Hanks’ ‘Terminal’ replayed at Clark

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — Living inside an international airport, a la Tom Hanks in the movie "Terminal," may be an interesting experience, but not if you are stranded at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) here like a 19-year-old football player from Ghana.

Besides not having the amenities of New York City’s JFK International Airport, the DMIA can only offer a windowless storage room to the stranded passenger.

For 46 days, this room with no furnishings has been home to Ayi Nii Aryee, who had encountered various hitches in his travel papers.

Aryee, a member of a youth football team from the Ghana capital of Accra, was invited by the Sporting Afrique Football Club in Singapore, an affiliate of the Football Association of Singapore, for a three-week trial in the club.

An orphan, Aryee said that after seeing the modernity of Singapore, he decided to study there so that he can support his two other siblings in Ghana.

So, he enrolled in a computer course at the Informatics Computer School in Singapore, paying the full tuition of Singaporean $3,800, using funds sent by a brother working in China.

While waiting for the approval of his student visa, Aryee decided to fly to the Philippines to visit a cousin living in Bacoor, Cavite and married to a Filipina. He arrived in the country last July 3 via a Tiger Airways flight.

On July 12, he departed for Singapore via another Tiger Airways flight. However, he was denied entry because his student visa was disapproved and he was told to board the same flight back to the Philippines. Upon arrival at DMIA, immigration authorities refused to consider him a tourist.

Aryee has sent an appeal to the Singaporean government to reconsider his visa application. While waiting for the decision, he flew to Macau where he was again barred entry, reportedly because his passport was not stamped by the Philippine immigration office. He was sent back on the same flight to Clark where he has been stranded since.

Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) executive vice president Alexander Cauguiran said in an interview that "it’s normally the obligation of the airline to take care of passengers like Aryee, but Tiger Airways is a low-cost carrier without any adequate office at Clark, so it’s the ground handler, Clark Airport Services Corp. (CASC), taking care of him in the meantime."

Cauguiranvowed to help provide for Aryee’s basic needs pending the resolution of his case.

CIAC general manager Bienvenido Manga said that Immigration officials have placed him "under guard" as he has no proper documentation required of aliens in the country.

Last July 31, the office of the honorary consulate of Ghana in Singapore sent a letter to the Bureau of Immigration seeking "assistance to allow Mr. Ayi Nii Aryee to remain in the Philippines" while awaiting the result of his appeal for reconsideration for a student visa in Singapore. The consulate suggested that Aryee be allowed to stay with his cousin in Cavite. 

Aryee’s cousin, Wisdom Tobi Tanko, also sent the immigration bureau a letter saying he was willing to act as his guardian during his stay in the Philippines.

However, Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez told The STAR that he had not seen the letter from the consulate and that his office could not act on the case of Aryee since he has "no status" in the country. He suggested though that Aryee apply for a refugee status.

Last Sunday, Aryee was brought to a hospital in Angeles City for a head injury he sustained after fainting in a toilet at the DMIA. He said he was hungry at that time as one of the airport security aides ran off with the P50 he entrusted to the man to buy him some drinks and bread. The hospital billed him P6,300 for treatment of his head injury, which required six stitches.

Meanwhile, Aryee is appealing for humanitarian consideration that he be allowed to stay with his cousin in Cavite until his visa for Singapore is finally approved.

Though he is saying that he prefers not to go home to Ghana, his dwindling funds will no longer allow him to fly to any country.