'Red hand' in PAL row

Manila Standard

Saturday, November 2, 1996

Strike meant to last until APEC meet

By ROMIE EVANGELISTA AND ANGIE ROSALES

The ongoing strike at Philippine Airlines is part of "calibrated mass actions" orchestrated by left-leaning groups to embarrass the government which is scheduled to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit later this month in Manila.

Police and military intelligence sources, revealing this yesterday, said the PAL strike was "initiated" by labor unionists loyal to the faction of Felimon "Popoy" Lagman, former chief of the dreaded communist urban death squad Alex Boncayao Brigade.

"The objective is to embarrass the government before the APEC community," the sources said.

This developed as members of the striking Philippine Airlines Employees' Association (PALEA) refused to lift their pickets despite the return-to-work order issued by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) even as the airline announced a scaled-down operations because of the wildcat strike.

In a statement, PAL said that since the wild-cat strike Thursday night, it has cancelled 219 flights systemwide and was able to operate only 50 flights.

As of 5:30 p.m. yesterday, PAL managed to operate only seven international flights out of Manila. These included the flights for Bangkok/Frankfurt/Paris, Narita, Singapore, Hong Kong, London, Vancouver/New York and Abu Dhabi.

Yesterday's arrivals included flights from San Francisco and Los Angeles.

PAL was able to operate its domestic flights yesterday only for Davao, Bacolod, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Tacloban, Iloilo and Kalibo. Domestic arrivals included only flights from Bacolod and Cagayan de Oro.

PAL management said it will continue to maximize its available manpower resources and equipment to lessen the inconvenience brought about by the PALEA strike.

Sources at the airport said airport authorities and a contingent of the Philippine National Police (PNP) there were ready to conduct dispersal operations if the unionists persisted in their defiance.

Late yesterday afternoon, some uniformed men removed the pickets at the PAL offices but the unionists vowed to put up their barricades again and continue with their protest.

In a press conference, Arno Sanidad, PALEA legal counsel, claimed the striking employees have not yet received the order for them to return to work. But later on, other officials said even if they received such an order, they will continue with their protest.

According to the intelligence sources, the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines intelligence community have reportedly monitored at least two consultative meetings attended by Lagman and PAL union officials.

PALEA, the sources said, is affiliated with the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), an umbrella labor organization put up by Lagman.

Lagman, former head of the Manila Rizal Regional Party Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines, attended the meetings accompanied by armed bodyguards, the same sources said.

The BMP and its affiliate labor groups were also monitored by the APEC Secretariat Task Group on Security and Intelligence to have conducted a clandestine meeting in Los Baños, Laguna, last Aug. 3.

Those who attended the meeting, sources said, were Lagman, Renato Constantino Jr., President of the militant Sanlakas group, and Nilo de la Cruz, alias Sergio Romero, Alex Boncayao Brigade chieftain.

Anti-APEC forum

Constantino Jr. is a leader of one of the groups comprising the Manila People's Forum which is spearheading the staging of an anti-APEC meeting that would coincide with the APEC summit.

This same group is behind recent moves to get East Timorese dissident leader Jose Ramos-Horta to address the anti-APEC meeting.

The secret meetings were aimed at producing a series of "counter conferences" to be conducted simultaneously with the APEC summit this month, among them the Manila People's Forum.

The sources said the PAL strike was intended to lay the groundwork for similar protest actions to be conducted by militant labor groups in time for the arrival of the APEC leaders and delegates.

The government earlier revealed a plot by the Lagman's communist faction to disrupt the APEC meet. But Lagman vehemently denied such a plot.

PALEA officials also said they would only return to work if the order came from President Ramos.

They also demanded the resignation of Executive Secretary Ruben Torres and Labor Secretary Leonardo Quisumbing, saying they have lost their confidence in the two officials for allegedly being biased in favor of airline management.

New panel

PALEA President Alexander Barrientos said they would ask Mr. Ramos to designate another panel of government officials other than those from the DOLE to mediate in their current Iabor problem with the PAL management.