CAGAYAN de Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez has made good his promise to file a resolution seeking the suspension of airline Cebu Pacific’s legislative franchise as punishment for its “terrible” service.
In a still unnumbered resolution filed last Saturday, Rodriguez said the principal reason for the grant by Congress to a private company “is for the benefit of the public.”
However, he said Cebu Pacific “has a history of unsatisfactory service to the public.”
“Passengers of Cebu Pacific experience flight delays and cancellations, and to make matters worse, their customer service is also unreliable with passengers complaining that Cebu Pacific does provide immediate assistance or support regarding their concerns despite seeking help from the airline’s customer service hotlines and in-person help desks,” he said in the resolution.
He said some passengers aired their complaints during last week’s Senate hearing, with one saying “how bad they were treated by Cebu Pacific on their return flight to Manila from Tokyo on June 5 when said flight was delayed due to ‘noise problems from the aircraft’s engine’.”
The passenger claimed that they were given different reasons for the delay and they were left without food and any commitment for accommodation while waiting for their flight, forcing them to sleep on the floor of Narita International Airport in Japan, he added.
The Mindanao lawmaker noted that another passenger told senators that she nearly missed her dentistry board exam when her flight from Dumaguete City to Manila on May 1 was moved four days later.
This same passenger also stated that she was surprised to learn that her aunt, who was in Australia, was able to buy a ticket for a Cebu Pacific flight, which cost more than P10,000, on the morning of May 2, he said.
“This shows that seats are available to highest paying customers even though there are a lot of passengers bumped off by delayed flights waiting,” Rodriguez said.
He said other complaints include changing flights of passengers who have already checked in, problems accessing customer service when claiming for refunds, changing flight details of passengers who only check how much rebooking a flight would cost, rude ground personnel, and inadequate or even lack of compensation for inconvenienced passengers.
He also cited the grievances of his own constituents in Cagayan de Oro City, including Waga family (Celeste Waga Hembrador, Lorimer Hembrador, Oriel Pete Waga, Madeline Waga, Ray Marcos Waga, and Divina Waga), who were booked on a flight from Cagayan de Oro to Manila last May 25 at around 6 a.m.
“Their flight was cancelled without explanation which forced them to rebook their flights on their own. They were able to rebook to a Cagayan de Oro to Manila via Cebu that same day, which flight was to leave Cagayan de Oro at 3 p.m., to connect to the Cebu-Manila flight at 7 p.m., which was also delayed to 11p p.m. They arrived midnight in Manila,” he said.
What was supposed to be a one and a half-hour flight flight to Manila from Cagayan de Oro took the Wagas almost one whole day, he stressed.
Rodriguez also cited their own sad experience with Cebu Pacific.
He said his wife Fenina, together with seven of her high school classmates (some from the US), took a Cebu Pacific flight from Cebu to Cagayan de Oro to attend their class reunion last May 17, which flight was delayed for three hours without notice and explanation.
“They were given only one bottled water and biscuits,” he said.
He said he waited for “an additional three hours in Laguindingan Airport before meeting them upon their late arrival.”
“Reports online show that Cebu Pacific’s financial statement reveals that revenues from rebooking, refunds and cancellation fees allegedly grew by 270 percent or P1.45 billion, reaching nearly P2 billion in the first quarter of this year, showing that Cebu Pacific is more interested in more profits than good service to the riding public,” he said.
Pagbasura sa Maharlika bill, isang “patriotic act’ ni PBBM — Pimentel
Ni Ernie Reyes
ISANG makabayang pagkilos o patriotic act ang maisasagawa ni Pangulong Bongbong Marcos Jr., kung ibabasura nito ang kuwestionableng Maharlika Investment Fund na maaring idulog sa Supreme Court dahil labag ito sa Saligang Batas.
Inihayag ito ni Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III matapos lagdaan ni Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri ang enrolled bill ng MIF bago dalhin sa Palasyo upang mapirmahan ng Pangulo.
“You know it would be a good patriotic act of the President if he vetoes this,” ayon kay Pimentel sa interview ng Radio DZBB.
“It will improve his political capital; his goodwill will improve, because it means he is objective in his decision,” giit niya.
Ayon kay Pimentel na nabigong maibigay sa Pangulo ang bersiyon na gusto nito, na maaaring i-veto nito at ibalik sa Kongreso upang malinis ang final version ng panukala.
“In his point of view, he wants this measure. But he can veto it because Congress did not give him what he wanted,” paliwanag niya.
“And for us who are against it, we can now find the time to involve the public in the discussion on Maharlika,” giit pa ni Pimentel.
“Because one of our complaints or our grounds for rejecting it is because we believe this bill was rushed,” dagdag ng lider ng minorya.
“By vetoing it, he (President) will be giving us more time (to study the measure). And since there would be more time, let’s involve the people here. Let’s bring it to Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao for the people to weigh in. This would be a plus point for him, if he vetoes it,” aniya.
Naunang iginigiit nina Pimentel at Senador Risa Hontiveros na pawang hindi maayos, hindi napapanahon at kailangan ng mas maraming oras upang talakayin ang Maharlika bill ng buong mamamayan.
Iginiit ni Pimentel na binago ang final version ng panukala dahil may ilang probisyon dito an g inalis nang hindi inaaprubahan ng plenaryo.
partikular na tinutukoy ni Pimentel ang magkasalungat ng Section 50 at 51 ng panukala na nagtatakda ng prescription perio para sa krimen ng 10 taon at 20 taon.
Ayon kay Senate Secretary Renato Bantug Jr. inayos ang naturang probisyon sa printed copy ng panukala. “The10-year prescription period was retained and the two sections were merged.”
