President Estrada a No-show at 365 Club

Manila Standard
Thursday, September 24, 1998
[Column]
By Emil P. Jurado

Note that soon after the Lagman brothers entered the pictutre, PAL unions became intransigent, even if it meant throwing out of the window the airline and the national interest. The agenda of the Left is to destabilize the country. And they are succeeding.  

IF PRESIDENT Estrada failed to attend the 26th founding anniversary of the 365 Club at Hotel Intercon the other night, he had a good reason.

The President was holding a series of make-or-break meetings that lasted late into the

night with PAL management and union representatives, first at the Palace, and then at No. 1 Polk Street in San Juan. He met again with the presidential task force on PAL after the employees'     referendum struck down Lucio Tan's offer to the unions.

We at the 365 Club understand the President's absence — it should not be taken against Erap. In fact, after I was told by Press Secretary Rod Reyes and Presidential Spokesman Jerry Barican that the President could not make it, I got a personal call from the President. He said he regretted his absence. Don't worry, Mr. President. We understand.

* * *

I can understand the President's predicament. Certainly, the closure of PAL as of midnight last night was of greater importance than the founding anniversary of a club of which I am the self-pro-claimed chairman.

The problem doesn't only affect 9,000 PAL employees, 1,388 of whom didn't want PAL saved, but the national interest as well. There will be other occasions.

In any case, the celebration went on well, with Reyes reading the President's speech and with Cris Villongco, Lani Misalucha and movie sensation Ara Mina entertaining the crowd. Armida Siguion-Reyna and publisher Teddyboy tocsin were the emcees.

I would like to thank friends of the club who attended the affair and the following who helped make it possible: Allied Bank (Lucio Tan), Weller Group (William Gatchalian). PLDT (Tonyboy Cojuangco), E. L.. Enterprises (E. Levin), Banco Filipino (Bobby Aguirre), and many others who prefer to be anonymous.

* * *

President Estrada really wants to save PAL. The P1.5-billion loan he approved to allow domestic flights of the national flag carrier to 14 vital routes to continue attests to this.

It should not be interpreted as a bail-out. It's just a loan for three months. Why three months?

Malacañang is hopeful that in three months, a solution can be found so that

PAL’s closure won’t affect vital services like banking, commerce and industry, basic services like mail and the delivery of important cargo, especially in the Visayas and Mindanao. Malacañang is also talking to prospective buyers.

The problem is, PAL's demise has tarnished the country's image internationally. PAL has been equated abroad with the Philippines. Since the first and "sunniest" airline of Asia is no more, the world may think that the Philippines has also gone under.

What worries foreign investors and the domestic business community is that labor unions can bring down a big corporation like PAL. The perception is that if this can happen to an institution like the national flag carrier, what chance do smaller business entities have against militant unions?

More than kidnappings and graft and corruption, it's the militant unions infiltrated by leftists that are cause for worry for foreign and local businessmen.

The government should look into the entry of leftist elements led by the Lagman brothers — Popoy, a former NPA chieftain, and Edcel, a former congressman — into the PAL negotiations.