the ordinary Juan

(This column appears in today's edition of the Leyte-Samar Daily Express)

Hi there! It’s another weekend. As I wrote this column, there was much argument, no ‘twas more of flimflam as to when the non-working day observance of Ninoy Aquino Day is - today or this coming Monday. By the time you read this it’s either you are already having a long weekend or looking forward to having one. Anyway, I hope most of our countrymen are aware as to why and/or who we commemorate on August 21.

Some national news muna. So much is being said about the now-notorious New York and Washington dinners. Reporters and TV talk show hosts (and guests) are indeed having a field day. Amidst the endless chattering of ideas and what have you, something stood above the rest. It’s the comments made by Jun Yasay, the former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (better known as the tamaan-ka-sana-ng-kidalat guy during Erap’s time) who said that if there is one thing that we should be giving focus about, it’s not the dinners of PGMA but the stocks or their investments in the stock market. Put it there, I don’t want have any idea of the complexities of the stock market.

And Manny Pacquiao as peace negotiator? C’mon guys, get real. Yun lang po!

Talking about the people’s champ. So we have another Filipino to win a boxing bout. Mr. Donaire in a way makes me proud, boxing being a bloody sport notwithstanding. Anyway, what about that fight? It’s not how he own. It’s the national anthem again. Somebody did it again. Yup, it’s that singer named Dessa. Like what I said with Martin’s Lupang Hinirang flimflam – how could you?

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Local News The Calbayog City Sports Center is almost ready. Finishing touches are being put in place in the center in time for its soft opening on August 31, 2009. The center which is located in Barangay Capoocan will be the venue of all activities slated during the Calbayog City Fiesta. Three concerts have been booked: Noel Cabangon (September 3), Ladine Roxas Voice of Asia 2001 Champ (September 5) and MYMP (September 6). The annual search for Ms. Anyag will also have the center as its new home. Ms. Anyag 2009 will be held on September 4.

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DOST Secretary Estrella Alabastro was in Calbayog City last week. She made a brief stopover at the Calbayog Techno Gabay Center. On hand for the simple program were the staff of the City Agriculture Office and some officers of the CAFC.

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Mayor Mel Sarmiento was invited to deliver a welcome speech during the 2nd Children’s Caucus, an event spearheaded by the SOS Calbayog Village. The one-day workshop is aimed at putting emphasis / promoting the rights of children. It will be held tomorrow at the LMA auditorium.
400 guests and participants are expected from the SK, Church - Youth Ministry, CSWDO / Out-of-School Youth, WESADEF, 16 youth from the SOS Youth Facility, 60 kids from the Children’s Village and 102 FSP.

The first Children’s Caucus was held last week in Tinambacan and Oquendo districts with 200 participants.

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And what am I up to this time? Let give you some rant, but my apologies it has nothing to do with my favorite priest. I have reserved it for my columns for the coming week just in time for the fiesta. This has something to do with my recent not-so-memorable experience with Cebu Pacific.

At around 12:00 noon last Monday, I got a text message from a friend who works at the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines. She took Cebu Pacific Calbayog - Manila flight earlier that day. The text said, "Haay Cebu Pacific did not fly my bag from CALBAYOG. I really had a feeling that they would miss it when I checked in this morning. Great Service". I guess we have to let that go. I believe that that situation is not an exclusive domain of Calbayog, Cebu Pacific or any airline and any airport for that matter. Years ago an article ridiculed the lousy service that airlines - international if I may ads - do in handling baggage. And then I remember something which I was supposed to give you many days ago. And this is it:

Cebu Pacific's daily Manila-Calbayog-Manila flights commenced last Sunday. This is a nice development. On my own little way, I would like to welcome this service of Cebu Pacific with this rant!

Just when I thought I was no longer doing my earlier intention to write something about how Cebu Pacific sucks (the first time I read that line was from the blog of ace videographer Jason Magbanua when he ranted about his flight to Boracay). Yes, that's until I booked a ticket for my aunt and opted to pay via megalink or ATM - something novel for me after paying my earlier internet bookings via credit card. So, in case you intend to book your Cebu Pacific tickets online and pay via ATM, think again.

I did my booking more than a week ago. It was for two tickets for a flight from Tacloban to Cebu on August 12, 2009 (Wednesday). I was pleased to find low-fare tickets available considering the time between booking and the flight itself. I was also pleased to find out about payments via ATM. After entering the necessary booking details, I got the instructions which stated, "You have until tonight (August 9), 23:59H PH Time to pay for your booking through various payment centers. Please see complete list of payment centers by visiting our website at http://www.cebupacificair.com/." After the payment has been made, the passenger will receive a text message from Cebu Pacific confirming the reservation, something which the passenger has to present at the airport together with the e-ticket (or so the instruction said). I did the booking at around 10:00 am, and went to the local UCPB ATM to pay in less than 30 minutes. And in an hour's time, I received the e-ticket via email with the reservation noted: on hold.
So, end of story and welcome to a smooth flight? Nope, it took me four phone calls and a 3-day waiting period before I got the booking confirmation. And yes, we never received a text confirmation from Cebu Pacific.

Let's do some math here. The ticket price was 1,888.32 pesos. Since I opted for ATM payment, 15 pesos was added making the total amount due at 1,903.32 pesos. Still a small amount to pay for the mode of payment. Or so I thought.

24 hours after payment was made, still no text confirmation and no e-ticket with the confirmed reservation. I had to call the airline. I thought it was only one phone call, I ended up doing three more phone calls after being promised that something will be done about it. Yes, they promised to do something about it 4 times (yup, when I called them 4 times) in three days. Finally, on Tuesday afternoon at around 4:30 pm, about 13 hours away from the scheduled flight, only then did we receive the email with the e-ticket and the confirmed reservation; and yes, still no confirmation via text message.

Let's do the math again. My phone calls totaled approximately 25 minutes, give or take a few seconds. And that will cost me approximately 200 pesos in my phone bill next month ('coz suncellular charges 8 pesos/ minute for landline calls). I ended up shelling approximately 2,100 pesos plus for a supposedly low-fare ticket. And yes, what's the amount one had to add for the worry or anxiety about being denied boarding or entrance at the airport? And the waiting one had to do before receiving a final booking confirmation?

Have I told you about their refund procedure? Don't ever contemplate on having to apply for one, saying that the experience is unpleasant is an understatement.

Will I still take Cebu Pacific? Of course I will. It's not that I don't have a choice. It's my way of thanking Mr. Gokongwei for giving every ordinary Juan (like me) the chance to fly, you know with their "Every Juan Must Fly" credo. Sadly for some of their ground crew and flight attendants, with their non-smiling faces which are more of blank stares and the manner some of them give instruction or reminders to some passengers checking in, it seems like the Cebu Pacific credo has been changed to "Every Ordinary Juan Must Stop Flying".

Ah, if only PAL does not live up to what its name stands for: Plane Always Late. The same thing with Zest Air and its erratic flight schedule. Thanks goodness they did away with their old name. I took a good number of their flights, I mean Asian Spirit, I can't help but worry about landing as spirit each time my flight took off.

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Have a nice weekend everyone! Ciao!