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Budget carrier Cebu Pacific explained Friday that persons with disabilities (PWDs) flying to Singapore are usually told beforehand that they have to pay to use a wheelchair lift at the airport.
This, after Socorro Jabor, who uses a wheelchair, reportedly crawled out of the plane because she had not been told about the P11,000 fee.
Candice Iyog, Cebu Pacific vice president for communications, said "direct booking channels already indicate (the fee) clearly."
She said the travel agency that Jabor and her husband used should have informed them of the extra charge.
Asked whether the oversight was on the part of the travel agency, and not the airline, Iyog responded: "Yes."
"We've sent a reminder to travel agencies to make sure to inform passengers about the wheelchair lift fee charged by the (Singaporean) ground handler at Changi Budget Terminal," she said in a text message to Yahoo! Southeast Asia.
She added Cebu Pacific does not set the fee for use of the wheelchair lift at the airport in Singapore.
"It's just a cost that is being passed on," she said.
She said airline personnel tried to help the couple disembark but they refused.
According to an ABS-CBNNews.com report, Jabor only found out on the flight that she would have to pay extra to use a wheelchair lift in Changi airport.
The fee was not indicated on the ticket she and her husband bought, the report said.
They added airlines should have facilities for persons with disabilities.
According to the Ultimate Wheelchair Sports Foundation website, Jabor is a bilateral leg amputee.
The website also lists her as president of the "Federation of the Disabled in Cavite Province, and the Association of the Persons With Disabilities of Tagaytay City."
The Philippines vowed Thursday to fight China "to the last man standing", as a Chinese warship patrolled around a remote reef occupied by a handful of Filipino marines in disputed waters.
