By
The SUN
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| One of the distraught passengers was asked if this was her missing bag - it wasn't |
The Philippine Consulate is offering to intercede on
behalf of at least nine Filipino migrant workers whose luggage were lost in
transit recently on their return trips to Hong Kong from the Philippines via
Cebu Pacific.
The offer of help was made by Consul General Raly
Tejada, who told The SUN: “We will make representations po with Cebu Pac.”
He gave his assurance as the baggage handler of the
airline in Hong Kong reportedly told the affected passengers that 200 bags had
been lost or misplaced in the past month, so they are also at their wits’ end
trying to respond to queries and appeals for help.
One of those who have been desperately trying to
follow up on their missing luggage said she recently received a message from Jardine
Airport Services, saying they found “one tagoff baggage in Manila” and asked if
it was hers.
But a distraught Michelle Consumo, who last saw her
luggage on Jan 4 when she boarded her connecting flight to Manila from Iloilo,
said the bag in the photo sent to her was not hers.
She said she called the baggage handler and the staff
who answered the phone said they were already under stress because of the
complaints they were getting.
“Galit na ako
kaya minura ko,” she said. (I was already angry so I cussed).
“Ano asahan
nilang dalhin ng mga OFW from Pinas? Just imagine, yung iba pagkain pa talaga
kasi nga kapos sila dito sa pagkain. Sa akin naman lahat doon may sentimental
value.”
(What would an OFW bring back from the Philippines?
Just imagine, some brought food because they do not get enough to eat. In my
case everything in there has a sentimental value).
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| Boarding passes show one bag got lost as early as Dec 27 |
There were eight others apart from Consumo who gave
details of how their bags got lost in transit, the earliest of which happened
on Dec 27.
All said they filed complaints as soon as they
realized their bags were not on the same plane they took to Hong Kong, and did
near-daily follow-ups afterwards, to no avail.
Consul Paul Saret, who heads the assistance to nationals
section, said they received only one complaint from a passenger, and her bag
had been recovered shortly after the Consulate endorsed her complaint to the
airline.
He was told that of the nine passengers who had come
forward with their complaints, two managed to recover their bags more than a
week after they got lost, but received no apologies from the airline.
The seven others have yet to find out if they will
recover their bags – or get compensated after they are declared as
irretrievably lost.
Saret said they will request Cebu Pacific to resolve
the issue as soon as possible.
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