Why You Should Be Scared of NAIA

No, this is not another post about Terminal 1; it's pretty much a given that the entire building is a danger to society, structurally and aesthetically. And I won't be lamenting the runway congestion issues either, even though my flight last night, originally scheduled to arrive at 8:30PM, landed an hour and a half later, inclusive of circling the Manila airspace.  (That did afford me a spectacular nighttime aerial tour of the entire Metro, though - C5, The Fort, Makati, Ortigas, EDSA, Q-Ave-Rodriguez, North-West-East-Timog, Diliman's Academic Oval, the traceable Commonwealth Avenue, Balintawak, NLEX.) 

No, I'm here to talk about Terminal 3. Yes, that beautiful thing that is, for now, our country's best answer to go with the pantheons of Incheon, Changi, Chek Lap Kok. You see, if you think we've learned our lesson from the horrors of 9-11, which many people think is an exclusively American thing, you're wrong.

Because you can actually enter the terminal building without having to go through security.

Yes, you read that right.

The arrivals area is a huge place. It is separated into two: the baggage claim hall, which is exclusively for arriving passengers; and the well-wisher's area, which is open to the public. It is in the latter that you have the elevators and escalators to the departures hall - this is for those who actually have to claim their baggage first before proceeding to the departures hall for another flight. But this is also convenient for those who do not want to fall in line (a really long line) just to get on an overpriced cab (get what I'm trying to tell you? Yes, that's right, exit the terminal at departures - you can do that - and get your cab there).

So, what can someone not like me do? Get off at arrivals, grab one of the freshly used luggage carts lying around (if you have lots of things), enter the well-wisher's area, use the elevators, and get to your check-in counter without all the fuss of initial security checks.  

So now, can you imagine what someone of no good intentions can do??? Because with that kind of system, anyone can actually enter the terminal without getting checked. They can lounge around the well-wisher's area, go to the restrooms, and even to the departures hall - UNCHECKED. With that, one can actually bring a suitcase (which can contain, oh I don't know, a crocodile or something) and drag it all the way to the check-in hall without it getting scanned. And if that isn't clear enough, what I'm saying is, ANYONE CAN ENTER THE EFFING TERMINAL WHATEVER THEIR BUSINESS IS. 

Right now, that scares the shit out of me. Maybe I'm just paranoid or something, but there is a very, very, very, very, very serious problem here. NAIA, you are  so screwed.

L-R: A bit of Laguna de Bay, Mt. Makiling, Mt. Banahaw-San Cristobal (top right). The road you see traversing the lower right quadrant is the one popularly taken to go to Quezon and onwards.