Polish man won’t leave NAIA clinic

MANILA, Philippines - A Polish man refuses to leave the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) clinic, where he has been staying since Monday, until his flight has been rebooked for next week.

Tomasz Chalot Stanislaw, 41, said he arrived at the NAIA on Monday from Butuan City, where he had spent four months with his Filipina girlfriend.

He said he hailed a taxi to bring him to a hotel where he could stay until it was time for his flight for Poland last night, but the driver sped away after he put his luggage in the trunk.

Left with only his passport and no money, Stanislaw said he “roamed around NAIA Terminal 1 and 2 to find someone who can help me for my food. At night, I slept in the comfort room at the Terminal 1.”

Stanislaw told The STAR that he went to Butuan to propose to his long-time girlfriend, whom he identified only as Monalisa.

“I promised her that I would be back in a couple of months to prepare everything in Poland, as I planned to bring her there,” he said.

Airport attendants found Stanislaw sleeping in the NAIA Terminal 1 restroom. They gave him biscuits and bottled water.

They then brought him to the clinic after he complained of chills.

Paz Santamaria, a nurse on duty at the clinic, said doctors who examined Stanislaw said he is in good condition and the chills may be an effect of a drug he had taken.

Santamaria and other nurses tried to contact China Airlines to rebook Stanislaw’s flight, but the ticket indicated it could not be rebooked.

“We are doing everything to help him get his flight back to Poland,” she said.

Stanislaw, who has not contacted officials at Poland’s honorary consulate in Manila, complained that he could not take last night’s flight since “I can no longer lift my left leg.”

He insisted that his flight be rescheduled to Dec. 14 or 15 but did not say why.

Santamaria told The STAR Stanislaw was apparently making excuses to stay at the clinic until the airline approves his request for rebooking.