WHAT IF you were told that the so-called water crisis that Metro Manila is experiencing right now is not just a factor of the recently concluded dry spell, but a result of a series of man-made factors as well?
Well, it may just as well be a man-made crisis after our sources disclosed that Angat Dam ? the metropolis? main source of potable water ? had been leaking water uselessly all this time.
And it?s not a small amount. According to one source, a 1.2-meter bypass gate valve that helps regulate water flow to the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) has been letting precious water through, thus aggravating the low water level at Angat.
?That?s why water levels continue to drop despite the rains,? the source said, adding that the valve is being repaired, quietly. ?Water is just flowing out uselessly.?
In addition, two of the five auxiliary generators used to pump water from Angat to MWSS have also been described as ?problematic? in the mechanical sense, including an 18-megawatt China-made unit and a 10-megawatt Japan-made one. So, no water? It?s seems that we shouldn?t be cursing nature after all. Daxim L. Lucas
Favored suitor
BASED on recent stock market trends, it seems that the market either expects or wants the Gokongweis? food unit, Universal Robina Corp., to win the recent bidding for San Miguel Pure Foods Corp., a potential union of which can create the country?s super-food company.
URC, which was never heavily traded in the past, has been noticeably firmer at the stock market since San Miguel formally accepted bids for Pure Foods last week. Not only has it recently appeared prominently in the active list, but has likewise seen its stock price defy the recent market pullback. Tuesday, URC?s stock price was up 3.1 percent and was the third most actively traded stock in the market.
For the Pure Foods bidding, URC is up against the Carlyle group, the Campos family?s pharmaceutical giant Unilab and one unidentified local bidder. Doris C. Dumlao
Majority isn?t enough
AFTER A heated debate, four out of seven Monetary Board members voted last week to approve Banco de Oro Unibank?s takeover of the liabilities and selected assets of Export and Industry Bank, which will allow the restructuring of the government-granted concessional loan inherited by EIB from the defunct Urban Bank, which it acquired years ago.
Two other MB members abstained on the voting while one lawyer-MB member vehemently objected, arguing that too much sweeteners were being handed out to BDO in this transaction.
There is, thus, a pending legal question on whether the ?approval? can be consummated. Under MB resolution 188 (circa 2006) which governs special guidelines on state-funded loans to banks, five votes are needed to seal the deal. Needless to say, the legal debate isn?t over. Doris C. Dumlao
A bank?s regulatory blues
SPEAKING of which, one of the country?s biggest banks seems to always experience rough sailing whenever it has to deal with one particular bank regulator.
Indeed, whenever this bank presents any kind of proposal before this regulatory body, there is this particular official who always moves to block the group?s approval, be it a proposal to buy another financial institution or capital raising or even relatively innocuous stuff like regular financial reports.
Along with the bank?s officials and owners, other bank regulatory officials were often left scratching their heads as to why their colleague seemed to always zero in on this bank for ?special attention? during their weekly meetings.
Could it be because of the ?substantial? bad loan that the official?s son has with this bank? Daxim L. Lucas
PSE?s World Cup (sort of)
WHO SAYS the Philippines isn?t a football-loving nation?
Taking advantage of the World Cup craze that swept the globe in recent weeks, the Philippine Stock Exchange held its own futsal tournament recently. Futsal is the indoor equivalent of football (or soccer, as Americans call it) played five-on-five on a hard surface instead of grass.
Several teams played in the tourney, held last Saturday at Club SixFifty, with their players looking every bit like the European and Latin American players you?d see on cable TV (well, almost). The teams were from Campos, Lanuza & Co. Inc.; ATR Kim Eng Securities; the combined team of Alakor Securities and I.B. Gimenez Securities; the combined team of BPI, UBS Securities and Deutsche Regis, and ICTSI.
Being a former Spanish colony, the mestizo players on the various teams made it look like the Spanish Primera Liga. But this was balanced out by the multinational representation brought in by UBS (Swiss) and Deutsche Regis (Germany), while ATR brought in a guest player from DBP Daiwa (Japan).
By far, the best futsal player of the tournament was ATR?s Randy Roxas, who is a former national football player. He amazed the audience with his ball handling skills, which made him the hardest individual player to guard.
Campos Lanuza (with their Spanish heritage courtesy of the Ortigas owners) bested ICTSI with a score of 1-0. This, incidentally, is the same score by which Spain won the real World Cup. Too bad the Dutch weren?t represented in the tournament by the local ING contingent. Daxim L. Lucas
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