53 repatriated Negrenses miss flight

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said Tuesday that 53 Negrense set to go back to the province on Tuesday “missed their flight.”

Lacson said that the Negrenses were supposed to be on board a Cebu Pacific sweeper flight bound for Bacolod.

But the passengers lacked clearance from the national Inter-Agency Task Force, thus they were not able to board the plane.

The governor said the passengers were already on a Cebu Pacific bus and were about to board the plane when they were held due to the lack of clearance.

The passengers waited for an hour but eventually the Cebu Pacific flight took off at 3 p.m. sans them because it was carrying cargoes bound for Bacolod.

It remains unclear when the Negrenses will be able to fly back to Negros.

Zeaphard Caelian, head of the Provincial Disaster Management Program Division, said 1,408 stranded residents of the province and Bacolod City have asked help to be repatriated.

641 are from Bacolod while 867 are from the different cities and municipalities in the province.
First to be repatriated were 89 persons from Clark last March who completed their 14-day quarantine in Mambukal and were already sent home.

Others were 35 from Batangas, 35 from Cebu and 16 from Sambuan who were brought to the EB Magalona quarantine center.