A partylist lawmaker asked Friday the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) to conduct a deeper investigation into the case of discrimination allegedly committed by a Cebu Pacific airline crew against a special child suffering from a physical disability condition.

Buhay Rep. Irwin Tieng, who has been advocating greater respect for rights of persons with disabilities (PWD), urged the NCDA to conduct its own inquiry into the incident and aggressively pursue the alleged case of discrimination.

Tieng is the author of a number of bills advocating better treatment of PWDs, including one that seeks an increase from P8,000 to P25,000 in personal exemption for taxpayers with PWD dependents.

The party-list lawmaker has expressed deep concern over the alleged case of discrimination against a young PWD who had been asked by the Cebu Pacific airline crew to deplane from a Hongkong to Manila flight two days before Christmas last year.

“What happened to the hapless PWD and his mother during the Cebu Pacific flight show just how low we regard PWDs in this day and age when all over the world PWDs are being given all the help and respect they need to get fully integrated into the community,” said Tieng.

News reports revealed that Cebu Pacific passenger Mylene Alcantara had been asked to disembark from a Manila-bound plane when a purser learned that her son is a special child.

The crew member explained that it was the air company’s policy not to accept two passengers suffering from “mental illness” in the same flight, noting that a child with Down’s Syndrome had already boarded.

Cebu Pacific quickly apologized for the incident as it explained that there was no such policy that “discriminates against persons with special needs.”

The firm’s management noted that the cabin crew had misinterpreted a government air regulation that was aimed at ensuring the safety of passengers on board.

Alcantara’s child is suffering from Global Development Delay, a condition that delays a child's ability to acquire motor skills as fast as normal kids.

Alcantara and her child were eventually allowed on the flight, but the incident caused a one-hour delay in the plane's departure.

Tieng said the issue should serve as an “eye-opener” to the Filipino public and big and small commercial companies to give full respect to the rights of the estimated eight million PWDs in the country.

“Let us not let this issue pass without letting everyone know that respecting the rights of PWDs is not only a humane act but it is also enshrined in our local and international laws,” Tieng said.