The camp of former Manila International Airport Authority general manager Cesar Chiong on Friday vowed to “fight all the way” to clear his name, and push for much-needed reforms at the airport to give the public a better flying experience and trigger economic growth, especially through tourism.
The complaint does not involve any corruption issue and not one of the affected employees was terminated and majority or 201 of the re-assignments came from the airport police department whose reassignments were done pursuant to the security requirements in the four passenger airport terminals at Ninoy Aquino International Airport and were all recommended by the Airport Police Department chief and the assistant general manager for Security and Emergency Services.
Chiong’s camp, in a statement said, it is worth noting that Chiong’s predecessors reassigned even larger numbers of personnel without facing any legal repercussions. Former M/Gen. Jose Angel Honrado reassigned 646 employees, while Eddie Monreal reassigned 397 personnel during comparable periods, Chiong said in his petition with the Court of Appeals filed long before the dismissal decision of the Ombudsman.
Early into his stint last year, Chiong made significant changes to enhance the airport experience for the public. He removed X-ray machines obstructing terminal entrances and eliminated security guards flagging vehicles before accessing the ramp. These unnecessary measures incurred extensive costs amounting to hundreds of millions of pesos annually, while exacerbating the public’s frustrations.