Well, this is refreshing and something we can live with — almost!
On Tue, Jul 19, newly-installed Transportation secretary Arthur Tugade issued an apology to airline passengers and President Duterte for the inconvenience caused by the emergency repair of Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s main runway the day before.
The best part? He claimed responsiblity for what happened and said he will not pass the blame on to the previous administration.
“Sorry ho. Mr. President sorry ho. Ako ho ang nakaupo ngayon dito, hindi po ako titingin sa nakaraan. Ako ang nakaupo, responsibilidad po namin yan,” Politiko quotes Tugade. (“I’m sorry, Mr President. I will not deny responsibility since I am now in charge.”)
The emergency repair caused either the delay, cancellation or diversion over 50 domestic and international flights.
“To all passengers, please accept my sincerest apologies. This is an event that no one wants to happen. The asphalt peeled off. We needed to give it our attention,” he said. “I don’t want to put at risk the safety of aircraft. I don’t want to put at risk the safety of passengers.”
According to Philstar.com, “the maintenance crew fixed the cracked asphalt cover of the runway that measured about 5 to 6 meters long and 2 meters wide near the rapid taxiway 3.”
Airport officials explained that rains over the past days weakened the asphalt cover and the landing and takeoff of heavy aircraft caused small cracks on the runway, it added.
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