“Work, work, work. While it is good that we are not listed among the worst, let us work even harder to be included among the best.

When the Duterte administration took office in June 2016, one of the first problems it needed to fix was the ugly reputation of the country’s premier gateway due to the tanim bala (bullet planting) extortion scheme, substandard and dilapidated facilities and scheming airport taxis to name a few.

From being the world’s worst airport from 2011 to 2016, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport was finally excluded from the top 10 worst airports in 2017 thanks to the reforms initiated by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade.

To cap his accomplishment, NAIA was recently named among the most improved airports in the world, according to Skytrax, a global source of Airline Ratings and Review.

The Award for the World’s Most Improved Airport is based on the relative year-on-year quality performance by all airports featured in the World Airport Survey.

But still, Tugade pledged to work harder to improve the country’s image.

“Work, work, work. While it is good that we are not listed among the worst, let us work even harder to be included among the best. We should be careful that we do not backslide. The show must go on,” he said.

The improvement in the premier airport is just one of the many achievements of Tugade’s office in line with efforts to improve the lives of Filipinos and promote economic inclusion.

If the former heads of the DoTr were synonymous with incompetence because of the array of problems they left behind that are still being felt today, Tugade is “a man with a plan.”

The almost one hour waiting time for MRT-3 rides was reduced to ten minutes after the DoTr increased the number of running trains from 15 to 18 daily.

Tugade also pushed an independent audit by TUV Rheinland of the 48 defective train cars bought from CRRC Dalian Co. of China by the administration of President Benigno Aquino for P3.8 billion.

To augment the MRT-3 operations, the DoTr deployed point-to-point (P2P) buses at the North Avenue and Quezon Avenue stations during rush hours in the morning and afternoon as an option to MRT-3 passengers who missed a train ride.

In August 2017, the DoTr’s agency Land Transportation Office (LTO) started distributing driver’s license with five-year validity and in June this year, the agency produced 387,000 motor vehicle plates that are now being distributed by batches to various LTO regional offices nationwide.

Both moves ended years of frustration by motorists over the lack of driver’s license and motor vehicle plates.

Motor vehicle plates registered from 1 July to 31 October 2016 were for distribution to their respective vehicle owners starting first week of July.

The office is aggressively pushing to modernize the public utility transport sector by replacing old dilapidated jeepneys with modern e-mini buses to provide commuters with a safe, secure and environment-friendly rides.

Intermodal terminals are under construction to serve passengers entering Metro Manila, including the Parañaque ITX, the Taguig ITX and the North ITX in Bocaue, Bulacan. Accreditations were also given to the Eastern Transport Terminal in Marikina and the Sta. Rosa Transport Terminal in Laguna.

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