Cebu Pacific’s airline supervisor who offloaded the sick 12-year-old boy seeking medical treatment abroad last Saturday has already been suspended.
The airline station manager Mark Rotanel was placed on preventive suspension after he did not allow the boy with congenital deformity to board their flight to Vietnam at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) due to his alleged damaged p(–foul word(s) removed–)port.
According to sources, airline employees at NAIA Terminal 4 and airport officials (they declined that their names be known) confirmed that the supervisor directly involved in the offloading incident was asked by Cebu Pacific to submit a written report on what had happened and was told that he will be indefinitely suspended pending an investigation.
Cebu Pacific is facing a complaint, filed by the boy’s mother, Regina Palileo. Ms. Palileo said in a recent interview that there was nothing wrong with her son’s travel document since he was able to use the same p(–foul word(s) removed–)port during their recent trip to the US without having any problem. She also related how she pleaded that they’d be allowed to travel explaining the condition of her son and the urgency of a medical treatment but the airline ground staff Mark Rotanel reportedly insisted that the airline has the right to offload a p(–foul word(s) removed–)enger with a damaged p(–foul word(s) removed–)port.
The complaint was then endorsed to the Civil Aeronautics Board and upon realizing the urgency of the trip, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs which issued a temporary p(–foul word(s) removed–)port on Sunday. Cebu Pacific later rebooked the Palileos’ flight. They left Sunday morning.
A person who witnessed the incident, RJ Pajaro, recounted what happened on his Facebook account and posted a picture of Rotanel, whom he described as “heartless.”
The post has since gone viral on social media. Some netizens announced they would boycott Cebu Pacific while others created a Facebook page parodying Rotanel.
Cebu Pacific on Tuesday afternoon has also issued a statement on the incident apologizing for the handling of the situation.
“We acknowledge that we could have exerted more patience and comp(–foul word(s) removed–)ion in explaining the situation to them last Saturday, and for this we sincerely apologize. Rest (–foul word(s) removed–)ured we are looking into how this was handled, and we will take the necessary administrative action,” the airline said.
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