THE Philippine Stock Exchange elections are over, but controversies continue to rage over certain candidates given the limited seats that brokers can occupy in the 15-member board of the demutualized bourse.

Ahead of last Saturday?s polls, certain challengers lodged at the Securities and Exchange Commission a complaint involving the eligibility of two candidates, which complainants said might have been ?overlooked? by the PSE?s nomination and election committee.

The first involved the case of Candidate A, who was nominated for the open seat as a non-broker director but was not allowed by the Nomelec to run as such, presumably because he had not yet complied with the two-year ?cooling off? period from the time he left a brokerage house.

But the complainants were surprised that the same candidate was allowed to run for the broker category. They said Candidate A neither qualified as a broker or a non-broker and should not have been allowed to run at all. Anyway, Candidate A did not win the elections.

Now comes the case of Candidate B, who was accused of having violated a rule prohibiting any broker-dealer from buying additional PSE shares for his own account or for another broker-dealer until such time that the industry was compliant with the 20-percent single-industry limit that the SEC wanted brokers to follow. Candidate B had allegedly bought additional shares purportedly to get additional votes during the elections.

Candidate B won but some say he might be at risk of losing the seat if and when the SEC finds merit in the complaint.?Doris C. Dumlao

Woman on top

WHILE the big news during the PSE elections?at least on the surface?was the choice of ?unity candidate? Jose ?Titoy? Pardo as chairman of the bourse and the renewal of Hans Sicat?s contract as president, there was also a less visible result that firmly stamped the authority of Vivian Yuchengco on the closely knit stockbrokerage community.

According to the PSE, Yuchengco?love her or hate her?actually topped the elections for the board of directors with no less than 87.34 million shares voted in her favor by various stakeholders.

This was significant because there was an actual effort just a few months ago to clip the powers of the PSE?s ?dragon lady? by having the so-called ?government bloc? lead a board coup. Obviously, they did not have the numbers then, and they certainly still did not have the numbers now (thanks to a large degree to a last-minute injunction against the implementation of a contested SEC cap on brokers? voting rights).

Other poll topnotchers included Eusebio Tanco with 72.22 million shares voted in his favor and Eddie Gobing, who received votes from 62.77 million shares cast in his favor. All top three candidates are re-elected directors.

Other members of this year?s PSE board are Francis Chua, Alejandro Yu, Emmanuel Bautista, Cornelio Peralta, Dakila Fonacier, Anabelle Chua, Amor Iliscupidez, Robert Vergara, Edgardo Lacson, Hans Sicat and David Chua.?Daxim L. Lucas

Cut, and cut cleanly

IT USED to be that Globe Telecom?s mobile phone services would be interrupted whenever rebels would bomb or burn down their cell sites in the provinces or up in the mountains. But with the telecommunications landscape changing rapidly, efforts against the Ayala-controlled firm (by whoever is doing it) seem to be changing with the times.

Two weeks ago, Globe suffered a massive disruption of its data services in the Visayas and Mindanao areas due to several cable cuts that occurred almost during the same period?four cable cuts, to be precise.

One cable was found severed in a river, and engineers were hard pressed to explain why the submerged line was exposed all of a sudden. A second one happened under the sea, while a third happened on a separate cable system.

But it was the fourth cable cut that looked very suspicious. Unlike traditional copper wires (which are stolen for their resale value as scrap metal), there is no secondary market for used or stolen fiber optic cables as these have no other commercial uses.

In the case of Globe, engineers found that one critical cable located under a bridge was cut cleanly?with a hacksaw?with no length of cable stolen. Very strange.?Daxim L. Lucas

Back in the saddle

AS IF to signal that commercial banking will be a strategic component of its array of businesses, diversified San Miguel Corp. is giving up its treasury chief Sergio Edeza to become the new president and CEO of the conglomerate?s banking arm, Bank of Commerce, effective June 13.

Edeza, who many years ago was quoted as saying he would someday want to be the president of a commercial bank, is taking over the post that was only briefly held by Billy Goquingco, who in turn cited ?family reasons? for leaving the bank (he will migrate to Canada to join his family there).

Prior to handling San Miguel?s coffers, Edeza was a senior executive at the treasury departments of RCBC and Metrobank. Long before that, he was national treasurer and a treasurer of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Also lending their firepower to the bank?s board will be industry veterans Reynaldo David and Vicente ?Vicot? Panlilio.?Doris C. Dumlao

Get business alerts and a preview of Biz Buzz the evening before it comes out. Text ON INQ BUSINESS to 4467 (P2.50/alert).