Cagayan de Oro City 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (Facebook)


True to his word, Cagayan de Oro City 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez has filed a House resolution seeking the suspension of budget airline Cebu Pacific’s legislative franchise as punishment for its poor service. In House Resolution (HR) No.1101 that he filed last Saturday, June 24, Rodriguez said the principal reason for the grant by Congress of a legislative franchise to a private company was "for the benefit of the public". However, Cebu Pacific “has a history of unsatisfactory service to the public", said the veteran solon. “Passengers of Cebu Pacific experience flight delays and cancellations, and to make matters worse, their customer service is also unreliable with passengers complaining that Cebu Pacific does provide immediate assistance or support regarding their concerns despite seeking help from the airline’s customer service hotlines and in-person help desks,” he said in HR No.1101. It was last week when Rodriguez floated the possibility of suspending the budget airlines' legislative franchise amid mounting complaints of flight cancellations and offloading of passengers. A legislative franchise, which takes the form of a law, is granted by the House of Representatives through the Committee on Legislative Franchises. The resolution is at least expected to open the House panel's discussion on what to do with Cebu Pacific’s franchise in the context of the passenger complaints. Rodriguez cited the grievances of his own constituents in Cagayan de Oro City, including the Waga family (Celeste Waga Hembrador, Lorimer Hembrador, Oriel Pete Waga, Madeline Waga, Ray Marcos Waga, and Divina Waga), who were booked on a flight from Cagayan de Oro to Manila last May 25 at around 6 a.m. “Their flight was cancelled without explanation which forced them to rebook their flights on their own. They were able to rebook to a Cagayan de Oro to Manila via Cebu that same day, which flight was to leave Cagayan de Oro at 3 p.m., to connect to the Cebu-Manila flight at 7 p.m., which was also delayed to 11 p.m. They arrived midnight in Manila,” he narrated. What was supposed to be a one and a half-hour flight flight to Manila from Cagayan de Oro took the Wagas almost one whole day, he noted. Rodriguez also cited their own sad experience with Cebu Pacific. He said his wife Fenina, together with seven of her high school classmates (some from the US), took a Cebu Pacific flight from Cebu to Cagayan de Oro to attend their class reunion last May 17, which flight was delayed for three hours without notice and explanation. “They were given only one bottled water and biscuits,” he said, adding that he had to wait “an additional three hours in Laguindingan Airport before meeting them upon their late arrival".