For those doubting the strong relationship between JG Summit Holdings chairman John Gokongwei Jr. and former central bank governor Gabriel Singson, and JG Summit’s financial condition, here’s a piece to dispel those doubts.
Mr. John and Singson jointly wrote a letter to Biz Buzz on Wednesday “to correct any misimpression” from what they said was an “entirely baseless, grossly unfair and greatly damaging” item, and we quote:
“This has reference to an item appearing [Nov. 19] in the column, ‘Biz Buzz’ of your widely read Philippine Daily Inquirer entitled, ‘Gokongwei and the ex-central bank chief’ written by Mr. Daxim Lucas,” Mr. John and Singson said in their letter.
“The item states, ‘According to our sources, relations between John Gokongwei Jr. and one of his senior advisers, Gabriel ‘Gabby’ Singson, has been strained of late, after the former lost—by some accounts—as much as $400 million by betting on the peso-dollar exchange rate.
“The above statement is entirely without any factual basis and is highly damaging to the reputation and image of the undersigned, built up through several years of hard and honest work.”
JG Summit also issued a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange vehemently denying the contents of the item.
Biz Buzz regrets any tension or misunderstanding that the item may have caused Mr. John and “Gov,” as many people call Singson.
There you go. Daxim L. Lucas
Philamlife’s striptease
Suitors are waiting for AIG’s Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co. (Philamlife) to open its books to be able to make a definitive offer to buy out the country’s biggest and most profitable insurance group. Some have already submitted “indicative” but non-binding proposals and have found partners to bring in financial muscle.
Banco de Oro has tied up with Generali, and Metrobank is likely to team up with AXA, with which it has a successful bancassurance tie-up.
Like a striptease act, industry sources say, Philamlife is disclosing small bits of information to bidders in phases, ostensibly meant to attract only the most willing and capable buyers. A “karenderyang bukas sa lahat ng gusting kumain” [street-side eatery open to all], it clearly is not. Doris C. Dumlao
Country’s oldest industrial house
Angus L. Campbell, who describes himself as a “Philippine Daily Inquirer reader since Day One,” wrote to correct an item that came out in this corner recently describing Ayala Corp. as “the country’s oldest industrial house.”
He stated: “If by industrial house you mean private-sector commercial company, you have been misinformed. The oldest extant one is Ker & Co., founded in late 1827. Next is Wise & Co., between May and August 1830 (although they used to claim … 1826). Ayala dates from 1834.
I have many times seen this mistake made. Perhaps, because Ayala is very old and very prominent, some people just assume that it’s the oldest.” Margie Quimpo-Espino
New IRO head
After many months of futile searching, the central bank has finally settled on former journalist Claro Fernandez as the head of the government’s Investor Relations Office (IRO).
Fernandez takes the helm of the IRO—the unit charged with disseminating good news about the country both abroad and locally—several months after the resignation of Rene Pizarro and Corazon Guidote, the latter having done so during the time of the mass resignation of the “Hyatt 10” group of high government officials.
Fernandez is a graduate of the University of the Philippines, and has had stints at the defunct Daily Express, Business Day, Manila Chronicle and The Financial Post.
Being a former press undersecretary in Malacańang, Fernandez should have no trouble painting a rosy picture of the local business and economic environment to jaded foreign investors.
One popular story about him going around in journalists’ circles was how he was almost shot by a US Secret Service sniper (the laser red dot was already on his head, goes the urban legend) during one of President Arroyo’s US trips, as he tried to set up a communications antenna on a hotel roof without alerting the proper authorities. Daxim L. Lucas
Elevator rivalry...
Officials and rank-and-file employees of the Department of Finance are fuming mad with the way the central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), in whose compound their building is situated, is treating them.
“They are treating us like second-class citizens,” complained one official.
The remark was made in frustration because of elevator-related angst.
The decrepit building of the Department of Finance (DoF) in the BSP compound has been unusable since July, after its electrical system gave up the ghost. Since then, DoF employees have been squatting at the seventh and eighth floors of the adjacent BSP-owned building in the same compound on Roxas Boulevard.
The problem started when the building’s four elevators were reprogrammed, with the operations of the two units now limited to BSP floors. This left only two units to service “all floors” (including the floors occupied by the DoF).
This, per se, was no problem for the department’s employees. What they are complaining about was a quirk that prevents the “all floors” lifts from opening, when the two other exclusive BSP elevators are on the same floor, resulting in a frustrating elevator waiting game for the already-grumpy Department of Finance employees.
True, the BSP owns the building, said the finance department official. “But it was the government, through the DoF, that is paying for the debts of the old Central Bank.”
In fact, the BSP had already ceded the upper floors of this building to the government in an earlier deal in partial payment for the debts of the defunct Central Bank of the Philippines. Michelle V. Remo
... and over interest rates, too
THE BSP-DoF row is not limited to the oh-so-important matter of elevator access. It also involves that teeny-weeny issue of ostensibly conflicting mandates (read: the direction of interest rates).
A senior BSP official is pissed off with the DOF for the decision of its attached agency, the Bureau of the Treasury, to reject banks’ bids for Treasury bills amid the unfolding financial crisis in recent months.
Part of the BSP’s mandate is to help make the capital markets vibrant by encouraging activity on the secondary market for T-bills and T-bonds. For its part, the DoF, which is tasked with managing the government’s fragile finances, does not want to borrow when banks demand high yields.
“That is not healthy for the market,” the BSP official said. Michelle V. Remo
