#DisipliNAIA

Thanks to social media and the modern communications technologies behind it, bad behavior—and even the noble ones—are given the widest public exposure possible.

We see these examples of bad behavior all over our wired world. The two words, “Pasikatin iyan! (make him/her famous)” is like the modern “Abracadabra!” You rub people the wrong way, and your wishes, or worst nightmares, become true.

Unintended media exposure may happen in any public place—in restaurants, churches, arenas, shopping malls… any place where people converge to interact. Arguably, the most fertile ground may be where humans are in transit. These can be on roads, sidewalks, in transport terminals, vehicles, and airports. Why here? Perhaps it’s where we’re most in a hurry, and impatience often gets the better of us.

Thus, we’ve seen a fair share of appalling behavior in the country’s air transport terminals. Never mind their socioeconomic class. Once they feel they’re entitled to deserve better treatment than others, all manner of breeding flies out the window.

Combine this feeling of self-entitlement with the extraordinary congestion in the country’s main air terminal, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport NAIA), and the situation becomes incendiary. From January to June 2019, NAIA traffic was at over 60,000 international flights and 76,000 domestic flights, equivalent to 12.7 million international flight passengers and 11.6 million domestic flight passengers, all crammed into a few thousand square meters.

So, before things can go out of hand, airport authorities are now appealing to the better nature of passengers. On Nov. 20, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) launched the “#DisipliNAIA” civility program in an attempt to restore GMRC (good manners and right conduct) among passengers and airport workers.

The MIAA news release sent to Inquirer Motoring states that the campaign was the brainchild of MIAA GM Eddie V. Monreal. It described #DisipliNAIA as a campaign to return to Filipino positive values, especially the value of respect for other people, and mindfulness of one’s action at all times.

“From following the rule of the yellow lines, proper queuing and following airport security protocols, to picking up one’s trash, and taking back one’s bag so that someone can take a seat, DisipliNAIA aims to correct many issues and problems airport users are dissatisfied about in the airport.”

#DisipliNAIA aims to encourage people to become good airport citizens and to raise awareness about GMRC (good manners and right conduct) among all airport users—from MIAA employees and third party partners, to passengers, transport services, and even to well-wishers.

In his keynote speech at the press launch of #DisipliNAIA at the NAIA Gate 16 Terminal 1, Monreal stressed, “We are going back to basics—basic in a sense na gawin natin ang tama, gawin ang nararapat (do what is right, do what is proper) even when nobody is watching, even without people telling us what to do.”

According to MIAA there has been a resounding clamor for order and discipline on social media. It is not unusual that netizens post photos of bad airport behavior, all asking “Wala na ba tayong respeto? Kailangan natin ng disiplina (Don’t we have respect anymore? We need discipline.)”

The #DisipliNAIA components involve:

• Internal and external campaigns and forging of partnerships to rally support among all stakeholders.

• MIAA conducting regular civility and service excellence workshops among thousands of its employees, partners, and stakeholders.

No memos

“There’s no intention of giving out memos,” Monreal assured the MIAA administration and staff. “That’s the reason why we’re having this DisipliNAIA. Even without penalties or sanctions, we should take upon ourselves our own responsibility to comply with what is required of us.”

Monreal added that it is expected of them to observe proper conduct as citizens and workers of the government, and that they should endeavor to be leaders by example. “Now that we’re launching this, I expect all of you to do as you preach, meaning walk-the-talk, follow the regulations, and be the examples and leaders for this advocacy.”

Airport users will also see many posters, videos, and billboards to remind them that they are in the #DisipliNAIA zone, and as such must observe respect and mindfulness towards other people and towards airport facilities. These visual materials will also include QR codes that citizens can use to forward to the staff any issues concerning the airport.

Monreal said he hopes to inspire partners to throw their all-out support towards this worthy cause.

“We are one family in NAIA. That should be the mindset if we want to succeed in this endeavour. If not now, then when? If not us, then who else?,” Monreal implored the administration and staff, stressing one of the campaign’s key messages and hashtags, #NowNa.

For the past three years as general manager of MIAA, Monreal had always hoped to launch a campaign like #DisipliNAIA. Monreal explained how airports were places where emotions run high. Travelling, catching one’s flight, and saying goodbye to loved ones make airport citizens nervous and edgy, which turn quickly into irritability and shortness of temper.

The #DisipliNAIA campaign hopes to bring back civility to air travel, starting from the ground up.

“There may be cynics who would say that the initiative might not take off. Fine, but the important thing is we are doing something, we are responding to the demand of the times. Culture is difficult to change because as we all say, that’s what we grew up with. But if we are all in this together, nothing is impossible to achieve,” Monreal said.