MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – The proposed bill to rename the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has received a lot of pushback from many Filipinos.
Representatives Paolo Duterte, Lord Allan Velasco and Eric Yap want NAIA to be renamed Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Pilipinas. Many are opposed to the proposed new name because it is difficult to spell, pronounce and remember, especially for the hundreds of international pilots that will have to communicate with the air control tower as well as non Tagalog-speaking tourists and visitors to the Philippines.
Enter Senator Risa Hontiveros who proposed an alternate name that she says will be very easy to remember: MARIA.
It stands for Maria Angelita Ressa International Airport, named after the notorious Filipino American journalist, Time magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’ and self-proclaimed vanguard of Press Freedom.
“Honoring Ressa will show our country’s commitment to uphold Freedom of Speech while recognizing the Rappler CEO’s protracted battle against any curtailment of the rights of the Fourth Estate,” Hontiveros said.
Ready for landing in Manila? Fasten your seatbelts. We’re now approaching MARIA!
SAN FRANCISCO, California (The Adobo Chronicles, San Francisco Bureau) – Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, recently convicted for cyber libel in the Philippines, is thought to be a wordsmith. She is often heard blurting out template lines like “the law is being weaponized” to curtail press freedom, or “a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth,” or her more recent (which was also used as title for a self-serving documentary about her) “Death by a thousand cuts.”
DAVAO CITY, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Davao Bureau) – President Rodrigo Duterte’s son, Congressman Paolo Duterte had earlier proposed to rename the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Pilipinas (translation: International Airport of the Philippines), but many are pushing back.
The Adobo Chronicles 
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