Is There Still Hope for PAL?

Journal

Monday, September 21, 1998

Opinion

East & West

By Julius Fortuna

WE raise this question because many of our friends and acquaintances ask whether there is still hope to revive the national flag-carrier. We tell them it may still be saved but — difficult.

The reason is simple. Aside from its financial woes, PAL carries within itself an organized union that has been corrupted by a vermin called ultra-democracy. This is a political sickness which awards the union an undeserved power. In its greediness, the hardline group which dominates PALEA wants the whole pie when it only deserves a part of it.

That is why the airline — from the very start — was really fighting with a handicap. Mr. Lucio Tan thought he was talking to honorable men on Friday they discussed the equity-for-industrial peace deal. Mr. Tan realized two days later that the PALEA union president had either a) other strange ideas or b) that he was not authorized to sign the agreement.

It is now clear that the union carries varying political and ideological pressures. The president is really sitting on top of a coalition whose affiliates come from various persuasions. He could not be decisive because his power base is dependent on the support of various factions. In short, he is a weak leader because of a divided constituency.

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Digging one's grave

There are two phrases that describe the fate of the hardline group within the PAL union: "Digging one's grove," or “carrying a stone to drop it on one's own feet." Now that the Philippine Airlines has advised its creditors that it is closing shop, the stubborn members can now proceed to plant camote.

Those are the people who think that their own Philippine Airlines, not knowing that every Filipino has a stake in its continued existence. They think only of their paychecks. They only think of their narrow self-interest. As for the pilots, go and look for jobs in other airlines, assuming you can find one or if you are still younger to be accommodated.

If we sound angry over the Philippine Airlines closure, it is because this firm is part of our lives. We come from a province where air and sea travel is part of our everyday life. Other countries take care of their national airlines. Only in this country can we find a national flag-carrier being destroyed by a band of greedy and egoistic union leaders.

As we write this piece. President Estrada is still hopeful that a solution to the PAL problem could still be found. He was quoted to have said "What's the CBA for if the company has closed down," in pointed reference to the union's proposal that a new accord be negotiated in place of Mr. Tan's equity proposal. Those who want renegotiation at this stage are all dreaming.

Note: Aside from its financial woes, PAL carries within itself an organized union that has been corrupted by a vermin called ultra-democracy. This is a political sickness which awards the union an undeserved power.