MANILA - Veteran actress Rustica Carpio was stuck in South Korea recently, after she failed to board her scheduled flight back to Manila at the Pusan airport.

Carpio - an educator, book author, playwright, artist, researcher, and doctorate degree-holder - felt bad she had to wait for days to get back to the Philippines because her plane ticket was non-refundable.

Carpio was the lone Philippine delegate to the recently concluded Pusan International Film Festival.

She starred in one of the film entries called "Lola", where she portrayed "Lola Sepa", the beleaguered grandmother of a suspected killer and cellphone snatcher.

“I wanted to go home to Manila before [October 15] because I wanted to attend my movie’s opening night at the Cinemanila International Film Festival in Market! Market!. But the date of my ticket was final and I couldn’t refund it,” Carpio said.

“I couldn’t do anything but wait for the scheduled flight,” she said.

She later sought help from fellow Filipino actress Maria Isabel Lopez, who flew to South Korea for the Pusan film fest.

Lopez starred in the film "Kinatay (The Execution of P)", directed by Brillante Mendoza. Both "Kinatay" and "Lola" were directed by Mendoza.

Lopez tried to help Carpio reach immigration officials, but her request for an immediate flight to Manila was not granted.

“I told Rustica to remain calm and collected but I assured her there wouldn’t be further hassles,” recounted Lopez.

However, Carpio was once again left behind in Pusan when Lopez and Mendoza had to fly home to Manila for the 11th Cinemanila premiere last week.

Mendoza came all the way from Paris where he had a series of meetings with international distributors and bookers for the film "Kinatay."

“Kawawa naman siya. Pero she performed well during interviews. Kaya lang, siyempre, hindi na siya mahilig um-attend ng mga parties. Alam mo naman sa mga international film festivals, party rito, party roon. Si Rustica, she chose to just stay in her hotel room,” Lopez said.

Eventually, Carpio was able to board a flight to Manila from Pusan, after Cinemanila's opening on October 16. Report by Boy Villasanta.