NAIA, The World’s Worst Airport and ‘Pantayong Pananaw’

A lot of buzz has been created over the past few days by an interactive website, ranking NAIA as the worst airport  in the world. In 2011, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport has hit rock bottom, sliding from last year’s ranking as the fifth worst in the world.

The website is not an absolute authority at all, not the counterpart of Standard & Poor’s in the financial world, whose ratings can really affect how even the most powerful countries are run. Yet, “The Guide to Sleeping in Airports” ranking of NAIA has grabbed a lot of attention and draw intense reactions from Filipinos worldwide.

It is disturbing, these rankings. But nowhere near as disturbing as the fact that we Filipinos do not seem to value our own perspective. This time, we even need a website to confirm the mess that NAIA is in before enough drums  are beaten to wake the authorities  into action. We do not seem to have a real sense of self. We only have a false sense of pride that feeds on every  foreign praise and dies as easily with every bit of criticism. We are like a thoughtless gardeners who water the plants, not so we can see the beauty and smell the flowers, but to hear our neighbors praise, and then just leave the weeds to grow if nobody bothers to flatter.

This is not an isolated case. We demand apologies for the slightest comments that hurt our sense of greatness. Every blog from a foreigner that criticizes our inability to convert freedom, friendliness and intellect into national progress would surely get a lot of hits, even guaranteed to have their links shared in social media sites. We make actresses and their senseless comments famous by declaring them persona non-grata.We even introduced a radio comedian with a funny name to the world by demanding apologies for comments that nobody other than us really cares.

This works both ways. Artists and athletes get recognition only when they win international competitions or if discovered by talent scouts from other countries. Scientists and inventors are never given the proper platform until they prove themselves abroad. We base our country’s economic outlook on the moods of the ‘foreign investors’. We even need people with other nationalities to tell us how hardworking the OFWs are.

This reminds me of my history class back in college. A big part of the course was dedicated to Dr. Zeus Salazar’s concept of  ‘Pantayong Pananaw’. The concept, roughly summarized, is about the Filipino’s need to see history and current events as an extension of history, from his own looking glass—–from his own perspective.  And to generations of Filipinos who believe that the Philippines was ‘discovered’ by Magellan, this is indeed a tough task.

We do not need a website to realize how bad NAIA is. We all know that. But why do we need comparisons to see how lacking the toilets are with water while Manila is flooding?  Why does a foreigner’s complaint on thieves just outside the airport (and even inside) bear more weight than that of a compatriot?  Why do we heed easily to other people’s complaints about lack of proper facilities and hear none of those coming from our kababayans? We do this because we feel the shame. We do this because no matter how we glorify ourselves above all other races, we really do not know what is good or bad for us.  We only know what is shameful.

I think it is about time that we forget about other races’ websites, actresses, comedians and their perspective and just do everything to turn our real situation around. Their reviews and ratings about us are getting worse. If we base our actions on such, this could be debilitating, hopeless.