PALEA seeks probe of Pasay judge, deputy sheriff for 'misconduct'

The Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) on Friday asked the Supreme court to investigate a Pasay City judge and his deputy sheriff for alleged misconduct in preventing workers of the Philippine Airlines to stage protest actions along MIA Road. In a seven-page letter-complaint, PALEA president Gerardo Rivera claimed that Executive Judge Edwin Ramizo of the Pasay Regional Trial Court violated the New Code of Conduct for the Philippine judiciary for issuing an injunction order against PALEA last Tuesday. The Pasay judge said the protesting PALEA members were preventing and depriving the flag carrier of its right to operate PAL's In-Flight Center along MIA Road. Also, the PALEA official claimed that Pasay City court deputy sheriff Virgilio Villar violated the Code of Conduct for Court Personnel. "I request that after the conduct of the investigation, this Honorable Office take whatever disciplinary action it may deem appropriate," Rivera said. PALEA's picket stemmed from a labor dispute with PAL after the latter implemented a mass retrenchment of more than 2,600 regular employees and union members due to the PAL management's move to outsource services of its three departments. Rivera insisted the Pasay judge does not have jurisdiction over cases tied up with labor disputes. The complainant said that the PAL-PALEA dispute has been the subject of several news reports and "it can be said that the existence of the labor dispute has become public knowledge." "Despite all indications in the complaint that the case involves a labor dispute, and despite the publicity of the issue, Judge Ramizo issued a 72-hour temporary restraining order (TRO), without affording a hearing to the defendants," Rivera said. According to Rivera, a day after the TRO was issued, PAL's complaint was raffled off to Judge Maria Rosario Ragasa of the Regional Trial Court Branch 108. In a hearing by Ragasa, an agreement was reached "to maintain the status quo of the case... while defendants promised not to do anything that would aggravate the present situation." Despite the agreement, Sheriff Villar still proceeded to the picket area and started dismantling the protesters' tents, triggering a commotion right there. "Sheriff Villar's act of enforcing the said orders of Executive Judge Ramizo, caused the commotion at PALEA's otherwise peaceful protest camp, which could have exploded into a bloody incident," Rivera said. GMA News Online tried to reach Ramizo for comment, but a member of his staff said the judge declines to give interviews to the media. As of this posting, Sheriff Villar could not be reached as he was out of the office for lunch. The PALEA president addressed his letter-complaint to Supreme Court spokesman Midas Marquez, who as court administrator has the authority for the supervision and administration of all lower courts in the Philippines. — LBG, GMA News