Holy Week travel: Couple fulfills dream of visiting nurse mom in UK (2025)

MANILA, Philippines — “A lifelong dream.” This was how Suzanne Patricia Latorre described her trip to London to visit her mother, who has been serving the European country as a nurse for over 20 years.

It was like hitting two birds with one stone—exploring London for the first time and visiting her mother. According to Latorre, her husband will accompany her.

The couple was among the 146,543 passengers logged in all Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) terminals on Holy Wednesday, based on the latest data from the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA).

READ: As others reunite this Holy Week, OFW mom leaves PH to support family

“We’ll stay there for two weeks. Lifelong dream. Because my mom is there and our visit will happen for the first time after 20 years,” Latorre told INQUIRER.net in an interview at the Naia Terminal 3.

“We’ll just go around and spend time. We’ll just go around within London, although my mom is based in Manchester. She knows we’re coming and she’s also excited because I’ve been wanting to go to the UK,” she added.

The couple caught a red-eye flight from Davao to Manila on April 15. And to avoid the influx of passengers, the two rented a room near Terminal 3 and went to the airport around 3 p.m. on Holy Wednesday for their almost midnight flight.

Asked about their plans for the two-week trip, Latorre said they had no scheduled itinerary and just wanted to settle and feel the place first.

“Dun (London) lang muna for now. May times na gusto namin puntahan lahat pero eventually gusto mo na chill in time to feel it. Wala naman bata, so okay lang, we can have our time kung ano ‘yung puwede ma-cover within London area or nearby siguro ‘di ba?” she said.

(We will just tour within London for now. There are times we want to visit all places, but eventually we just want to chill in time and feel it. We don’t have kids with us, so it’s okay, we can have our time and visit areas within London or nearby areas, right?)

“Anyone would want to go there because it’s really a different culture, a different experience,” she added.

In total, the MIAA has so far logged 580,021 passengers in all Naia terminals from Palm Sunday to Holy Wednesday. Of this figure, 146,543 passengers were logged on Holy Wednesday, 140,407 travelers on Holy Tuesday, 142,560 passengers on Holy Monday, and 150,511 on Palm Sunday.

MIAA data showed that the number of passengers that flocked to the country’s main gateway increased compared to the 518,909 recorded in the same period last year.

Earlier, Immigration Deputy Spokesperson Melvin Mabulac disclosed that 55 officers are manning the counters in all terminals to expedite the passengers’ immigration process.

He added that 48 immigration officers are on standby for peak hours — 3:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. to help accommodate the influx of passengers.