A Kalabasa Award for Cebu Pacific Air?

Last weekend, we marveled at the sight of the millions of Catholic men expressing their devotion to the Black Nazarene that ended with two people being crushed to death in the tortuous procession from the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park and back to the Quiapo Church. It would make us think that our church leaders should have given praise to the devotion of our Catholics; however, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales expressed his dismay of the "excessive" display of faith by the devotees. I fully agree with the Cebuano speaking Archbishop of Manila.

We should not overly show or express our Catholic faith in such a public albeit boisterous manner because we actually end up like the Pharisees who do what they do merely to show to the people that they adore and obey God. If the millions of people that showed or expressed their faith in the Black Nazarene wanted to really show their real faith, all they needed to do is be a good Samaritan and love or help their neighbor as themselves. This is what our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us. But that was not what we saw. In their "extreme act of devotion" two men were crushed and died, proof that the faith of these people is merely for show!

Contrast this to the millions of devotees that attend the Saturday procession of the Señor Sto. Niño where there is a multitude in total silence and reverence for the Child Jesus. No one gets killed. Of course, we end up with a boisterous celebration for the Sinulog Mari Gras the following day, which is the Fiesta of Cebu. Perhaps what our brethren in Manila needs is more catechism, more piety and less show of devotion. I’m sure that they can learn from us in Cebu.

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Last week, the nation once more read about an incident where Cebu Pacific Air (CPA) mishandled and humiliated a "special child" in a flight from Hong Kong to Manila. As expected, my good friend, Candice Iyog, CPA’s Vice-President for Marketing quickly responded to this very ugly incident saying that the flight crew that was involved has been "reprimanded". Reprimanding the flight crew without educating them on how to handle persons with disabilities (PWD) isn’t enough. CPA must do something more than just a simple reprimand of the flight crew because this is not the first time that this has happened. There were many other similar incidents in the past, which have already ended in our Courts of Law.

A couple of years ago, I have been very critical of Cebu Pacific Air especially when it figured in unexplainable delays. Many irate passengers do email or text us about their harrowing experiences. In fairness, CPA sent Ms. Candice Iyog to Cebu for a meeting with me in order to explain their side of the issues. So as not to be writing all the time about CPA whenever problems arise, I made a deal with Candice that I would pass on what emails I get to her and would only write about the issue if and when CPA doesn’t respond to the complaints. So far so good.

But last year, I was getting emails from Mr. Jovencio "Nonoy" Concha III, a paraplegic who was bumped off on his return flight to Cebu because he wouldn’t sign a waiver. Why wasn’t he bumped off when he flew to Manila? Then there’s the case of Katrina Segundo-Casino who was waiting for her flight from Dumaguete to Manila when she was told that she was unfit to travel without a companion. After a long humiliating argument, her mother found a friend to accompany her on that flight.

Why can’t Cebu Pacific Management care for their passengers with special needs? International airlines follow certain internationally accepted standards of UNESCAP for a Barrier-Free Tourism in the Asia-Pacific region, where CPA also flies. Such ugly incidents can only mean that CPA management still adopts a 3rd World mentality in dealing with Persons with Disabilities.

One of the things I did for Cebu Pacific was to point them to my sister Adela Avila Kono who is an Accessibility Specialist for the Organization of Rehabilitation Agencies (ORA). Last Sept. 2009 she and Ms. Gigi Ruiz, Executive Director of the National Council for Disability Affairs (NCDA) went to Manila to train CPA staff on how to properly handle PWDs. Unfortunately this incident only proves that CPA hasn’t learned anything from that free lesson they got from the PWDs sector.

The Cebu City Charter Day Awards is coming this February. We suggest that for this year, Mayor Tomas Osmeña hand CPA his infamous "Kalabasa Award"; after all, one of Mayor Osmeña’s greatest achievements is to make Cebu City the Friendliest City for Disabled Persons.

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