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MANILA, Philippines -- Filipinos who got stuck in Bangkok, Thailand as a result of the political crisis there, were so relieved at being back in the Philippines that they erupted in cheers as the Philippine Airlines plane carrying them landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport 2 runway Monday night.
“We are so happy and relieved to be home,” Edith Villanueva, Sugar Industry Foundation Inc. president, said in a telephone interview, shortly after their PAL rescue plane touched down at about 11:30 p.m.
Villanueva and her husband, Jose Ma. Villanueva, president of First Farmers Holding Corp. in Talisay City, were among the 432 PAL passengers, 417 of whom were Filipinos, who returned on the first rescue plane sent to pick up stranded Filipinos since Thai anti-government protesters shut down the Bangkok airports.
Villanueva said that as the stewardess announced that they had landed at the NAIA, the Filipinos on board broke out in loud applause.
“It’s a shared exuberance. Everybody was smiling at each other on the plane and at the airport,” she said of their arrival.
The Filipinos first had to endure a 10-hour bus ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai where the PAL plane was waiting for them at 5 p.m.
“We saw the beautiful side of Filipinos. Everybody was helping each other,” she said.
Villanueva praised the work of the Philippine embassy and the friendliness of the PAL staff in managing the repatriation of over 400 Filipinos.
“And you could not have been stranded in a better place. The Thais were very hospitable,” she said.
Thai hotels gave accommodations and meals to stranded foreigners for free, telling them their firms would get reimbursed by the Thai government, said Villanueva.
Businesswoman Geraldine Macavinta said foreigners were safe as Thai anti-government protesters took over Bangkok airports, where the political drama appeared to have been confined. "We weren’t harmed. They [protesters] did not hurt us. The rest of the city was peaceful," she said.
Filipino worker Regine Alipala, who was en route to a job in Kuwait but got stuck in Bangkok since November 26, admitted feeling scared upon receiving news of clashes between government security and Thai protesters. "We were afraid, especially where there were clashes," she said.
Fe Bueno albano of Dingras, Ilocos Norte, who went to Thailand with her son for an early Christmas shopping, was undaunted by the entire Bangkok crisis and was already thinking of returning there in the future.
"Despite the delay in our return, we had delightful experiences. We will be back again to shop," she said.
