CebuPac regrets misdeed on sick 12-year-old passenger

MANILA, Philippines — Cebu Pacific on Monday vowed to investigate an incident where its ground staff manager blocked a young passenger suffering from a congenital deformity last Saturday.

"We are looking into what happened and will follow due process ... We sincerely regret the inconvenience this has caused them," the airline said in a statement issued on Monday, referring to the boy and his mother.

Read: 12-year-old boy seeking treatment blocked at NAIA

The company said that they have already contacted the 12-year-old boy and his mother and will be offered with "all necessary assistance" after its employee prevented the boy from boarding a flight for allegedly having a "damaged" passport.

The boy, with his mother Regin de Guzman Palileo and grandmother, was scheduled to fly to Vietnam to get an urgent medical treatment on his condition.

Richell de Guzman, a relative of the passengers posted a complaint "Cebu Pacific, Have a Heart" on Facebook, urging the airline staff member to be considerate and respectful of passengers.

"I hope that Mark Rotanel (staff manager) learns to be more understanding. He reported Vietnam that the passport was detached. Is it? It's still fixed. so Vietnam didn't allow them to fly," De Guzman said in the post on Sunday that had since gone viral.

The post reached the Cebu Pacific management, which then responded to the incident and arranged for another flight after contacting Vietnam authorities to explain the situation.

"We pray for her son's successful operation," Cebu Pacific said in its statement.

Facebook user JR Pajaro, a friend of the family, said in a post that Cebu Pacific had rebooked the passengers for business class seats in another flight to Vietnam the day after the incident.

He also said that the airlines, through another manager, has apologized to the passengers.

"Cebu Pacific is really making up. I'm happy for you CebuPac for doing what should be done. I hope the flight back home will be ok for them and also for a successful operation of the kid," Pajaro said.