3 Pinays 'stranded' in China treated well –Chinese embassy
The Chinese Embassy in Manila on Friday said the three elderly Filipino sisters who were stranded in China for several days were treated well contrary to earlier reports they were subjected harrowing ordeal when they couldn’t board a flight back home and had to spend some nights at the airport.
Retired teachers Pacita de Guzman, 77, Erlinda Varela Guce, 72, and Josefina Varela Baysic, 70, were stranded in China for eight days after their China Eastern Airlines connecting flight to Shanghai from the United States was diverted to Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Hubei province due typhoon Lekima on August 10. They were returning home after a five-month vacation in the US.
In earlier media interviews, the three said they could not contact their relatives and that they were shuttled back and forth from a hotel they were billeted to the airport because they could not get a flight to Manila.
Last August 18, the relatives of the three sought help from authorities, believing the elderly sisters had gone missing as they were unreachable by phone and through social media.
The three Filipino senior citizens on were their way back to the Philippines from the United States have reportedly been missing for a week after making a layover in Shanghai, China.
Even as China Eastern Airlines provided them hotel accommodations, they said there were days when they had to sleep at the airport to wait for their chance to board the flight to the Philippines. Finally, they returned home on Aug. 19 and were greeted by anxious relatives.
Several days after the incident, the embassy said the three reached “a good understanding with the head of China Eastern Manila office.”
In that meeting, the embassy claimed the three sisters felt the “sincere concern and solicitude of China Eastern Airlines,” adding that they “will still choose to take China Eastern on our next trip.”
“We are satisfied with the hotel accommodation and cabin service of the airline. It was warm to have someone pick us up at the cabin gate,” the embassy quoted them as saying.
The embassy did not say if there was any apology given to the three senior citizens for the inconvenience.
It maintained that China Eastern “actively provided services to the passengers, properly arranged free accommodation and notified passengers to take available follow-up flights from the same day on.”
It also insisted that from August 11 to the next days, the transport capacity of the diverted Shanghai-Manila flight was “sufficient” and that 73 passengers affected by the typhoon took flights on selected flight dates.
“Due to the miscommunication and unwanted situation at the airport, they took a flight a few days later,” it said.
Further, the hotel they were booked in was “equipped with time-limited toll-free for international calls and free Wi-Fi.”
“However, the three elders failed to get in touch with their families due to the mobile phone failure and unfamiliarity with hotel communication methods. Their relatives turned to the Manila media for help,” the embassy said.
On August 18, the China Eastern Manila Office learned that the three were returning to Manila and immediately informed their families and sent staff to meet them at the airport, it added.
The embassy even noted that the head of China Eastern Airlines in Manila even drove for five hours in heavy rain on Aug. 21 “to visit their home” and listened to their “opinions.”
Quoting the airline manager, the embassy said: “We have attached great importance to the investigation of the service with the relevant flights under abnormal weather conditions. We will strive to improve services, especially to strengthen the service and operational guidelines of elderly or special passengers, so as to provide a better experience to Filipino and global passengers.” —LBG, GMA News
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