Marcoses don't own PAL shares, says company prexy

The Marcos family does not own shares in flag carrier Philippine Airlines. This was the assertion of Jaime Bautista, PAL president, to dispute the claims of former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos on the majority shares of the airline firm. PAL is among the nine companies owned by taipan Lucio Tan that the Marcoses are claiming to have majority ownership shares. “As far as PAL is concerned, what I know is that they are not share holders [of PAL]," Bautista said in a media briefing after the PAL stockholders’ meeting in Manila on Thursday. Bautista averred that when the government privatized PAL in 1992, it was only Tan’s group that was represented in the deal. The company president refused to give a categorical statement on the effect of the claims of the Marcoses on the trading of PAL shares and its revenues. “It still defends on the market. If the market receives it negatively [then the trading might be affected]," Bautista said. As an executive officer of PAL, Bautista said his job is to provide safety to the airline passengers and to ensure that its share holders would have reasonable returns [on their shares). PAL recorded a profit of US$140.3 million for fiscal year 2006-07 from "non-transport revenue and other income" and "benefit from income tax." Corporate officers said that has made PAL the most profitable airline and the best in its 66-year history. Bautista said a “modest" net income of $30 million is projected for fiscal year 2007-08, from $20 million in the previous year. Currently, PAL has 35 airplanes, of which 16 are Airbus A320, eight A330, four A340, five Boeing 747-400, and two Boeing 777. The company is awaiting the delivery of at least six wide-body aircraft between 2009 and 2011, and three additional A320 aircraft between this month and November. - GMANews.TV