IN A first for the presidency and the local airline industry, President Benigno S. Aquino III took the unusual step of flying via Gokongwei-owned budget carrier Cebu Pacific to Jakarta for his Indonesian state visit.
According to our sources, the presidential party booked over half of the seats on the Monday night commercial flight to accommodate Cabinet members and the traveling staff.
No, the President wasn’t trying to pull off a media stunt by flying on the cheap. Instead, our sources said he had to be in Jakarta first thing in the morning, and Cebu Pacific was the only airline that flies to the Indonesian capital on Monday evenings (flights of rival PAL depart Manila in the morning).
And P-Noy apparently didn’t mind taking a three-hour flight with limited legroom.
To be fair, we’re told that the President will fly back on a more spacious PAL flight on his return leg from Singapore.—Daxim L. Lucas
‘New faith’ shelved
THE Metrobank group, which had wanted to foray into Islamic banking through investment arm First Metro Investment Corp., is shelving this plan for now due to certain restrictions in the charter of state-controlled Al-Amanah Bank, the only bank with the Congressional franchise to engage in Islamic banking in the country.
Industry sources said that FMIC had enlisted a big foreign Islamic institution to back up a potential bid to acquire Al-Amanah, if and when the Development Bank of the Philippines was ready to bid out the bank. FMIC would have been willing to cede majority control to the foreign partner, which has the expertise to engage in this type of banking that shuns charging or accepting interest payments for the use of money.
But alas, the charter of Al-Amanah has a 40-percent foreign equity ceiling, which was not palatable to FMIC’s potential partner. So unless FMIC gets a new foreign partner that’s willing to settle for a significant minority stake—or Al-Amanah’s charter gets amended (which is a more tedious process)—the Islamic banking dream is on the backburner for now.—Doris C. Dumlao
No sale of cheap shares
ALPAHALAND Corp., the property arm led by former Trade Minister Roberto V. Ongpin (or more popularly “RVO”) plans to sell entirely new shares and none of its secondary shares when it conducts a follow-on offering by the third quarter of the year—contrary to the impression created by the issuance of new shares to existing shareholders at a discount to market price.
Alpahaland sent word that the issuance of new shares to existing shareholders was simply the result of the conversion into equity of advances or deposits for future subscription made or committed by original shareholders consisting of the Ashmore group and RVO’s group of companies.
Moreover, the issue price of P10 per share is the same as the original issue price to these shareholders, the group said.
It was also pointed out that there will be the usual lock-up period of 180 days when these additional shares are listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange.
But Alphaland has yet to determine how much it needs to raise from the sale of primary shares to the public.—Doris C. Dumlao
Another SBMA fight
A RANKING official of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has been suspended for coming out with a legal opinion saying that it was time for the free port’s top executive to step down.
SBMA Deputy Administrator for legal affairs Randy Escolango was suspended for three months by SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza for “administrative violations” after the former penned a legal opinion pointing out the expiration of the latter’s tenure along with that of SBMA Chairman Feliciano Salonga.
Escolango was ordered suspended by Arreza in November 2010 on charges of misusing funds intended for employees of an SBMA subsidiary.
Escolango has denied the allegation and has since filed graft and corruption charges before the Ombudsman against Arreza.
SBMA is one of the few government agencies whose top executives have not yet been replaced since President Aquino assumed leadership.—Paolo Montecillo
Running man to leaving man
OSCAR Sañez, one of the most recognizable faces in the business process outsourcing industry, is leaving his post as president and chief executive of the Business Processing Association of the Philippines in the next few weeks.
According to sources, the quest is still on for the next BPAP frontman, who will also serve as the face of the country’s BPO industry on the global stage. In the meantime, acting as officer-in-charge is BPAP information and research director Gillian Joyce Virata, daughter of former Prime Minister of the Philippines Cesar Virata and stage legend Joy Virata.
Aside from promoting the local BPO industry to the world, Sañez is also passionate about his running, which he says he has been doing before the sport even became fashionable. Proof of his mettle as a runner is his participation in the 102-kilometer Bataan Ultramarathon, which commemorates the Death March.
There’s no special reason for Sañez’s departure from BPAP. It just must be time for the running man to … well … run along.—Abigail L. Ho