A top airport official tells Rappler that the property – currently patrolled by armed guards – could be used for 'terrorist activities' if left unsecured.
MANILA, Philippines – The long-abandoned Philippine Village Hotel, a beige concrete slab with a cracked facade, looms just beyond the walls of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport . It has stood in this state of decay for more than 20 years – and now, airport authorities are moving to take it down due to “significant security risks and potential threats to public safety.
“Given its abandoned state, the building’s security has become increasingly compromised, making it susceptible to trespassing, vandalism, and other criminal activities,” Co wrote in a letter to Pasay City Mayor Imelda Calixto-Rubiano. On Wednesday, July 26, Rappler attempted to visit the Philippine Village Hotel, which sits just off NAIA Road, right before the Terminal 2 entrance. Security personnel barred the vehicle from entering the complex, pointing to the warning signs plastered on the barricaded gates.
“We have to send the city engineers inside, for the city engineers to actually assess if they can condemn the building already, given [that] for 20 years, it’s not been used. It’s a really old structure. After that, at least, we have subsequent steps if it has to be demolished or what, because it’s a public safety risk,” Co told Rappler on Friday, July 21.
What’s clear, Co said, is that “there are illegal occupants. They’re inside, the security personnel of the former PVHI or Burgundy. They’re barring both GSIS [Government Service Insurance System] and MIAA from entering the property.”The Philippine Village Hotel has a long, storied history. It was originally built to house the contestants of the 1974 Miss Universe beauty pageant, marking the first time the contest was held in Asia.
But things changed near the turn of the millennium. Just a few years after starting out, Grand Air ceased operations as it ran into huge debts. The Panlilio-owned company managing Philippine Village Hotel was the next to fall. Court documents showed that PVHI began failing to meet its monthly payments to Nayong Pilipino starting January 2001.
“We have documents in our possession of absolute sale of the subject corporation and separately, absolute sale of all assets and liabilities – all dated January 23, 2002,” Jocel Panlilio told thein 2009. “Hence all liabilities, including the Supreme Court finding, are assumed to be the responsibility wholly of Mr. Serafica of Burgundy Realty.”
Now, MIAA wants the property to be used for the expansion plans of NAIA Terminal 2. But Philippine Village Hotel, quite literally, stands in the way. “We have to make the land available for a private proponent to expand. As to the design, we will not specify. What we will specify in terms of references, as well as the standards that we will do with the private proponent, is more of what are the capacities that we want,” Co told Rappler.
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