It’s time every Juan learns to be kind.
“On Saturday evening, Mar 15, a 12-year-old-boy scheduled for a medical procedure for a congenital condition was offloaded by budget carrier Cebu Pacific at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3,’ reports ABS-CBNnews.com.
According to Regin de Guzman Palileo said her son and her mother, Luisa Punzalan, were scheduled to board Cebu Pacific flight 5J 751 bound for Vietnam at 10pm, but they were prevented from doing so by a certain Mark Rotanel from Cebu Pacific check-in counter.
Rotanel informed Palileo that her son could not board the plane because he was using a damaged passport.
The report noted: “Palileo said her son used the same passport in their latest travel to United States but they never experienced any problem with it. She also told Rotanel that her son is scheduled to undergo an operation in Vietnam for pectus excavatum or ‘hollowed chest.’ The congenital condition shows the person’s breastbone sunken into the chest.”
But Rotanel was not moved by Palileo’s son’s plight. He insisted that the airline had the right to offload any passenger using a damaged passport. Thus, Palileo, her mother and her son were eventually offloaded from the plane.
On Sunday, Mar 16, Palileo formally filed a complaint with the Manila International Airport Authority and the Cebu Pacific customer service desk. According to the report, Palileo said airport authorities referred the case to the Department of Foreign Affairs, which supposedly confirmed that the passport is still valid and has no defect.
To avoid further argument with the Cebu Pacific management, the DFA opened up its consular office on Sunday and issued a temporary (green) passport for the 12-year-old boy. Unlike Rotanel, the DFA officials were sympathetic to his health issues. following a hearing on the urgent plea.
Eventually, as Palileo related, a certain Benjamin Salcedo, Cebu Pacific station manager, attended to their complaint Sunday morning and subsequently booked them to leave for Vietnam the same day at 10:50pm with no rebooking fee.
To be fair, in a message on its Facebook page, Cebu Pacific said CEB’s Guest Services team has already contacted the affected passengers and provided all necessary assistance so they could push through with their flight. They said they will be investigating what exactly prompted Rotanel to be so adamant about offloading the 12-year-old boy.
Photo by Carabaopower (WikiCommons)
Carl Kuntze says
I've had bad experiences with Cebu Pacific. Many of their personnel are arrogant because they think people who in the interest of "saving money" would tolerate abuse. I'll never ride on their airline, particularly when other budget airlines go out of their way to accommodate passengers.
Leo Anselmo says
tanggalin nyo n iyan wlng puso yan pot!!!!!!!!!!! iyan