No Special Treatment

The Gokongwei-led carrier Cebu Pacific has made it to the headlines after one of its purser and cabin crew refused the entry on board of a special child. The said arrogant crew was recently identified as John Castañeda who pressured Ms. Marites Alcantara, and his son, John Arvin to get off the plane bound to Manila from Hong Kong due to the mental condition of the child and in stringent observance of the company rules saying that mentally ill passengers are not allowed to board on the said airline. The child was diagnosed with Global Development Delay, a condition that delays a child's ability to acquire motor skills as fast as normal kids ,thus, making him a special child and way far from being a mentally ill one. Alcantara said she was deeply insulted when the crew kept on calling her son "mentally ill" as they forced them to step out of the plane and superlatively humiliating on the part of her son.

The crew behaved unprofessionally for he was not even certain about the rules of the company he was working for and at the same time inhumanly having humiliated both the parent and the child. He could have at least done the deed in a more diplomatic manner. Since Alcantara refused to leave the plane, Cebu Pacific's crew had no choice but to proceed with the flight. She urged the budget airline to take a second look at its policies and admit that these are discriminatory.The airline has sent their apology through the text-line which is indeed very inappropriate. What they have experienced is definitely a no joke and warrants a more formal apology.

The family is said to file a lawsuit against CebuPacific even after they have already received the company's apology which is just proper. This move will be a constant reminder that everyone , not just children for this matter, is all entitled of human rights that should be perpetually respected and protected. Human rights education training should also be imposed to all employees to avoid faux pas as such.

May this be an eye-opening lesson to one and all. One thing I am sure of is that this incident will awaken the human rights advocates. Let us wait and see if what the turnout of this incident would be. "Will Cebu Pacific remain true to its tagline 'It's time for everyone flies'?," remains to be a question as yet.

Above Image - courtesy of Wikipedia