Another mother in Philippines says Cebu Pacific airline tried to force her and son with Down syndrome off flight

From ABS-CBN News:

MANILA, Philippines - Another mother is readying charges against the Gokongwei-led airline Cebu Pacific for trying to force her and her special child off a Manila-bound flight last December 23.

Stella Santos told ABS-CBN's Umagang Kay Ganda that she and her son Harvy, who has Down syndrome, was in the same Cebu Pacific flight with Marites Alcantara and her son, John Arvin, a special child with Global Developmental Delay.

Santos said she was also approached and asked by a Chinese-looking flight crew to get off the plane. She said the crew did not fully explain why they were being asked to board another flight back to Manila.

"I refused to agree with them. I said 'If you will push through with this, I will sue you. This is our right,'" she said, breaking down into tears as she recalled the humiliating experience.

Santos said that she later found out that they were being asked to get off the plane because of the presence of another special child.

She said that she was told by other passengers that according to the plane's crew, it was against the airline's policy to have 2 "mentally-ill" passengers in the same flight.

Alcantara, in a news item aired over ABS-CBN's TV Patrol World on Wednesday night, said that the purser and cabin crew of the Cebu Pacific plane kept repeating that her son is banned from the plane because he was mentally-ill.

"They have a manual daw. Bawal daw sumakay ang mga mentally ill...pilit nila kaming pinapababa na para kaming kriminal na kulang na lang ay hatakin palabas ng eroplano 'yong anak ko (They said they have a company manual, which states that mentally ill people are not allowed inside the plane...they pressured us to get out of the plane as if we were criminals.)," she told ABS-CBN News.

Alcantara, however, said that her son's condition called Global Developmental Delay, is not considered as a mental illness.

"Kahit sinong psychiatrist ang tanungin mo, walang mali sa anak ko. Hindi siya considered mentally ill...lumuluha na lang siya when they humiliated us. Ang sakit-sakit na nanay ka tapos pinoprotektahan mo anak mo, pero may gumaganyan sa kanya (You can ask any psychiatrist and they would all say that nothing is wrong with my child. He is not considered mentally ill. He was crying when they humiliated us. It really hurts for a mom when people treat her child like that)," she explained.

The airline has issued a written public apology for the incident. It said the incident was "a result of the cabin crew's misinterpretation of government regulations designed to assure the safety of passengers."

"Cebu Pacific has no policy that discriminates against persons with special needs," Cebu Pacific added.

Four round-trip tickets

Santos said that after news about the incident broke out, she received a call from the Cebu Pacific management. She said the airline apologized repeatedly and even offered her 4 free round-trip tickets.

"Salamat po sa offer pero ang kahihiyan namin, iyong nasaktan ang anak ko sa ginawa nila. (Thank you for the offer, but with the humiliation my son experienced)," she said, adding that free roundtrip ticket would not be able to convince them to forget the humiliating experience.

Santos said she had already talked with her lawyers and they are already preparing charges against the flight's crew and the airline.

Alcantara's lawyer, Salvador Panelo, had also said that they will file charges against the airline and its crew for violating Republic Act 7610.

"Bawal ang ginawa nila according to Republic Act 7610. Protected di lamang ang special children kundi children mismo sa batas na iyon. (What they did was not allowed, according to Republic Act 7610. That law not only protects special children, but all kids as well)," said Panelo.