Confusion reigned at the Sibulan-Dumaguete airport Sunday morning as a Cebu Pacific flight was denied landing, and directed back to Cebu.
The 78-seater ATR 72-600 was to have been the last plane to Dumaguete before Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia ordered flights banned in or out of the Cebu airport.
Supreme Court Associate Justice Edgardo delos Santos and his wife were among the passengers of the flight. He said their flight left Mactan at about 10 a.m. for the 30-minute flight to the Sibulan-Dumaguete airport.
“A few minutes after the announcement to prepare for arrival, the pilot announced that the plane will fly back to Mactan airport because there is no response from the tower giving them the authority to land and take off again for Mactan,” delos Santos said in a text message to the Inquirer.
He said an old woman, who was apparently sick and aided by a relative and a Cebu Pacific employee, cried upon hearing the announcement.
Upon landing in Mactan, Delos Santos said he was informed that Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo had denied having issued any directive disallowing aircrafts from landing at the Sibulan airport.
“CAAP Dumaguete and CAAP Cebu are now finger pointing. Who is at fault? The plane was full,” the Justice said.
Meanwhile, Charo Logarta-Lagamon, corporate communications director of Cebu Pacific, said the aircraft had no choice but to return to Mactan because it was not allowed to land in Dumaugete. “We are not sure on whose authority, but the bottom line is that we were not allowed to land,” Lagamon said.
Justice delos Santos, his wife, and a few other passengers tried to get home to Negros Oriental by taking a bus to Santander town, some 140 kilometers south of Cebu, where they would catch a ferry across the Tañon Strait. (Alex Pal)