PAL urges protesters not to block NAIA offices

MANILA, Philippines—Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has called on its retrenched employees to keep their protests peaceful and to refrain from hampering the airline’s operations.

The PAL statement asserts that while protests have been allowed, protesters encamped at the parking lot in front of its Inflight Center near Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 2  have no right to hamper the airline’s business by blocking entrances and exits of the said facility.

PAL counsel Clara de Castro said protesting former workers of PAL have been separated from the airline as of October 1, 2011.

“While they’re contesting their separation from the company, they have no right whatsoever to prevent PAL employees and designated service providers from using the Inflight Center,” she said.

PAL’s Inflight Center is home to PAL’s Cabin Services Department and the former PAL kitchen, which has yet to be taken over by its new service provider, SkyKitchen Philippines Inc., according to De Castro.

Since September 27, right after the former PAL Employees’ Association’s (Palea) wildcat strike, De Castro said the protesters have set up camp in front of the facility and have taken it upon themselves to block legitimate PAL employees and vehicles from going in and out of the premises.

“Apart from the usual heckling and other acts of harassment, the protesters have also set up barricades and an illegal ‘checkpoint.’ Drivers of PAL, its suppliers, service providers and even garbage collectors are harassed to yield to illegal inspections of their vehicles before they are allowed to enter or exit the gate,” De Castro said.

“These acts, taken together, constitute an illegal blockade of a privately owned enterprise. They are in fact taking the law into their own hands; by so doing, PAL is being prevented from performing its day-to-day business for which it will definitely sue for damages,” she said.

Earlier, the Pasay Regional Trial Court (RTC) issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) to shoo Palea members away from their “picket” line near Terminal 2—a government-owned facility exclusive to PAL.

But on Thursday, PAL said Judge Maria Rosario Ragasa of the Pasay RTC’s Branch 108 issued an order upholding the TRO. The order further stated that protesting workers “promised not to do anything that would aggravate the present situation.”

De Castro said that if protesters were true to their word and follow the judge’s orders, they should respect PAL’s right to free and unhampered use of its own facilities. “After all, there’s no question that PAL is the owner of the facility and the building is essential to its operations,” she said.