May 07, 1999
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| May 07, 1999 | atimes.com | |
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| Southeast Asia Government seeks alternative finance plan for PAL MANILA - The government has intensified its search for an alternative financing plan for Philippine Airlines to keep a U.S. bankruptcy court from seizing PAL's American aircraft. Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora said Wednesday that the government needs to come up with the plan before a June 4 deadline set by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). ''We're looking for new investors . . . . But now, basically, we will have to work against time constraints,'' Zamora said in an interview after meeting with President Joseph Estrada. ''What has happened is that the U.S. Eximbank has decided that it's no longer going to oppose any plan to start confiscating aircraft, or opposing the rehabilitation program. That is bad news,'' he explained. He added that without an alternative plan, neither SEC nor PAL can ask the U.S. bankruptcy court to reconsider its decision, should it decide to confiscate the aircraft. The President met with Zamora Thursday to discuss, among other matters, the financial problem at PAL. The meeting was also attended by Secretary Edgardo Espiritu of the Department of Finance. But Espiritu said the seizure may not be automatic, since there is still a process to be followed. ''Perhaps they will coordinate with the SEC here. We don't know what they would do, but seizure may not be automatic,'' he said. Zamora said the U.S. Export-Import bank sent PAL and SEC chairman Perfecto Yasay Jr. a notice that it would not oppose any move to confiscate PAL's U.S. aircraft. ''The discretion is still with the U.S. bankruptcy court to decide. They may, they may not implement it. So we don't know,'' he said when asked if the planes would be confiscated. Espiritu, for his part, said the Office of the President would give the SEC full leeway in deciding what to do. ''So we are not instructing Chairman Yasay, we are allowing the process to continue. We are hopeful that a rehabilitation plan will in fact be approved by June 4. Otherwise, well, it will be an entirely new ballgame,'' Espiritu said. Espiritu added that PAL may seek an extension from the SEC for its rehabilitation plan, but only if it is convinced that there's ''really money coming in." ''But we have to be sure that somebody is ready to put in the money. If not, an extension is useless,'' he said. (Asia Pulse/PNA) | |||||||||
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