Over 100 stranded passengers camp out for days outside NAIA awaiting flights

More than 100 locally stranded individuals (LSIs) have spent days on a vacant lot outside the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) while waiting for their flights back home, which have been canceled and rescheduled several times.

According to Vonne Aquino’s report on “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday, a total of 164 LSIs have been living in a lot outside NAIA Terminal 3 for days now.

All of them have plane tickets back to their provinces and complete documents, but their flights have been canceled repeatedly with no one from airlines reaching out to them to explain why.

Among the LSIs is Lovely Mae Talavero, four months pregnant and stranded at the lot for a week now.

Her flight back to Bacolod was initially scheduled for June 2 but has been rebooked for June 11 after three cancellations.

“Kaming lahat naman, gusto namin umuwi, pero hindi kami pa-anuhin e, kahit papasukin kami ng airport hindi rin,” she said through tears.

“Ang tagal na namin dito. Wala kaming makukunan ng pagkain, kahit ano, matulugan nang maayos, wala po. Kinaya lang namin kasi wala kaming mapuntahan talaga,” Talavero added.

Construction worker Fernando Cuizon Jr., who still has fresh stitches from an accident at work, has also been living at the lot while awaiting his flight back to Davao, which was supposed to leave on Sunday morning.

“Hindi namin alam… Walang mahigaan e. Do’n kami sa bakal. ‘Yung iba natutulog do’n sa may batuhan, paggising nila ang laki ng marka, ng pasa sa likod [galing] sa bato,” he said.

Some good samaritans have been bringing food, clothes, toiletries, and medicines to the stranded individuals.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said he will ask the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to probe the matter.

“I will ask somebody, probably Administrator [Hans] Cacdac of OWWA, to look into this. Although these are not OFWs, we still have the obligation to attend to them,” he said.

Among the 164 LSIs, 92 have flights to General Santos City, 68 are headed for Davao, three to Bacolod, and one to Palawan.

The airport police have advised those with flights departing on Monday that they can stay at the departure area of NAIA Terminal 3 starting midnight. — Julia Mari Ornedo/BM, GMA News