End of PAL?

The Philippine Star

Saturday, September 19, 1998

Roses and Thorns

By ALEJANDRO R. ROCES

The management of PAL has given notice that it will end its operations four days from today. This is really bad news, first, because it is the oldest Asian airlines. It marked a point in our history when we were ahead of even Japan when it came to the latest mode of public transportation. Second, because its closure was caused by a disagreement between the airline's labor unions and management. When PAL closes, both will cease to exist.

As usual, President Estrada made an irrelevant statement when he said, "I will do everything I can to prevent the closure of PAL. So much is at stake for workers here. I do not worry for Mr. Tan; he won't go hungry anyway." That is not the issue at all. None of the pilots were going hungry—even after they went on strike. The question is justice. We are not saying that Mr. Tan is right. A president's job is to see that there is justice for every man. Mr. Tan is as entitled to justice as much as the PAL employees. What Pres. Estrada has in effect said is that he is only worried about the hungry. We all are. But it is the people who are not hungry that can alleviate the plight of those who are. What should concern the President is what will PAL's closure do to our already crippled economy?

The present generation takes air travel for granted. Actually, air travel started in 1910 and it was not airplanes that were used. Using dirigibles, Germany started transporting passengers between several German cities. Four years later, the United States inaugurated airplane travel. There were experimental airmail flights in the United States, Europe and even in India even before World War I, but air travel did not truly begin till after the first  World War.

We recall that on November of 1935, the first airmail service arrived in Manila from the United States. The plane was called the China clipper. It was such a great event that classes were dismissed to allow students to go to Dewey Boulevard to see the latest scientific wonder. And we recall how PAL began sometime after liberation. In 1915, we left for the United States by the only available way — by boat. It took a month to get there. Five years later, we returned by PAL and experienced air travel for the first time. At that time, being an airline stewardess was the most glamorous job and almost all the stewardess came from Manila’s top families. Only the very rich could travel by air. Today, air travel has been democratized. To this point in time, the history of PAL is the history of air travel in the Philippines. It is indeed sad to see living history end this way.

Sir William Drummond once said, "He who will not reason, is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and he who dares not is a slave." We are undergoing what may be our worst financial crisis in our entire history. PAL's closure will add to that crisis. It will be a major setback to air travel in this country, not to mention that it will add to our growing list of unemployed. We don't know who is right or wrong in the dispute between management and labor. But surely, it can be settled with justice for both sides. PAL is an institution and nations are made by institutions.