SPECIAL REPORT
First of Three Parts

Sherlyn Saban did not have plans of going home. For the past eight years, she has been working as a domestic helper in Hong Kong and her employer today only hired her four months ago.

But tragedy struck her family. On Monday last week, her husband Rosano was killed in a motorcycle accident and she had to rush to the airport to buy a ticket, intending to fly to Manila and from Manila to Iloilo.

When she went to the Cebu Pacific ticketing office in Hong Kong, she was pleasantly shocked to know that there was already a direct flight from Hong Kong to Iloilo. She immediately purchased a ticket that was being offered on a promotional rate and she was even the first passenger to check in for the November 9 flight.

Never did she imagine that being the first to check in, she would even win a round-trip ticket to Hong Kong as a prize from the airline.

Saban was only one of the 50 Ilonggo overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who went home to their families early Friday on board 5J243, the return flight of the first plane that flew directly to Hong Kong straight from the Iloilo International Airport.

Among those in the plane was Consul General Noel Servigon, himself an Ilonggo, who expressed excitement for the historic development.

"This flight has been awaited by the thousands of Ilonggo workers in Hong Kong. Ever since the Iloilo International Airport was inaugurated five years ago, they were already looking forward to this. Finally this has become a reality," he said.

According to Servigon, there are 152,000 "household service workers" or formerly known as domestic helpers in Hong Kong and another 15,000 working as professionals in various industries.

Though there is no available figure as how many of them are Ilonggos, Servigon said he would not be surprised if the number would reach more than 10,000.

Jojo Sapio, head of the Ilonggo Association in Hong Kong, said Ilonggos even have sub associations such as the Passi City Association headed by Ma. Wilma Tadora and the Janiuay Ladies Circle headed by Dorothy Obeja. These women leaders both acknowledged the direct flights to Iloilo as very good opportunities for them "to go home without much stress."

"Very convenient for us. You can eat dinner here and you can lunch there. In case of emergencies, it's so easy for us. Before we have to travel for one day just to go home. Now it is just two hours," Obeja said. "Mas barato man (It's even cheaper)," she added

Sapio, meanwhile, noted that the direct flights are perfect for family bonding, either for the OFW to go home to his family or for the family to go visit Hong Kong. "Pag na-miss namon ang amon pamilya, we can easily go home," he said.

Joey Ortega, chairman of Philippine Alliance, the umbrella organization of Filipinos from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, said the direct flights could also be opportunities to promote Iloilo to Hong Kong tourists.

"We are looking for destinations in the Philippines which we can promote to tourists in Hong Kong," he said. Ortega is an Ilocano who has been in Hong Kong for the 20 years. He is now a regional director of a Swiss company.

Another Ilongga leader, Sonia Zerrudo, whose family hails from Leon and who has been traveling all over the world, wants to promote historical tours from Hong Kong to Iloilo. As an officer of the Philippine Association of Hong Kong and the Lakbay Dangal, she has pioneered the Jose Rizal Trail wherein they visit those places visited by the Philippine national hero in the former Crown Colony.

"We can do the same in Iloilo," she said.

Meanwhile, Alex Superficial, a veteran pilot of Hong Kong Air, said the Iloilo airport is very strategic and can actually promote not only tourism but trade for the entire island of Panay. Superficial started his career with Cebu Pacific more than a decade ago before moving to Hong Kong.

"This airport, if promoted properly, could be a catalyst for growth for the whole of Panay," he said. (To be continued)