Senators hit SC over PAL-FASAP issue

At least three senators on Tuesday criticized the Supreme Court (SC) for reopening the case of the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association (FASAP) against Philippine Airlines (PAL). In a controversial resolution announced on Monday, the SC reversed its earlier "final" decision asking PAL to reinstate 1,400 retrenched flight attendants who went on strike in 1998 and ordering PAL owner Lucio Tan to pay P3 billion to FASAP. Instead, it decided to allow the reopening of the case by re-raffling it off to a “new member-in-charge." A former regional trial court judge, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, said the decision — which she said was in effect a second motion for reconsideration (MR) — is "extremely unfortunate." "The Supreme Court is unfortunately teethering on the abyss of incredulity. Public credibility must be maintained at any cost," Santiago told reporters in an interview. She explained that under SC's internal rules, there shall be no second MR except when the original decision is legally erroneous, patently unjust, or will cause irreparable damage or unjust. "Those are the three requisites of the internal rules. So all the Supreme Court has to do is look at the internal rules and see if these three requirements have been complied with," she said. 'Serious concern' In a text message to reporters, Senator Francis Pangilinan likewise said the SC ruling was a "cause of serious concern." "Regardless of the parties involved and the arguments given, the public perception it creates casts doubt on the image of and reputation of the Supreme Court as the court of last resort and a bulwark of democracy," Pangilinan said. "How can the public know for certain that a case will be decided with finality when its decisions can so quickly be recalled? The uncertainty it brings is a cause for concern especially for countless of petitioners who have pending cases before the highest court of the land," he added. Senator Franklin Drilon, a former Justice secretary, said he was not surprised with the high tribunal's flip-flopping. "On the basis of newspaper reports, it would be not in the usual procedure, but that reminds you also in the flip flopping of the cityhood cases. The same. There was already an entry of judgment and yet the court also recosidered and had a new decision. So I am no longer surprised with its flip flopping," he said. But Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, chair of the Senate committee on labor, said that is the problem of the SC. "Although we may disagree with the decision of the Court, we have to follow to fundamental law of the land," Estrada said in another interview. Earlier in the day, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile defended the SC, saying that justices do not make decisions without valid reason. — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ, GMA News