Davao City 1st District Representative Paolo Duterte Duterte, Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Velasco, and ACT-CIS Representative Eric Yap filed the House Bill No. 7031, which seeks to change the name of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Pilipinas on Thursday, June 25, 2020.

According to the press release from Representative Paolo Duterte, changing its name will get rid of the airport’s bad image, and would enable a fresh start after it was previously named as “one of the worst airports in the world,” and the “tanim-bala” incidents in the airport during the term of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

  “We need a more representative branding for the international gateway of our country, thus our proposal renaming NAIA to the Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Pilipinas,” Rep. Duterte said.

"Aside from it bearing our country's name, it is in our national language. We want it to reflect the legacy of the Filipino people, our everyday heroes. The name bears no color, no political agenda. It only signifies our warmth as Filipinos in welcoming our own kababayans and foreign visitors," he added.

While House Representative Yap claims that the Philippine airport should reflect the country and its people so Filipinos returning from abroad would feel at home upon arrival.

“We want for the name of our country to be the first thing welcoming the return to our countrymen as well as tourists from abroad when their planes land. We want to make them feel like they are home. There are many personalities who also deserve their name, institution, and so on. But when it comes to our airport, it should reflect the country and the Filipino people." Yap said.

It can still be recalled that in 2018, lawyer Larry Gadon filed a petition for NAIA to be renamed back to the Manila International Airport.

NAIA was known as the Manila International Airport not until 1987, when the airport was named after Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino who was assassinated at the airport on August 21, 1983 under the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino.

The proposed bill will be scheduled for its first reading where it will be referred to the Committee on Transportation for deliberation.