SC sticks to its guns on PAL retrenchment ruling

The Supreme Court has stood firm on its decision that rescinded its supposed “final” ruling ordering the reinstatement of 1,400 Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight attendants.

The controversy over the tribunal’s Oct. 4, 2011 resolution was based on a letter written by veteran lawyer Estelito Mendoza.

Voting 7-2 with five abstentions, the high court said the arguments presented by the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (Fasap) in challenging its previous decision were “gravely flawed and mistaken.”

Fasap members had pointed out that Mendoza’s letter was already a second motion for consideration, which was considered a prohibited pleading under the tribunal’s own rules.

In its March 13 resolution, which was made public only on Monday, the magistrates said the country’s flag carrier, owned by tycoon Lucio Tan, observed “good faith” when it implemented the retrenchment of the flight attendants in 1998 to cushion PAL’s P90.6 billion in financial losses.

“Upon a critical review of the records, we are convinced that PAL had met all the standards in effecting a valid retrenchment,” the court said. —Marlon Ramos