Judge Calis said one of the conditions of Lukban?s training agreement required him to serve the flag carrier for five years in exchange for the cost of training shouldered by PAL. Court records indicate, however, that only two years after completing his training, Lukban, on April 19, 2006, wrote a letter of resignation to chief pilot Capt. Rolly C. Canlas. His resignation was to take effect on May 20, 2006.

On May 8, 2006, PAL management officially rejected Lukban?s resignation saying this was in violation of his training contract which was to expire on July 2009. The agreement also required the pilot to file his notice of resignation 120 days before the intended date of resignation. This requirement has since changed to 180 days after the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) declared the job of pilots and aircraft mechanics as ?mission critical skills?.

But since Lukban went AWOL (absent without official leave) immediately after tendering his resignation, administrative and civil cases were pursued by the airline against the pilot. The RTC?s order comes on the heels of PAL?s move to lodge multi-million peso damage suits against 27 pilots and first officers who resigned in August 2010 to take higher-paying jobs in the Middle East and elsewhere in Asia. So far, 16 pilots and first officers are facing charges of abandonment of duty and breach of contract before a Makati trial court.