Cebu Pacific must issue a public apology – Fortun

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Raymond Fortun, a high-profile lawyer, threatened to sue Cebu Pacific Air for the inconvenience it caused to passengers, and wants the airlines to issue a public apology for their failure in corporate responsibility.

Fortun said he will be sending a demand letter to Cebu Pacific on Monday, which contains a demand for public apology from the head of company for “failure to look after the welfare of passengers who have been affected by cancellation of flights without prior notice.”

In a follow-up Facebook post of Fortun on Thursday evening, he said he also wants Cebu Pacific to establish an action center where passengers whose flights were canceled during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit may “submit their request for reimbursement of expenses incurred (duly covered by receipts) as a direct assault of the airline’s failure to advice the public of flight cancellations without adequate notice.”

“A commitment from the airlines that these claims will be paid within 48 hours from verification [must also be made]. It should not become a horror story of unprocessed claims that will remain pending for 6 months to a year,” Fortun said.

“The failure or refusal to agree to these terms will constrain me to initiate to file a suit against the airlines, and to hold an accountability for actual, moral, and exemplary damages,” he added.

In Fortun’s earlier narration in Facebook, he got stuck in Saigon and continues to incur expenses with his family there. He received an email from Cebu Pacific that Manila was no-fly zone from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on their day of return on Nov. 19, due to APEC summit. Another email was sent to him indicating that he could check in his flight via web which made him assume that his flight would push through.

However, Fortun said the attendants told them at the Cebu Pacific counter on Wednesday night that the flight was cancelled.

“I was able to secure boarding passes for our return trip. My second son was participating in a chorale competition this Saturday and initially wanted to back out from the trip; we convinced him to come along as there was now a confirmation that he would be back by Thursday morning,” he said. “The staff claimed that we were sent an email on Nov 17, that the flight was canceled. We did not receive that email,” said Fortun in a report by Yuji Vincent Gonzales of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Fortun also said that he accepted an offer from a lawyer friend from Cebu Pacific that he and his family could fly back to Manila at 1 a.m. on Friday assuring that nobody would be bumped off just to accommodate them, but Fortun said that only his wife and two kids were able to get a ride, while he and his eldest son were left in Saigon.