Subic Air refuses to fly Estrada

A Subic-based plane rental firm has decided to decline business from ousted President Joseph Estrada and has opted instead for less turbulent transactions with the incumbent President.

Gil Fernandez of Subic Air said his firm will no longer rent out their planes to Estrada and his associates starting today ostensibly because of "security reasons."

"For purposes of security, we have stopped renting them out to Estrada and his associates," Fernandez said.

He explained that since President Arroyo now uses Subic Air planes for her trips to the provinces, they have to comply with stringent presidential security measures.

Aviation industry sources, however, said Subic Air may have decided to forgo revenues from Estrada because his patronage has become "inconvenient" and potentially costly.

Estrada used to be a favored client of Subic Air. He frequently used Subic Air on his provincial visits.

He has also been using Subic Air planes in his frequent provincial sorties to campaign for his wife, Luisa Ejercito, who is running for the Senate together with other political allies.

But when he again used a Subic Air Lear jet to fly to Zamboanga City shortly after his Jan. 20 ouster, aviation officials were shaken by the thought that Estrada may also use Subic Air to flee the country.

Aviation officials heightened security at airports all over the country and required all private and commercial air transport firms, on pain of stiff penalties, to ensure that Estrada was not on any of their foreign flights.

The possibility of fleeing has recently heightened after the Supreme Court rejected Estrada’s appeal reclaiming the presidency and paving the way for the filing of criminal charges against him.

Since then, airport officials have been breathing down the necks of Subic Air executives and pilots just to make sure that Estrada is not bound for another country.

The Bureau of Immigration has also revealed intelligence reports that Estrada was entertaining the possibility of fleeing the country, further alarming aviation officials.

Apparently feeling the pinch of tightened security measures, Estrada flew to Roxas City for a campaign rally on board another rented plane, this time from the Cebu-based Far Horizon.

But while aviation officials eased up on Subic Air, they are now closely watching Far Horizon flights and have even taken steps to ensure that Far Horizon flights would only have enough fuel for domestic destinations.

Subic Air officials, meantime, are heaving a sigh of relief and sporting a wide smile as they can now dub their planes "virtual presidential planes."