Indeed, the Philippine Airlines saga continues – with a surprising plot twist of sorts. Today, Jan. 31, the board of directors of flag carrier Philippine Airlines will meet and part of the agenda is the departure of PAL president and COO Gilbert Santa Maria. As I reported yesterday, Santa Maria is stepping down from his post, as multiple sources told me. The exact date and the reasons aren’t very clear and I’m actually surprised to hear about this, especially after PAL, under Santa Maria’s leadership, was able to successfully exit Chapter 11 last year. It secured a US Bankruptcy Court’s approv…