A Santa Clarita native and Valencia High graduate is seeking help in getting assistance from the United States Embassy in the Philippines in order to come home.

Benjamin Renzulli, along with his girlfriend Jade Taubman, have spent a month under various lockdowns and quarantines in the Philippines.

The young couple had made the trip in early March to allow Taubman to say goodbye to an elderly family member who had been diagnosed with dementia last year, and has since deteriorated rapidly. 

He already was unable to recognize her, Taubman said.

“The day after we landed, the pandemic was announced on the news. When we were at the airport the president (of the Philippines) announced the lockdown of Luzon,” Renzulli said. “Following that, all the other little islands started to do all the same lockdown as well.”

The main island of Luzon houses the Philippine capital of Manila, and has a population of around 57 million people. 

According to Johns Hopkins, the Philippines has 4,195 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 221 deaths as of Friday– significantly less than some other countries of comparable size. However, this may also be because the nation currently only has a testing capacity of 2,000 to 2,500 people per day, according to health officials.

Renzulli and Taubman were ordered to undergo a 14-day quarantine, and a government nurse came daily to take their temperatures. The two were not allowed to leave the AirBnB they were staying at under any circumstances.

On March 17, while they were still under quarantine, the two received an email from government officials stating that the U.S. embassy would be closed on March 24, and that a sweeper flight would be available at their local airport to get them to Manila.

“This was the only option to get to Manila which is the only airport that flies international. They emailed at 11 at night, flight at 8, which, no problem,” Renzulli said. “But we couldn’t have made it because we didn’t have a quarantine pass and there was a military checkpoint, so we wouldn’t have been able to get to the sweeper point.”

By March 26, their quarantine was over and they were eligible for a quarantine pass, however, they were unable to receive the physical passes until March 30.

“We couldn’t go anywhere anyway, because the domestic flights were all cancelled, and we had missed the only sweeper flight offered because we were still under mandatory quarantine,” Renzulli said.

That same day, domestic flights began being cancelled until at least April 15. Renzulli and Taubman called their air carrier to rebook flights home for after that date — a call that took eight and a half hours. However, the two noted that they were lucky because the company had covered the fare difference.

They knew that they needed to be closer the local airport for the next sweeper flight, so on March 31, Renzulli and Taubman started making their way to the next lodging Renzulli had managed to scrounge up: an AirBnB 75 miles away owned by a sympathetic man staying in New York. 

Unfortunately, all taxis and ride services had been closed. With no other options, the two began walking, pulling their luggage along with them under the hot sun, in 90 percent humidity. 

“We didn’t even get to the first checkpoint,” Renzulli said. “We were stopped by health department workers, two military vans, and a police vehicle. People were scared when they saw us walking.”

After being questioned, a random passerby offered to take the two to their lodgings. Although finally arriving was a relief, the reception from the local population was less than gracious.

“The house was … raided essentially,” Renzuli said. “In comes six government health workers, and two police vans full of officers. We told them, ‘We have our documents for quarantine, we’re going to Tacloban to get to Manila.’ They didn’t believe us, because Tacloban is closed and on lockdown. Once I showed them the email from the embassy, they backed off.”

The head health worker called the Mayor and secured an ambulance to take Renzulli and Taubman to Tacloban City, which had recently been put on lockdown. The two stated that because of the military checkpoints, it was unlikely that they would have made it into the city on their own.

Now in a hostel, the couple are only one hour and 20 minutes away from Manila by plane, but travelling by car and ferry would take at least 20 hours.

Renzulli applied for and received a home quarantine pass, which allows one member of a household to leave a home to shop for food and water. Outside, they can hear announcements from local police over loudspeakers echoing through the streets, saying ‘strict quarantine rule, no violators.’

“They could potentially come in here and arrest us,” Taubman said. “We have to be careful about what we say about the military and the government.”

On April 2, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte warned citizens that anyone who defied lockdown orders would be shot by the police.

“I will not hesitate,” Duterte said in a televised address. “My orders are to the police and military, as well as village officials, if there is any trouble, or occasions where there’s violence and your lives are in danger, shoot them dead. Do not intimidate the government. Do not challenge the government. You will lose.”

Although Renzulli and Taubman have had several other harrowing experiences, they said they will not dare share the details until they are safely back on American soil, for fear of retribution from the local authorities.

This has become even more imperative now that the lockdown has been extended to April 30, which has caused all domestic airlines to follow suit. However, in their communications with U.S. officials, they are being told that flights are available.

The issue lies in the fact that while international flights are available in and out of Manila, domestic companies such as Philippine Airlines, which offer transportation between islands in the archipelago, are no longer offering flights.

FLIGHT ADVISORY: We confirm that all Philippine Airlines domestic and international flights are cancelled up to April 30, 2020, in line with the extension of the Luzon Enhanced Community Quarantine until April 30.

Learn more: https://t.co/zVx0hEV8K7 pic.twitter.com/6hwV22a6AS

— Philippine Airlines (@flyPAL) April 8, 2020

Renzulli and Taubman’s frustration is only compounded upon noticing that other international travelers who have been left stranded are receiving assistance, specifically mentioning European Union and Canadian efforts to provide repatriation options for their citizens.

“These sweeper flights are being offered to other countries,” Renzulli said. “They partner with other airlines to get the flights specially approved and only allow their people on board.”

On April 4, long after the domestic flight lockdown had been put in place, Renzulli and Taubman were informed by the U.S. Embassy via email that the United States “does not anticipate arranging repatriation flights in the Philippines at this time.”

While some government representatives are attempting to help, the information that they have offered the two American citizens has been “severely out of date,” such as suggesting a private plane — which would be highly illegal due to the lockdown, a ferry — also shut down, or driving — also impossible due to military checkpoints.

While Renzulli was able to find one legal private plane that could take them to Manila, the tickets would cost $15,000. Usually, tickets for the same flight cost $30.

Despite the financial hardship posed by this ordeal Renzulli and Taubman insist that money is not their goal, getting assistance from their government is the priority, not only for themselves, but for other Americans who might be trapped overseas.

“We don’t want money, it is gonna cost us $3-4 grand to get home, but I don’t feel that we are where the need is. The petition is to get awareness,” Renzulli said. “We found another family of 13 Americans that are on another island that also can’t get out. We’ve exhausted all our options. No one has been able to help us. They always push it off to the next person.”

In the short time since posting the petition to attract the attention of the United States government, there have been several threats posted to the page or even sent to Taubman directly. It is because of fear of this backlash that several other trapped Americans they have come in contact with via social media have declined to speak out. 

“They feel like they could be trapped, there are people here losing their voice because of the government, but at this point, this is the only way we are able to get this information out,”  Taubman said. “There are so many who probably need help but are scared to speak out.”

Renzulli’s parents still live in Santa Clarita, although the young couple currently hails from Bay Park, California, near San Diego. 

Taubman stated that she understood that there are people who are going to simply judge and condemn the two instead of offering the simple help of their signature, but that she was still willing to stand up and draw attention to the issue not only for her own sake, but for the dozens of other international travelers who were unable to return home because of forces beyond their control.

“We are seeking compassion and have the humility to share our stories and ask for help. My story is one of many, I only wish to set an example and be the voice for those who do not have the platform or capacity to reach out for assistance. I am not ashamed to share my story and will not be made to feel guilty,” Taubman wrote in the petition. “Many of us stranded here, are in fact not here just for vacations. We have families, are on missionary trips, business trips, and even if we are here for a vacation…that in no way means that we don’t deserve or need help. No one asked for any of this to happen, and we all must be there for each other, as friends, neighbors, and humans all around.”

As of Friday, April 10, the petition had gathered just over 1,100 signatures.