Manila:A court is due to hear arguments on a petition filed by migrant workers asking the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) to defer a plan to include terminal fee in airline ticket fare.

According to Ferdie Maglalang; a branch of the suburban Pasay City Regional Trial Court is expected to start hearing today their petition asking MIAA to defer or call off the implementation of a NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) Circular implementing the P550 (Dh45) integrated terminal fee that would be included in all airline tickets starting November 1.

“The #Noto550 Coalition closed ranks to stave off an imminent move to diminish benefits granted by the law to overseas Filipino workers,” Maglalang, spokesperson of the group #Noto550 Coalition, that also includes the Blas Ople Policy Centre, told Gulf News.

The coalition put forward the petition for temporary restraining order against the MIAA Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 08 before the Pasay City Regional Trial Court last Tuesday.

In their petition, the #Noto550 Coalition argued the new charge “would violate a 19-year old law that grants benefits to OFWs, which include exemption from the payment of travel tax, documentary stamp and airport terminal fee.

“Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) had been exempted from paying the terminal fee, however, because of Circular No. 8 of MIAA, the payment will be integrated into the tickets, which means they would also be paying terminal fees,” Maglalang said.

He said that although NAIA had promised to refund terminal fees, overseas Filipino workers still would have to undergo the trouble of getting paid fees reimbursed.

“OFWs who have already paid tickets would have to bear with the hassle of having to fall in line to refund their tickets at the kiosks in the airport,” Maglalang said. “So what happens now to the money? Where will it really go? Will it go to improving facilities? That remains to be seen,” he said.

He said money paid by the OFW should be returned or better yet, not charged at all.

For his part, Senator Aquilino ‘Koko’ Pimentel III warned the Department of Transportation and Communications and the MIAA against implementation of the integrated terminal fees.

“They want to violate an existing law exempting our OFWs from paying terminal fees. What for? Removing the terminal fee counters at the airport will not ease congestion because you will have another line where our modern-day heroes need to line up to get refund for a fee they are legally exempted from paying. This new scheme should be scrapped because it is illogical, legally questionable, and extremely unfair to our OFWs,” Pimentel said.
Pimentel said he would file a resolution calling for a senate inquiry into the integrated terminal fee issue.

Kenji Solis, and a Filipino community leader based in Saudi Arabia, said a Senate inquiry “will enable all stakeholders to present their side in an impartial and fair manner.”

For years, OFWs had decried the government for regarding Filipino migrant workers as ‘milking cows’ that they can derive fees from.