Erap to Sit in on PAL-Cathay Talks

Manila Standard

Sunday, December 6, 1998

President Estrada will meet today with Philippine Airlines (PAL) Chairman Lucio Tan and officials of Cathay Pacific Airways to get a full picture of the flag carrier's rehabilitation plan.

The rehabilitation program is to be sub­mitted tomorrow along with foreign inputs expected to be poured into PAL.

Mr. Estrada expressed confidence that the Hong Kong-based CPA will eventually agree to invest in PAL to keep it flying.

"It's true that PAL and Cathay had a mis­understanding but I'm not giving up just yet. I have asked for an appointment with the president of Cathay so they can talk again with PAL chairman Mr. Lucio Tan,” he said in his weekly radio program. "I believe things will turn up fine. But if the talks fail, I will do everything I can to make sure that PAL will not stop operations."

He pointed out the government and all kinds of businesses will suffer if PAL closes down. "Because PAL is our flag carrier and it was the first commercial plane (to fly) in the whole of Asia. Our national interest is at stake here."

Stand-alone

Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora has said PAL could continue operating without relying on the resources of a foreign partner. He said the meeting Thursday night with PAL management and its creditors' representatives bolstered this belief.

He added the creditors’ representatives did not say that PAL’s loans will due if the airline fails to conclude an agreement with a foreign partner, “so it is possible in the end, PAL will be rehabilitated by a stand-alone, all-Filipino investors group.”

Zamora said PAL officials are confident about the stand-alone rehabilitation plan so they are not even asking for an extension of the original deadline, Dec. 7, adding that they are certain to find enough money to turn the airline around.