Crucifying Cruz

Philippine Air Lines had a very subtle way of refuting a rival airline's claim that it had captured the domestic passenger traffic. Without going into lengthy explanations or sarcastic rebuttals, it just took whole-page ads in the leading national dailies with very few words, like, asking: "Who is the Real No. 1 Domestic Airline?" Then it goes into a tabulation of the latest certified figures from the Civil Aeronautics Board and the Department of Transportation and Communication.

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It didn't say that figures don't lie, but simply cited the reports from the two agencies showing that from July 2005 to August 2006, PAL had a 48.8 percent share of passengers carried, while other airlines had from 30.8 percent to 11.6, 5.7 and 3.1 percent. No mention of which airline had boasted of having topped it. Instead, it only closed its statement by saying "Let's get real". Class. One has to admit that that's what PAL has.

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Now and then I do get irked at the behavior of some people at PAL (not at the Bacolod office, of course), but I continue to patronize it, largely because I find myself more "at home" with it, and then also because its local manager is Job Lamela who, most Bacoleños believe, is the best PAL manager in the country. I bet there is no other top branch man of PAL who does not mind getting text messages from passengers and replying even when he is out of town. Then, too, it has for Communications vice president former journalist and fellow Manila Chronicle writer Rolly Estabillo. What a combination!

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Not that I see everything as perfect in the airline. It has done away with some of the conveniences that used to make trips so pleasant. Like for instance, last Friday and yesterday, when we flew back from Manila after attending the wedding of our nephew, Miko (son of Andy and Meg), the crew passed around only very few copies of the daily newspapers. Not only that, when I borrowed the one my lucky seatmate got (since I didn't get any), the steward soon tried to take it away, obviously to pass it on to somebody else. The stewardesses, too, weren't very accommodating. My sister asked for water because her throat felt dry, but it was only during the fourth time they passed that she was given some. And nobody was smiling, too.

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I noted, however, that their ground crew were more friendly. And most kept smiling, too. Speaking of smiles, I heard a report that the Chinese people are being made to learn and practice how to smile. This is being done to make tourists more at home and feel welcome. I understand the smiles are important, especially because China will be the site of the next Olympics, and smiles could help bring in more visitors. They should send some observers to the City of Smiles for some tips.

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By the way, we expected our trip to be rough because of the onset of Typhoon Paeng that was reported to be raging in Northern Luzon. In fact, the country's architects who were holding a convention in Baguio rushed back to Manila Sunday night for fear of being stranded in Luzon. But after a few tense moments when the aircraft rocked a little and the pilot switched on the Fasten Seat Belts sign, the rest of the trip to Bacolod was smooth and uneventful.

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Not so smooth is the atmosphere in the President's cabinet where one member, who seemed to be one of her favorites, and most reliable ones, shocked everyone by declaring that he had all the while believed that the strategy called the People's Initiative was "constitutionally infirm" and a "legally harebrained idea". Of course Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz was not saying, for sure not even thinking, that the PI was his president's idea.

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But everybody has been pouncing on him and he has admitted that there are three (at least?) members of the cabinet who are after his neck. Now the betting is on how long he will remain in the cabinet. It seems that the proponents and supporters of the PI are so frustrated over the junking of their plan by the High Court they are snarling at anybody who doesn't think the same way as they do. And because Cruz spoke out - after the fact, one might say - he is now the one being crucified.*

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