation and her people must learn to take responsibility for their own actions. Otherwise, it’s only going to continue to get worse.
[*] The featured image is the Apache Crown Dancers, of the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation in Northern Arizona. And is in no way associated with the Philippines. Or any issues mentioned within this article.
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