Bedlam at Bacolod Airport

The Philippine Star

Tuesday, November 5, 1996

The Southern Beat

By ROLLY ESPINA

The daily spectacle at the Bacolod Philippine Air Lines Airport terminal – crowds of anxious and anguished passengers waiting for the latest word on whether they could fly out to their respective destinations.

The most agitated were Balik-Bacolod participants who had extended their Masskara Festival visit to join their families during the All Saints' Day commemoration. They confronted two problems — whether they could get out of Bacolod and when they could fly out of the country back to the United States.

Some of the visiting Negrenses from abroad kept going to and from the terminal trying to find out if they could get accommodated since several had their flights cancelled by the wild cat strike. Many kept wondering aloud if they could fly back via PAL which had offered them major discounts in flying in from abroad.

Masskara Foundation chairman John Orola Jr. booked several cabins aboard the Manila-bound Princess of Negros from Cagayan de Oro Saturday. He offered the boat ride as the alternative for stranded Balik-Bacolod participants. “Yes, please accommodate us. I'm already dog-tired rushing back and forth trying to find out if I and my family could get a ride out," whispered the harassed Tito Icasiano.

Several Balik-Bacolod members joyfully joined Orola. They rushed from the Bacolod Airport Saturday afternoon to the Banago wharf of Negros Navigation Company just on time to board the outbound ship.

Other outbound commuters sensibly asked friends and relatives in Iloilo to book them aboard other passenger airlines servicing the city. There were no such alternatives for Bacolodnons since only PAL services the Negros Occidental capital city. Cebu Pacific Air will start servicing Bacolod on December 1, yet.

The Cebu Air Pacific terminal was blessed recently, but flights from Manila and Bacolod will commence Dec. 1, according to the CPA chief advisor for marketing and operations.

The strikers alienated airline commuters. Most had tried to beat the holiday rush by flying down before Nov. 1. The spotty schedules thereafter created havoc with those who had gone home to join their families during the Nov. 1 traditional observance. Normally, passengers hammer at PAL management when delays occur or flights are cancelled. This time majority of the stranded passengers blamed the strikers for having deliberately planned to hit them the hardest instead of the airline firm.

For Negrenses, however, the bottom line is the imperative need for the services of other airline firms. They had already suffered much with the prolonged close-down of the Bacolod Airport. And they witnessed the same nightmarish ordeal the past few days.