Sacked Kalibo International airport employees make public appeal

The contractual employees who were fired over a so-called P50-million terminal fee ticket scam at the Kalibo International Airport in Kalibo, provincial town of Aklan province, are appealing for sympathy from the public.

In an open letter addressed to the public, the 11 contractual airport employees said that “we are being judged before due process took place,”  and that they “are also being harassed in social media.”

Earlier, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) fired Maria Briones, Precious Fernandez, Jovert Alejandro, Cherry Peralta, Shayne Alejandro, Sheila Orada, Andy Mel Jones Concepcion, Gerry Revister, Jojean Conanan, Shamar Glen Mabasa, and Daniva Acosta.

The P50 million that should have been collected by these former airport employees as terminal fee of passengers both for domestic and international flights have gone missing.

A CAAP audit team found that the P500 terminal fees for international flights and P200 for domestic flights were reused and money generated from these collections may have been pocketed.

However, the 11 contractual employees claim that they are innocent and that they are also victims as they were illegally terminated by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).

In the same open letter, the 11 former airport employees also blamed media for being biased against them.

Kalibo Airport serves as the gateway to the country’s premier beach destination of Boracay Island in Malay town.