Clark’s ‘Tom Hanks’ is back

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — Clark airport’s "Tom Hanks," who left the country last Jan. 13 after being stranded here for over six months, boarded a flight in his native Ghana in West Africa last Tuesday to fly back to the Philippines on a tourist visa.   

Dominic Samson, coach and one of the founders of the Union Football Association (UFA), said Ghanaian football player Ayi Nii Aryee, 20, was scheduled to arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 10:30 last night.

The UFA had provided Aryee, an orphan, with tickets to Ghana and also shouldered his return plane fare.

The UFA and Samson’s uncle, former Bulacan Rep. Willie Villarama, helped Aryee during his six-month ordeal as a stranded alien whose movements were limited to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) here since he arrived on July 13 last year.   

"We will help him obtain a working visa as soon as he arrives so we can get him as a football coach," Samson said.

He and other UFA members saw Aryee play football while he was under virtual detention at the DMIA and were impressed by his "extraordinary skills."

The UFA has been active in promoting football among the youth, particularly in depressed areas, to wean them away from vices. It has trademarked what it called "footkal," which stands for "football sa kalye (in the streets)."   

Aryee is a known football player in the African continent.

During his stay at the DMIA, employees dubbed Aryee as the airport’s Tom Hanks, alluding to the character played by the American actor in the movie Terminal.

Samson said Aryee will remain under the care of the UFA while in the country and will stay at the residence of Dr. Raffy Rodriguez, one of UFA’s founders.

Aryee’s ordeal began when a football club in Singapore invited him to play soccer there. He then decided to enroll in a computer course in Singapore and applied for a student permit.

While waiting for the approval of his permit, he decided to visit a relative in Cavite. On his way back to Singapore last July 13, he was barred entry because his student permit had been denied.

He was then told to board the same Tiger Airways flight he had taken at the DMIA, where he was eventually stranded for six months since his passport did not have the necessary immigration stamp from the country he last flew into. — Ding Cervantes