Such a pal

So Philippine Airlines marked its 70^th anniversary last week.

There was a big celebration at the Resorts World Complex and it must have been grand. I don’t know. I wasn’t invited.

I only read about it in Joanne Rae Ramirez’s column. Obviously, she had fun there. I don’t know. I wasn’t invited.

But Joanne — in her column — mentioned some big-name performers who entertained the guests. Maybe they were really good. I don’t know. I wasn’t invited.

Am I miffed? No! In fact, despite the snub (sniff, sniff), I am still devoting this column to pay tribute to our national flag-carrier for providing me excellent airline service through the decades.

I cannot, of course, speak for other passengers since — like most other service-related companies — it, too, has its faults. After all, some wise guy did cleverly play around its acronym and coined a term to mock its delayed flights: Plane Always Late. Even I became a victim of that – although it had been quite some time (years, actually) since that happened to me again.

Like most other Filipinos the first plane I rode was PAL. My Dad had been assigned to Cebu and he brought me there when I was young for a weeklong vacation — when it had yet to be crowned the Queen City of the South (a rather boring place then, unlike now when it’s bustling with energy).

There was no NAIA II yet that now services all PAL flights. We had to catch the plane at what is still called the Domestic Airport. There were no X-ray machines then for human security check. You were mashed — all the way to the crotch and beyond.

But I don’t remember anyone crying sexual molestation. We were still an innocent human race that didn’t stand up for our rights.

Innocent wasn’t the appropriate term to describe me that time, however. I was ignorant.

I was in school when my Dad took his first airplane ride. He hated planes, not because he was scared, but because these were noisy and interrupted his TV viewing when these aircrafts flew overhead in our then still quiet community. It was his one-man protest against airplanes, until his job required him to travel inter-island — and hopping on a boat wasn’t even an option since that took days back then.

Anyway, when I got back from school, I asked people at home which suit he wore for his plane ride. Suit? He was in a collared shirt and corduroy pants, I was told.

I have to tell you that my afternoon entertainment back then were those black-and-white Tagalog movies produced decades before that — when Susan Roces supposedly en route to the US wore a hat on her head, plus matching stiff skirt and tailored suit. The gentlemen wore shiny americanas.

On a foreign trip with producer Digna Santiago three years ago, I asked her if that was, indeed, the travel attire back then. She quickly said yes: “The most uncomfortable suits and skirts, complete with stockings.” And this came not from me, but from her: “We looked like fools!”

But even if flying to Cebu simply called for anything casual, I still wanted to be properly attired for my first plane ride, except that I could no longer fit into my ring bearer’s suit anymore that time. Old Filipino movies had that much effect on me — I still want to live the way they did and had been trying to fight today’s modernization.

When I travel Westward these days, I still wear a formal coat — but with jeans. I lug the coat around with me for practical reasons. It has inside pockets where my travel documents don’t get crumpled. When I get to dine in semi-formal joints, the coat also comes handy, especially in West Coast spring. I don’t bring extra jackets with me since that takes luggage space. And so after every trip, expect the coat to be so soiled it walks by itself to the dry cleaner.

Admittedly, it’s a relief that today’s travel get-up already gives room to comfort. However, I don’t think I can be as comfy as Richard Gomez, who — according to his late manager Douglas Quijano — used to fly to the US in shorts and flip-flops. I guess if you are Richard Gomez, you can get away even if you board a plane in a bathrobe. Didn’t he once win Star of the Night when he attended an awards presentation sporting an Indian turban?

 I have no idea what Richard’s preferred airline is, but I bet PAL had serviced him in most of his travels. The cabin crew had actually established great relations with showbiz personalities. Ricky Lo — given his countless trips — must have already forged deep friendships with a majority of the flight attendants.

In my case, one reason I stick it out and stay loyal to PAL is because of ground stewardess Lyn Tanael, who had become a dear, dear friend. There are other PAL friends whose names I wish I could mention, but they’re too many to print here.

Although I want to make it clear that I’ve paid for all my travels with PAL, except for those I enjoyed after accumulating points in my Mabuhay miles, I still want to salute our national carrier on its 70^th.

I also want to thank its men and women who had made flying a lot more comfortable for me. To Philippine Airlines, congratulations!

 You’ve been a pal.