Passengers amid NAIA shutdown: We're hungry, tired, dirty

Passengers bemoaned their condition after being stranded at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) following a glitch that caused the shutdown of the Philippine airspace on Sunday.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said it could take three days to get the flights back to the normal, according to oscar Oida's report on "24 Oras."

"We're hungry, we're tired, we're dirty," said Nieve, a foreigner, who was supposed to visit Boracay with her partner.

"We've been trying all day to get there with no wifi no like Philippine number so it has been of a nightmare but we finally got wifi now and we just got our flight booked and we're two days behind schedule," she added.

The couple was among the 65,000 passengers who were affected by the closure of the airspace that Transportation officials attributed to an "outdated" system.

Malacanang said a "thorough probe" is being conducted by concerned agencies.

Sixty-three year-old Neri Serna waited for developments about his flight in a corner of the airport in his wheelchair.

"Mahirap lang kalagayan namin mga pasahero. ...Mahal ang tubig, mahal ulam lang mahigit isang daan e saan kami kukuha diyan kung kulang budget namin," he said.

He said he chose to wait in the airport instead of going home to his home in Las Pinas because leaving the terminal could cost him more.

Passenger Epi Afaga went on a trip to Singapore and was headed for Dipolog, but was rerouted to Manila.

"Pinasakay nila kami ng Singapore to Manila, actually hindi yun ang flight namin so grinab nalang namin yung opportunity kasi may pasok na bukas ako may lalakarin pa sa PRC (professional Regulations Commission). 'Di pa ako naka-register mag o-oath taking na wala pa," Afaga said.

"Wala e para kaming basang sisiw dito," she added.

Overseas Filipino workers (OFW) were also impacted by the shutdown.

"Galing po ako sa bansa na Istanbul ...papuntang ano, dito, dito nga tapos  10 hours na po akong naghihintay para sa next flight sa papuntang Cebu. Na-stress na po ako sa kakahintay. Haba ng pila,"an OFW said.

"Sa loob ng 24 hours sa paghihintay namin sir sobrang pagod kasi wala kaming tulog, ang sakit ng katawan namin sa paghintay tapos wala pa kaming upuan dito," another OFW, Kirana Mangkabong, said.

Data from the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) showed around 65,000 commuters were affected by the disruption of flights. Operations in NAIA were restored but the airport management said it would take around three days for it to be back to normal.

According to the separate advisories issued by Philippine Airlines, Air Asia, and Cebu Pacific, they canceled around 300 flights due to the outage.

The Air Passenger Bill of Rights mandates that passengers may refund their fares should their flights be affected by force majeure or by unprecedented events such as infrastructure failure.

“Pwede ho silang mag-file ng kanilang hinaing sa civil aeronautics board (CAB)…’yun pong CAB ang mag assess kung talagang may merit at kung magkano yung dapat maging compensation,” Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines spokesperson Eric Apolonio said.

The DoTr is continuously coordinating with airline companies and airport officials to ensure the smooth flight of passengers.

“Sabi namin sa mga airlines, kung pwede mag operate sila ng mga additional flights or mag-upgrade sila ng mga aircraft…Gawin nilang mas malaki maraming seats para ma-accommodate natin ang maraming pasahero,” DoTr Secretary Jaime Bautista said.

He added the NAIA runway will be open 24 hours to accommodate the flights.

Meanwhile, the Department of Migrant Workers went around the airports to inquire about the condition of the affected overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

DMW Undersecretary Hans Cacdac said around 3,000 OFWs were affected and were helped to rebook their flights and be given temporary accommodation.—Sundy Locus/LDF, GMA Integrated News