2 Beijing visitors in near-fistfight with P-Noy’s brod-in-law
Two Chinese tourists were arrested after one of them held by the collar the husband of presidential sister Maria Elena “Ballsy” Aquino-Cruz on board a Cebu Pacific flight to Cebu yesterday morning.
Han Yang, 33, and “XXX Mailiyasi”, 31, were detained at the Police Center for Aviation Security office at the Mactan Cebu International Airport for at least seven hours before authorities decided to bring them to Manila.
-They will undergo deportation proceedings for unruly conduct inside the aircraft.
The rest of their 12-member group of on-line travel writers from Beijing continued with their tour of Cebu City as guests of the Department of Tourism.
Senior Supt. Arturo Evangelista, PCAS deputy director for administration, said the two tourists were flown to Manila later in the afternoon to undergo deportation proceedings.
Ballsy Cruz and husband Eldon didn’t file a formal complaint against the two Chinese passengers but the President’s eldest sister was offended by their conduct.
“I just don’t like this happening to others. I don’t like foreigners treating our own citizens this way,” she told the Inquirer.
The two Chinese tourists and Eldon almost came to blows after Eldon called their attention as they walked down the narrow aisle taking photos with their cameras almost hitting seated passengers.
“They were not being careful about hitting anybody,” Ballsy recalled.
She said that since the two kept walking along the aisle, Eldon reminded the Chinese passengers to be careful since they might hit someone or their camera might fall.
But one of the two grabbed Eldon by the collar and said: “Why?” and then “sh__.” Ballsy said her husband instinctively elbowed the Chinese. She said that at first, she got scared that Eldon and the Chinese passenger would exchange punches (“magsuntukan”). The couple didn’t have a security detail and traveled with a friend who was also invited to the wedding. But Eldon decided not to make a fuss and kept quiet because he didn’t want to cause a commotion inside the aircraft, said the President’s sister.
The two men were part of a 12-member group of online travel writers from Beijing who are in Cebu on the invitation of the DOT to promote Cebu in China.
Their 10 companions were allowed to proceed with their “familiarization tour” since the report filed by Cebu Pacific concerned only the two.
The incident took place on board flight 5J563 Cebu Pacific which landed about 9:15 a.m.
The Cruz couple flew to Cebu to attend the wedding yesterday of Johann Young and Meyan Lim, whose parents are family friends.
Ballsy told the Inquirer that they were seated in row 2 of the aircraft. The two Chinese passengers kept walking along the aisle to take photos of two flight attendants who were conducting the airline’s inflight fun games.
It was the Filipino passengers in the plane who expressed outrage over what they saw. One man seated behind the Cruz couple said in a loud voice that the Chinese were so arrogant and should be arrested. “There was a Filipino-Canadian on my right who said ‘Oh my God. Grabe siya. Why did he do that?” said Ballsy.
A flight attendant approached the couple to ask what happened. Eldon told her that he merely reminded the Chinese passenger to be careful but was grabbed by the collar. The plane’s captain also apologized to them. The flight attendant told them that they would ask airport security for assistance once the plane landed.
Someone, who was taking the Chinese group to Cebu, tried to explain to the couple that the tourists were only taking photos of the flight. “It doesn’t really matter to me what they are doing but why does he have to do that?” said Ballsy. She said she didn’t file a formal complaint against the two Chinese men. But she said she was grateful to the other passengers because “I could hear them telling the flight attendant, ‘This is my name and number, contact me if you need witnesses.’ I didn’t ask them anymore. I just said ‘thank you’.” She said she was happy that there were other passengers who saw what had happened because the story could be turned around. She said the airline crew was also helpful. Although she didn’t want file a formal complain, Ballsy said “I just don’t like this happening to others. I don’t like foreigners treating our own citizens this way.” “They said they were invited and we want tourists to come but don’t be naman feeling siga in our own country,” she added. /With Ador Mayol, Cebu Daily News
