It’s unanimous! SC rejects petition to rename NAIA back to MIA

The Supreme Court (SC) has shot down the petition of lawyer Larry Gadon who sought to revert the original name of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) back to the Manila International Airport (MIA).

“I was just informed by Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta that the Supreme Court during their En Banc Session yesterday, 08 September 2020, unanimously denied for lack of merit the petition for the declaration of nullity of Republic Act No. 6639 (An Act Renaming the Manila International Airport as the Ninoy Aquino International Airport),” announced SC Spokesperson Brian Hosaka on Wednesday, Sept 9.

In a petition he filed he filed last Aug. 27, Gadon prayed that the high court declare as “null and void” Republic Act 6639 which was passed in 1987 and named the NAIA.

“With Republic Act No. 6639 being patently illegal, our main airport’s name should be reverted to Manila International Airport (MIA),” read his petition.

The lawyer explained that the naming of NAIA is in violation of the Sept. 21, 2007 board resolution of the National Historical Institute (NHI), formerly the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), which set guidelines for the naming of public structures, among others.

Gadon said the guidelines state that consultations should be first, that the place should be named after a person who is already dead for 10 years, and that “no public place should be named or renamed after a person when questionable propriety might arise from the said act.”

“MIA was renamed to NAIA in November 1987. That was only 4 years from the death to the renaming – which violated this cited guideline,” the lawyer pointed out.

Also, Gadon said history has questioned “Aquino’s character, integrity, and overall propriety.”

“AQUINO was never declared a hero and as such does not deserve that an airport be named after him. In fact, in 1995 the Philippine National Heroes Committee officially recommended several people for designation as national heroes. The said Committee recommended Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Aguinaldo, Apolinario Mabini, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Sultan Dipatuan Kudarat, Emilo Jacinto, Juan Luna, “GomBurZa” (collectively, Mariano Gómez, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora), Melchora Aquino, and Gabriela Silang to be recognized as national heroes on November 15, 1995. AQUINO was conspicuously absent in that list,” he cited.

Though the NHI guidelines came out in 2007, Gadon believes it can be retroactively applied on the NAIA since the guidelines is not an ex post facto law which is prohibited under the Constitution.

“Yet, the prohibition on the passing of ex post facto law applies only to criminal cases and admits of exceptions – when it is more favorable to criminal law offenders18. Article 22 of the Revised Penal Code provides that “(p)enal laws shall have a retroactive effect [only] in so far as they favor the person guilty of a felony, who is not a habitual criminal,” Gadon explained.

“Considering that Republic Act No. 6639 has no afflictive penalties involved, and is not a criminal law, then it is not exempted from a future guideline, such as the NHCP Guidelines. With this contention alone, the questionable Republic Act No. 6639 clearly transgressed the pertinent provision of the NHCP Guidelines,” he added.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)