A Port Coquitlam mom is desperate to have her family back after they were trapped in the Philippines following a country-wide lockdown.
Lu Donini told the Tri-City News she is worried about the young family who is stuck in a compound in Tayug, Pangasinan with other Canadians and a Philippine family.
The compound is on the island of Luzon, which is is in quarantine as COVID-19 cases climb to 3,764 with 177 deaths. Commercial flights from the country have also been cancelled in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus.
“I can’t allow myself to be constantly thinking he’s not going to be coming home. There’s got to be somebody who can help,” Donini said.
The family, including Michael McGonigal, his wife Flor and 12-year-old son Justin, went to the Philippines for holiday in February but were to return home to Port Coquitlam at the end of March, only to face one flight cancellation after another.
Donini can’t understand why it’s taking so long for her family to return home and is worried about their health because plumbing is rudimentary and food is limited because of the lockdown.
“We see other Canadians being moved from other countries… Taking them off ships and bringing them home,” said Donini. “And there is not any word at all about what’s going on in the Philippines. I just wish I knew somebody who was worth millions who could go over and bring them home.”
Still, she hopes her son, who works at Sleeman Brewery, may be coming home.
It appears the federal government is looking into arranging for a commercial flight to bring home Canadians who are stuck in the Philippines.
But according to Michael McGonigal, who was reached via Facebook Messenger, the flight is not guaranteed and if he manages to get his family to the airport, a four hour drive, they could be homeless if it’s cancelled.
“My biggest fear is that we get there and they cancel at the last minutes. We wold be homeless, no food, no water, a limited supply of cash and no phone,” he said in a Facebook message.
McGonigal confirmed that the Canadian government has sent an email to those who have registered, letting them know that flights have been arranged for April 14.
Tickets cost $2,200 per person for a flight to Vancouver — about $6000 for his family.
Still he’s worried and he’s got a week to go even if the flight does go ahead.
The family spends time playing games, and learning the language, but the food is minimal and plumbing a bowl and a bucket of water.
“I’m missing out on earnings. I am grateful to have a job. My wife is a resident care aid. She is also an essential service worker. They need our services back home,” McGonigal said.
Meanwhile, the situation is getting desperate in the surrounding country, with orders to shoot people who leave the lockdown according to McGonigal, and he’s frustrated that people blame the travellers for the position they are in.
“Sure, we should have done this, should have done that. But a 72 hour notice for a lockdown doesn’t give enough time and many of us became trapped.”
Still, he says his family is safe, not starving and looking forward to being home.
In a final word to his mother, McGonigal attempts to reassure her on a recent video posted to Facebook: “Mom if you’re watching, please, you’re going to have to try and relax, I know you worry a lot.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam MP Ron McKinnon’s office confirmed that the Canadian government is working on a plan to bring the McGonigals home but she wouldn’t provide any details.The Canadian government has been working for some time to repatriate Canadians, but others are stranded, too. International travellers returning to Canada must go into mandatory quarantine for 14 days.
For more information on COVID-19, visit here.
