GSIS, RSBS, Malulugi sa Pagsasara ng PAL

Kabayan
Sunday, September 20, 1999
By Divine De Guzman

KASAMA ang apat na Government Financial Institution (GFI) at Armed Forces of the Philippines-Retirement and Separation Benefits System (APP-RSBS) sa maaapektuhan ng pagsasara ng Philippine Airlines (PAL) sa Huwebes, ayon sa isang mambabatas.

Ayon kay Senador Gregorio Honasan, maging ang Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Land Bank of the Philippines (landbank), Philippine National Bank (PNB) at Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) ay kabilang sa maaapektuhan ng nasabing pagsasara.

Anya, ang GSIS ay mayroong shares of stock sa PAL na umaabot sa 150 million shares, samantalang ang Landbank na ay may 75 million shares. Ang PNB ay may-ari ng 50 million shares at 49 million shares ay ang pag-aari ng DBP.

Ang RSBS ay mayroong P500 milyong halaga ng investment sa nasabing airline.

"Ang pagsasara ng PAL ay hindi lamang dagdag na pahirap sa ating naghihikahos na ekonomiya dahil sa pagkawala ng trahaho ng may 9,000 empleyado nito kundi maging sa may limang institusyon ng pamahalaan na maaapektuhan din nito," ani Honasan:

Sinabi ni Senador Rodolfo Biazon na malulugi ang may P500 milyon dahil sa pangyayari.

Ang pagsasara ng PAL ay kaugnay na rin sa pagbawi ng unyon sa unang napagkasunduan nila ng management kung saan pumirma ang may 21-kataong board of directors ng PAL Employees’ Association (PALEA) sa isang compromise agreement na magbibigay sana sa kanila ng 20 porsyento ng shares of stock ng airlines.

PAL: Open and Shut Case

Philippine Daily Inquirer

Sunday, January 3, 1999

FREE FALLING in severe turbulence all year, Philippine Airlines came close to crashing. Hobbled by labor problems and the Asian financial crisis, the national flag carrier struggled all year to stay in the air. But for a few days in late September and early October, the national flag carrier and Asia’s first airline disappeared from Philippine skies for the first time since its founding in 1941.

Its beleaguered captain , majority owner Lucio Tan, decided to close the financially troubled airline after firing more than 600 striking pilots and failing to get ground crew union to accept a survival package.

Competitors, including Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, took over PAL’s routes with gusto, but they simply could not fill the void left by PAL as the primary domestic carrier of people, mail, newspaper and goods. Allied industries, like hotel, travel and tourism, were on the verge of collapse.

The union reversed itself and grudgingly accepted the offer, which included owning 20 percent of the airline, only after President Estrada stopped into the negotiation. That allowed the airline to fly again.

Tan, after six years of what he considered a hostile government under then President Fidel Ramos, finally found an ally in Malacañang—Mr. Estrada.

But potential foreign investors—Cathay Pacific and Northwest Airlines—failed to reach agreement with PAL for a partnership.

By year’s end, PAL was in a situation worse than when the year started, its fate still very much up in the turbulent air.