Dismissed pilot hijacks plane to demand separation pay

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Dismissed pilot Roberto Ramirez found a unique but dubious way of forcing a multinational corporation to settle his separation pay, supposedly amounting to P2 million.

Ramirez stole yesterday a single-engine plane, with registry No. RPC-1768, rented by Dole Philippines Inc. in Davao del Norte, and threatened to crash the plane if the company refuses to settle his separation pay.

Aviation Security Group (ASG) chief Senior Supe-rintendent Marcelo Ele said Ramirez gave Dole management until 3 p.m. yesterday to comply with his demand. Dole, however, did not disclose when or why Ramirez was terminated.

When Ramirez called Dole to inform them of his demands, he admitted stealing the plane, which Dole uses to spray chemicals on its agricultural plantations in Mindanao, and brought it to Agusan.

But aviation officials doubted Ramirez’s claim, saying the plane only had fuel good for two hours and would not have been enough to fly the plane to Agusan from Davao del Norte.

"It is possible that Ramirez is still in Davao. He called up that he was in Agusan to mislead authorities," Ele said.

The authorities, however, have still not established what happened to Ramirez and the plane after the 3 p.m. deadline expired.

They said the plane would have ran out of fuel by 4 p.m. and both the authorities and Dole management hoped Ramirez had regained sense and landed the plane in one of several airstrips dotting Dole’s vast plantation.