BAGUIO CITY – The city government will file a protest against the management of Cebu Pacific, a local airline company, for the alleged inconvenience suffered by some of the city’s athletes because of the company’s reported failure to properly inform the members of the judo contingent changes in their boarding arrangement that resulted to their inability to board their flight to Puerto Princesa for the recently concluded Batang Pinoy national championships.
City Administrator Bonifacio dela Peña said he will meet with the city’s judo athletes and their coaches to discuss the intention of the city government to file a protest against the airline company to show that what happened to them was uncalled for and should have not happened in the first place if there was proper coordination with them.
He explained he will also discuss with the athletes and coaches how to deal with the financial support committed to them by people who remedied their overnight stay in Metro Manila and the purchase of much expensive plane tickets the following day just to be able to catch up with the judo competitions in Puerto Princesa.
Based on the reports that reached the City Administrator’s Office, the city’s 11-person judo team with their coaches arrived at the terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) two hours before their scheduled flight to Puerto Princesa and were able to check in and waited for their flight in the designated boarding gate.
For still unknown reasons, the boarding gate for their flight was allegedly transferred without prior information and that they only knew of the said transfer at the last minute that caused them to rush to the new boarding gate.
However, the city’s judo athletes and coaches were not allowed to board their flight amidst their persistent appeals for them to be allowed to board as they were able to check in much earlier than scheduled but their pleas landed in deaf ears.
Through the effort of their coaches, the judo athletes stayed overnight in Metro Manila and were able to purchase much expensive plane tickets to Puerto Princesa the following day to be able to catch up with their scheduled competitions.
The said incident went viral in social media when it was posted by the embattled judo athletes and their coaches and the same got the attention of kind-hearted individuals locally and overseas who reportedly pledged financial support to them to be able to recover the losses they incurred due to the said unfortunate incident.
Dela Peña claimed Cebu Pacific reportedly promise to reimburse to the members of the city’s delegation the amount of P40,000 which represents almost one half of the total expenses they shelled out just for them to be able to reach their destination in time for the games that were scheduled for the national championships.
The city administrator expressed his sincerest gratitude, in behalf of the local government, to the kind-hearted people who raised some funds to help the athletes, saying that the matter will also be discussed during their meeting.
By Dexter A. See
