Right before New Year’s, a physician-friend sent me a long text about new procedures pertaining to sending and claiming air cargo, which make it an ordeal. Here’s an edited version of the text: “If you want to send a box of fruit from Manila to Davao using PAL cargo, you have to go to [...]
We in the Flight Attendants’ and Stewards’ Association of the Philippines (Fasap) join the nation in hailing the triumph of justice with the conviction of Chief Justice Renato Corona by the impeachment court.
THE DECISION of the Supreme Court to reject with finality the bid of President Aquino’s Cojuangco clan to get compensation for Hacienda Luisita based on 2006 prices, which would have allowed the clan to secure at least P5 billion, has cleared the way for a full implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) a [...]
YES, IT will soon be “more fun flying with PAL.” (“Turning PAL around,” Inquirer, 4/17/12) But that will only come when the US Federation Aviation Administration (FAA) lifts the restrictions imposed on PAL for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s loss of Category 1 status. Indeed a heavy punishment for the flag carrier, though it’s no [...]
May we write in reaction to the editorial titled “Turning PAL around.” (Inquirer, 4/17/12)
The colorful history of Philippine Airlines took another major turn just before the Lenten break. San Miguel Corp., led by the aggressive 58-year-old businessman Ramon Ang, bought a 40-percent stake in, and obtained management control of, the airline.
Don’t expect the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Fasap (Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines) case to be the last word on the matter. By upholding its October 2011 recall of its “final” decision (ordering Philippine Airlines to reinstate 1,400 Fasap members) made barely a month before, the high tribunal, voting 7-2, also ordered the reraffling of the case and sent it back to square one. It is as if nothing has happened between 1998 (when PAL laid off the flight attendants) and a dozen years later. If there’s a classic illustration of miscarriage of justice and inutility of our laws, this is it.
If attentive observers of the developments at the Senate impeachment court are appalled to discover that Chief Justice Renato Corona and his wife enjoyed VIP perks from Philippine Airlines while the company had a case pending at the Supreme Court, and are naturally eager to learn more, what are they to make of a ruling by the court rejecting the PAL executive presented by the prosecution to testify on the matter? Would they not be wondering why someone who can credibly be described as a competent witness would be deemed irrelevant to the case?
Philippine Airlines is crying harassment by its employees and their union (Palea) and asking for support from business groups like the Makati Business Club. Sort of like a “we’re all in this together and if it can happen to us it can happen to you” structural message. Unbelievable. In the past decade the public has [...]
The wildcat strike at the Philippine Airlines staged at the height of Typhoon “Pedring” more than illustrated the agony of the national flag carrier as it seeks adjustment in a difficult transition that is not only its lot but likewise that of the global airline industry. Last Tuesday, about 300 PAL employees reported for work [...]
In a decision dated Aug. 11, the Office of the President (OP) denied the motion for reconsideration of the Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (Palea). So, last Aug. 5 Philippine Airlines (PAL) announced the mass layoff of more than 2,600 employees and their downgrade as contractual workers in service providers. Yet PAL’s implementation of the OP ruling is premature since it is not executory, pending final judicial resolution; Palea has filed a petition with the Court of Appeals.
WE WOULD like to point out the little-known fact that the hotel maid accusing Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund and erstwhile possible French presidential candidate, is a union member covered by a contract that guarantees job security. This celebrated case of sexual assault could have gone the way of many—unreported [...]
