Bidding to win

FOR ALL its success, the Sy family’s SM Group still contends with snide remarks from mostly non-billionaires on the “shoe box” design for many of its ubiquitous shopping malls.

But no one threw those remarks during the bid submissions for the P17.5-billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport PPP last week, where SM was among seven bidders for the government’s first airport deal.

The “shoe box” mall operator went all out with presenting its own bid documents, contained in neatly stacked boxes inside a wheeled white cabinet with a dramatic sliding panel.

For those who haven’t been to a bid submission like this, it is often a monotonous multihour event where balikbayan-style boxes are wheeled in, unsealed, then documents are checked before the boxes are resealed for evaluation later.

It is probably for this reason that SM unveiled its bid documents to collective oohs and aahs from the crowd of mostly lawyers from rival camps. One or two couldn’t help themselves and stood up to record the event with their smartphone cameras.

Even Transportation Undersecretary Jose Lotilla quipped that such flair and drama would not provide added points for any bidder.

This light episode aside, the strong interest in the project comes at a time when the Aquino administration is battered by other issues, from various natural disasters to the fallout of the Napoles pork barrel scandal.

Some have suggested that those other issues could come to define the Aquino administration, which is more than halfway through. But others believe there is still time, and the successful implementation of the remaining PPPs would do much to avert this. Miguel R. Camus

SM’s four-peat

For the fourth year in a row, three companies under tycoon Henry Sy were cited in this year’s The Asset Platinum Excellence in management and corporate governance awards. The awarding ceremony will take place in Hong Kong next year. These are flagship holding firm SM Investments, the country’s leading shopping mall developer SM Prime Holdings and the country’s largest lender Banco de Oro Unibank.

The awardees were selected by financial magazine The Asset based on a range of metrics of financial performance as a gauge of management acumen. The awards also recognized the importance of sustainable growth and companies were screened according to the quality of their corporate governance, social responsibility, environmental responsibility and investor relations.

“We are honored and very grateful for this citation from The Asset magazine,” SM president Harley Sy said. “Having received this award for four years now affirms our long-term view commitment to sustainability and business excellence. Given the recent events related to the impact of the supertyphoon, allow me to dedicate this award to the untiring efforts of the men and women of SM Foundation Inc., the volunteers and our partners who have immediately responded to the call for assistance and support.” Doris C. Dumlao

‘New PSE board’

As the Philippine Stock Exchange celebrates its 10th anniversary as a listed company this December, it will be unveiling a new board. Literally, that is. In about three weeks, floor traders at the Ayala trading floor will be treated to a new state-of-the-art modular LED trading board to replace the antiquated trading board whose spare parts are now hard to find.

“It looks very good. We can watch the next Manny Pacquiao game there,” PSE president Hans Sicat said in jest. The media told him that the PSE could indeed generate extra income from pay-per-view.

But to install the new LED board, the old one, which has been there since the 1990s, would have to be unscrewed. In the next few weeks, traders will have to contend with a tarpaulin version of the board. Doris C. Dumlao

Steel raiders

BIZ BUZZ received word that, sometime last month, the Philippine Iron and Steel Institute (PISI), Steel Angles, Shapes and Sections Manufacturers Association of the Philippines Inc. (SASSMAPI) and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) operatives, armed with search warrants, simultaneously raided Youcheng Trading in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, and Golden Lucky Construction Supply in Marilao, Bulacan.

Prior to the raid, the group requested the assistance of some officials in the Department of Trade and Industry responsible for that particular geographic location. However, one DTI official replied that they had no personnel to spare and, as such, could not join the raiding team because they were not informed early enough.

Here’s where it gets interesting. This DTI official supposedly told representatives of the raiding team that they should not—NOT!—confiscate any counterfeit steel products they come across during the raid. The official suggested, instead, that they call officials at their regional office in case they encounter such products (although subsequent calls were not answered).

According to our source, the reactions of these DTI officials were, in fact, more common than not for fear of being sued by the raided firms. Raids can lead to court cases and it is normal that the official is the one who is charged, not the government agency, we were told.

If the agency is sued, it is the duty of the Office of the Solicitor General to defend the government agency. However, any official that is slapped with a court case has to shoulder all the costs of defending himself in court, including the lawyers’ fees. That’s why they are reluctant to join activities that can lead to court cases, our source told us.

It goes without saying, of course, that most regional and provincial government officials become close to most businessmen and traders in their area. They are normally linked personally as “kumpadres” and “kumadres”—which means they protect each other. Daxim L. Lucas

‘Private G8’ coming

The Trilateral Commission, an exclusive organization considered as a private sector counterpart of the G8 (but with more member countries), will conduct its next conference here in Manila.

The commission was founded in 1973 by banker and philanthropist David Rockefeller to bring together experienced leaders from the private sector to discuss issues of global concern. It has since evolved into a worldwide private, nonpartisan network composed of key leaders from different nations that tackles global and regional issues through dialogue and research.

Philippine Veterans Bank chair Roberto de Ocampo, a member of the commission, will be hosting the group’s Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Dec. 12—the first to be hosted by the Philippines. Other Filipino members of the group are former Finance Secretary Jesus Estanislao and former Prime Minister Cesar E.A. Virata. Daxim L. Lucas

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