Cebu Pacific Employee “Erwin Ramayan” Allegedly Discriminates Muslim Passengers
A Cebu Pacific employee named Erwin Ramayan allegedly discriminates a group of Muslim passenger while lining up to check for flight.
Nowadays, the act of discrimination is very common and also become one of the hottest topics in the news headlines. Unfair treatment because of religion, age, gender, and nationality can be a painful experience for every individual.
A Facebook user named Hanifah Dalidig Bedar has shared her experience in Laguindingan International Airport in Cagayan de Oro City. She posted the photo of a Cebu Pacific employee who treated them unfairly while lining up to check in for her flight together with her group.
Bedar said that Ramayan treated them in a disrespectful manner while processing their documents, especially while asking the IDs from one of her aunties. She assumed that the employee’s mood was due to stress and pressure from the numbers of passengers he had to accommodate or because they are Muslims.
The Muslim passenger asked the employee if all passengers need to undergo interrogation then the airport crew replied yes. Bedar observed the next passenger and saw that Ramayan just check the ID and quickly print a boarding pass, without interrogation.
Bedar explained that she had no intention of posting Ramayan’s discrimination to her and her relatives because they were Muslim. But she decided to share it online to stand up for herself and for everyone who also became a victim of discrimination.
The Facebook post garnered 50k reactions, 32k shares, and 16k comments as of this post. The netizens expressed their support to Bedar and criticized the Cebu Pacific employee for discriminating Muslim.
Here’s the full story:
“Dear Cebu Pacific,
Turuan nyo sana mga empleyado nyo na irespeto lahat ng pasahero. Sa isang counter kahapon, si kuya ay nagdabog dahil sa kanya kami pumunta (not sure if dahil marami kaming dala o dahil Muslims kami). Nang ibigay namin ang IDs, hiningan nya si Tita 1 ng isa pang ID (nang hindi sinasabi ang rason). Nang si Tita 2 ay walang maibigay liban sa TIN ID, sunod-sunod na ang aroganteng tanong ni kuya: “Ano pangalan nyo?” “Kailan nyo pinagawa ito?” “San nyo to pinagawa?” “Anong specific store nyo to kinuha?” “Kailan ang birthday nyo?” Yung ibang sagot ni Tita 2 na hindi marinig ni kuya ay inulit ko ngunit pa-bastos akong sinabihan na wag sumagot. Ang masama pa, hindi matapos-tapos ang pagtatanong ni kuya sabay tingin sa ID na tila gustong ipahiwatig na peke ito (mukhang hindi din alam ni kuya ang BIR).
Nang hindi na ako makatiis, tinanong ko si kuya kung ginagawa nya ito sa lahat. Syempre pagalit nyang sinabi “oo, tinatanong namin ang lahat.” Kaya sinabi ko din na babantayan ko ang susunod na pasahero. As expected, hindi nya tinanong ang sumunod na pasahero. Kinuha lamang nito ang ID at nagprint ng boarding pass. Walang kahit anong interogasyon tulad ng ginawa sa amin. Dahil sa inis ay nasabi kong “wag kang bastos, hindi mo ba alam abogado ako at fiscal ang tatay ko?” Sabay sabi nito “alam ko!” Sunod kong sinabi “kuya, abangan mo mukha mo sa facebook,” at pahamon nitong sinabi na “okay!”
Wala sana akong plano mag-post pero gusto ko sana umabot sa Cebu Pacific at kay kuya ang mensahe na ito: “Muslims po kami, pero hindi po kami terorista. Naiintindihan namin na may karapatan kayong magtanong, pero wag nyo po abusuhin. Magtanong kayo sa lahat at yung may courtesy. Pasahero din po kami na nagbabayad, tratuhin nyo din po sana kami nang maayos. Hirap na nga kami pumunta sa ibang bansa nang hindi tinititigan nang masama ng iba, pati ba naman dito sa Pilipinas? Reminder, mga Pilipino din po kami. Kahit wag nyo na kaming tanggapin na kalahi nyo, tratuhin nyo lang po kami bilang mga tao, sapat na po iyon sa ngayon.”
Salamat.
PS: Sana umabot to kay Erwin Ramayan (sana tama pagkabasa ko sa ID ni kuya).
Addendum:
To clarify, I chose to make this post public not to humiliate kuya or to make him suffer from rude comments. Alam ko pakiramdam nang minamaliit because that is how kuya made us feel. Yes, I could have filed a complaint against him instead of voicing out my sentiments on social media. But do not judge me for choosing the latter, hindi ikaw ang napahiya, hindi ikaw ang tinrato na parang kailangan mong magsabi na “pasakayin mo na ako, promise hindi ako mananakit.” Masama ba na magshare ng experience kaysa magfile ng complaint? I was once refused entry to an airport because I was wearing my veil, the symbol of my faith. The guard insisted I remove my veil despite my plea na wag dahil Muslim ako. I filed a formal complaint and the OIC said he would give me a report within a week/month. Pero wala. One time, my cousins and I were discriminated against in a restaurant. I complained to the manager, who promised she would give me an update within a week. Pero wala. Marami pa akong experience na hindi maganda dahil lamang sa Muslim ako. And you blame me for sharing this? Kuya did not even bother to apologize to us, or kahit sa mga tita ko. Even after this post has gone viral, wala kaming natanggap na apology from him. So sorry if I decided to keep this post available to the public. Because there is that little hope na sana sa paraang ito, marealize ni kuya na mali sya, and sana malaman ng iba na masakit, sobrang sakit mahusgahan.
2nd PS: Maaga dumating yung plane na sasakyan namin kaya I had no luxury of time to see kuya’s supervisor. I would rather spend my time to pray than to immediately report him.
3rd PS: This post is available to kuya. He can always air his side. But despite having heard of this post, did he bother to send me a message? No!”
What can you say about this? Just feel free to leave your comments and reactions for this article.
