Dr. Herm Javellana in an interview at the SM Clark-Starbucks on Monday. Photo by Joey Pavia
CLARK FREEPORT – “Clark is in the dark. Its airport services are backward.”
Thus said Dr. Herm Javellana, hyperbaric doctor of top petroleum companies in the world, as he complained the parking system at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) which causes delays on passengers who are about to board their outbound flights.
Javellana, who traveled in 89 countries, said the DMIA’s parking system is “one-of-a-kind” compared to at least 200 local and international airports he had seen.
“At the DMIA, you enter, pay and then park. In all other airports I saw, including the three terminals in Manila, you enter, park and pay later,” said Javellana, a native of Bago City, Negros Occidental who studied at the University of the Philippines-Diliman and Harvard University medicine school, among others.
In an interview at the Holiday Inn here on Tuesday, Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) Victor Jose Luciano told Javellana that “you should bring up these complaints so that we can act them immediately.”
He asked Hilarion Ritchie Nacpil, manager of CIAC airport operations, “to look into it.”
Javellana, who frequently uses the DMIA, disclosed he had first experienced the hustle of “park-and-fly” at the Clark airport in January 2010.
He said he was surprised to see that the poor system is still there last Sunday (July 17).
“I could not forget that day last year because I was supposed to celebrate my birthday on the air and later meet my friends in Bangkok,” said Javellana, who paid additional P14,000 to rebook his flights for his tickets from Clark-to-Bangkok and another connecting flight from Thailand’s capital city.
In 2010, Javellana said he experienced being delayed for at least 30 minutes at the DMIA when personnel at the parking area cannot decide on how many days the former’s vehicle would be parked.
He was not able to board his flight due to the delay caused by “several questions and laid back parking system.”
“Why do they have to get so many documents such as vehicle’s registration and worse, we have to fill up so many questions on the parking ticket,” said Javellana, who complained at the check-in lobby last year and was told by DMIA personnel to course his problem to Victor Jose Luciano, Clark International Airport Corp. (CDC) president and CEO, via “e-mail.”
“I and several others are always on the move and sometimes we can’t decide on how many days shall we park our cars.
And why do we have to write an email to the CIAC official when in fact there should be a compliant desk at the airport,” he said.
He said the DMIA should have parking tickets “much easier to fill up in this very high-tech world.”
Frank Montes of the Cebu City-based I-Design Passion whose wife is from Mabalacat, Pampanga, joined the interview with Javellana at SM Clark after hearing a venue to air his complaint.
He frequently uses the Cebu Pacific three-times-a-week flight at the DMIA to visit his wife in Pampanga and return back to work in Cebu City.
He agreed with the sentiments of Javellana “adding that some DMIA personnel do not treat the passengers well arriving in front of the airport.”
“Passengers should feel comfortable at any airport,” said Montes. Javellana also questioned DMIA’s P600 terminal fee even to transit passengers.
He said that at one time, he was just waiting for the next flight on the same day when he was asked to pay again.
At 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Nacpil said he had sent the CIAC’s statement via email but it didn’t arrive an hour later.
