Condoning dishonesty

Why does Cebu Pacific airline mishandle its cargo and the riding public?

A 15-year-old girl bound for Davao City never reached her destination and has been missing since June 6.

Passenger Novelyn Daclan was entrusted by her aunt, lawyer Zuleika T. Lopez, to the airline’s meet and assist department at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3.

Daclan was supposed to have taken the 7:55 p.m. flight on June 6 that would have landed in Davao an hour and 45 minutes later.

Cebu Pacific could not explain why the girl did not reach Davao City.

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To the question why the airline mishandles its passengers and cargo, the answer seems to be that its ground and air staff are underpaid.

It seems only the pilots are paid well.

My public service program, “Isumbong mo kay Tulfo,” has received numerous complaints from passengers about the airline’s inefficient and discourteous staff.

Cebu Pacific’s disgruntled staff could be taking out their resentments on the airline’s hapless passengers and cargo.

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Jose Angel Honrado, Naia’s general manager, has suffered a heart attack and has been in hospital for more than a week now.

Honrado has rejected the advice of well-meaning friends and his critics in media to resign from his very stressful job.

His critics in media—one of them this columnist—want him to resign because he’s inefficient.

But it looks like he doesn’t want to give up the perks and privileges of his job.

Others should learn from Honrado’s situation now. What’s the use of much wealth if you have health issues.

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It seems the government’s transport bureaucracy has been plagued with people like Honrado, Al Vitangcol III and Joseph Emilio Abaya.

The Department of Transportation and Communications under Secretary Abaya is among the most inept Cabinet departments in the Aquino administration.

President Noynoy was too slow in dismissing Vitangcol as head of the Metro Rail Transit system, who was perceived to be just as inefficient.

P-Noynoy’s saving grace is that he’s clean and honest and sincere in running the government.

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I don’t mean to desecrate the memory of Cory Aquino, who was clean and impeccably honest, but Noynoy is a chip off the old block in running the government.

Cory was an eight-to-five president. She worked from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

After that, she played mahjong with her amigas and left the running of government to her close advisers.

The son is as vindictive as the mother who gave no quarter to people identified with the Marcoses and to the Marcoses themselves.

Noynoy is making life miserable for his predecessor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, even if she’s quite sick.

He keeps company with people who are his close friends, shooting buddies and former classmates.

That’s why he’s so slow in firing any of them in his Cabinet, even if they’re corrupt or inefficient.

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But wait a minute. Even if one is honest, yet he condones the dishonesty of friends, doesn’t that make him dishonest, too?