MANILA, Philippines - Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) insisted its management is not involved directly or indirectly in any talks for the sale of the company shares to third parties such as San Miguel Corporation (SMC).

In a statement, PAL president Jaime J. Bautista said PAL and its officers are unaware of any talks between its principal shareholders and the SMC group.

"There has been a lot of chatter about ongoing negotiations for the sale of PAL shares. But I want to make it clear that any talks or negotiations are just between our principal shareholders and the SMC group. PAL management is definitely not part of it,” he said, in a statement.

PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna was quoted by AFP as saying "talks are definitely ongoing," between the airline and SMC.

However, Bautista said Villaluna was misquoted by the news report. "Ms. Villaluna said talks are definitely ongoing, but didn’t say it was between PAL and SMC. She must have been referring to published reports about ongoing negotiations between shareholders of the two companies," said
Bautista.

Bautista emphasized that PAL is separate and distinct from its individual shareholders.

Media reports have persisted that SMC is in talks for the acquisition of PAL, majority owned by Philippine tycoon Lucio Tan.

PAL suffered a P1.45-billion ($34 million) pre-tax loss in the three months to December 2011, its listed parent firm, PAL Holdings, reported on Tuesday.

PAL had a near-monopoly on the domestic aviation market two decades ago but now ranks second in terms of number of flights behind local budget carrier Cebu Pacific.

San Miguel, one of the country's largest companies, has aggressively expanded its focus over the past few years from its core brewing operations into oil refining, electricity, toll roads, and construction. - With Agence France-Presse