1 dead, 8 hurt in attack on PAL strikers’ camp

A bystander died and eight protesters from the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (Palea) were injured when the strikers’ camp site was attacked by at least 50 men in Pasay City before dawn Saturday.

Arvin Macalalad, who was in his late fifties, died from cardiac arrest when he was caught in the middle of the melee while waiting for a bus ride on the corner of Manila International Airport and Baltao Road, near the Palea protest camp outside the Philippine Airlines In-flight Center.

Case investigator Dennis Desalisa said Macalalad, a construction worker, was declared dead on arrival at 6:20 a.m. at San Juan de Dios Hospital. Macalalad was identified by a coworker but the victim’s age and address were unknown.

The eight injured Palea members were identified as Froilan Tancinco, Ester Gonzaga, Tranquilino Simplico Jr., Noel Penetrante, Lover Manibo, Rosmar Elaurza, Pablito Leonardo and Ronald Salazar.

Salazar,the Palea protest camp manager, confirmed that Macalalad was not a member of Palea.

Attack by goons

Salazar said they were caught unprepared by the “early morning attack” by goons wearing helmets and shields who tried to dismantle their tents. He said the attackers came on a bus without a license plate that parked near the site. Around 50 men alighted and attacked them.

“These people were hired by PAL management and were geared up to forcibly remove us from the tent,” Salazar charged.

One of the “hired” men identified as Johnny de la Cruz was cornered by the protesters, according to Desalisa.

According to the report prepared by Chief Insp. Joey Goforth, Pasay police chief investigator, De la Cruz admitted that he was hired by “management” but did not elaborate or name who hired their group.

He was brought to the Pasay City prosecutor’s office for inquest on charges of physical injury, malicious mischief and robbery.

Libelous claims

The robbery complaint stemmed from the loss of bracelets and watches of some of the Palea protesters, said Desalisa.

PAL management, on the other hand, denied Palea’s “libelous” claims.

In a statement, PAL said it would never resort to extra legal means to remove protesting workers from their camp site.

Countered PAL: “Given their propensity to make up stories, it could even be surmised that the so-called goons were actually hired by the protesters to make PAL look bad in the public eye. The timing is suspicious since there are thousands of PAL passengers going to the airport during this peak travel season.”

PAL also charged Palea with harassing its employees and service providers to hamper its operations.

PAL management said that prior to Saturday’s commotion, one of its catering trucks, which was about to exit the In-flight Center, was blocked by Palea members.

It said the protesters wielded sticks and used planks with spikes to prevent the vehicle from leaving the compound. Strikers then set a kerosene can on fire in front of the truck.

Suffocated guard

According to Jonathan Gesmundo, assistant spokesperson of PAL, one of their guards, Russel Tiongson, was brought to San Juan de Dios Hospital after suffocating from the toxic fumes coming from the burning can.

“PAL has every reason to protect airline equipment, its workers and those of its service providers from threats or actual physical harm,” he said.

“We may consider filing a libel and physical injuries complaints against them,” Gesmundo added.

The Palea members were separated from the airline on Oct. 1 as part of an outsourcing program. Palea filed a case before the Court of Appeals, questioning the legality of PAL’s outsourcing strategy.

Last week, a commotion also occurred at the Palea camp site after Pasay City Sheriff Virgilio Villar and his men arrived to implement a 72-hour temporary restraining order from the city regional trial court to stop Palea’s demonstration. Palea claimed the TRO was no longer in effect as the case had been raffled off to another judge. The labor group filed an ethics complaint against the judge that issued the TRO shortly before the case was reassigned. With reports from Tina G. Santos, Daxim L. Lucas and Philip C. Tubeza