PAL seeks debt suspension

PAL seeks debt suspension

MANILA (Dow Jones): Cash-strapped Philippine Airlines is
seeking a five-year suspension of payment on its 85 billion pesos
(PHP) worth of debt under a rehabilitation plan it submitted to
the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Commission Chairman Perfecto Yasay Jr. told reporters
yesterday that the airline's management wanted the five-year
breathing period to nurse the airline back to health.

The airline has been in the red for some time. But the Asian
financial crisis and a recent pilots' strike further affected its
operation, hurting its ability to pay maturing obligations. Last
month, it sought the commission's intercession for a plan that
would get it back to financial viability.