Bali’s tallest Christmas tree
Filipino holiday-makers heading to Bali, Indonesia, this season will be pleasantly surprised to see the tallest Christmas tree at Kota Beach carrying the branding of San Miguel.
PT Delta, the Indonesian subsidiary of San Miguel Brewing International Ltd., collected close to 20,000 empty San Miguel pale pilsen and San Mig Light cans to create a 15.1-meter Christmas tree at the world-famous beach, delighting local and foreign tourists who picked the tropical destination for the holidays.
There’s more: The Christmas tree carrying the iconic Filipino beer brand surpassed the previous mark of 12 meters for a similar structure recorded at the Indonesia World Records Museum (Muri).
With the Christmas tree as the centerpiece, holiday merrymaking at Kota Beach included a blood-letting activity, beach cleanup and singing of Christmas carols by schoolchildren.
After the Christmas season, the empty cans from the tree will be sold to help fund the activities of the surrounding community. Doris C. Dumlao
Sore
Nobody likes to lose.
But when a major deal to operate and re-envision one of the country’s busiest airports is at stake, taking those last minute potshots at the frontrunner of the P17.5-billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport public private partnership (PPP) project, which has yet to be awarded, might just be worth it.
This appears to be the scenario playing out amid calls to disqualify a consortium led by Megawide Construction Corp., which outbid six others with a P14.4-billion offer for the government’s first airport PPP last December 12.
The spotlight has been placed on Megawide’s partner, India’s GMR Infrastructure, and its reportedly poor track record in operating (or not operating) airports as revealed in leaked documents to the media last week. Some of its rivals said the consortium failed to disclose, for example, that its airport contract with the government of Maldives was canceled.
But PPP Center executive director Cosette Canilao belied these allegations on Monday, saying all these details and many others were disclosed by GMR-Megawide “right from the start” and they had adhered to all the requirements of the bidding process “to the letter.”
Therefore, what should be a non-issue given that the bids and awards committee is now in the financial post-qualification phase has nevertheless prompted the PPP Center to ask GMR-Megawide to provide an explanation, Canilao noted.
“It was very comprehensive and satisfactory,” Canilao said, adding that they still hoped to render an award to a group by early January.
Much is at stake and as some reports have suggested, not even a whiff of irregularity should be accommodated.
Whether the PPP Center was merely covering its tracks or if a few bidders from the pool of major conglomerates were actually sore losers has observers undecided as of now.
What we’d rather not have are more delays to a crucial and closely watched PPP project. Unfortunately, some players are willing to risk just that. Miguel Camus
Teary-eyed MVP
Executive Manuel V. Pangilinan is not one to wear his emotions on his sleeve, but even he could not help but be moved by the stirring version of “The Prayer” by the Loboc Children’s Choir and some of the big names in the country’s recording industry, among them Martin Nievera, Ogie Alcasid, Karylle, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Gary Valenciano and Noel Cabangon.
The song was arranged by maestro Ryan Cayabyab and the video was completed in less than three weeks with teams shooting in Bohol to record the Loboc Children’s Choir and in Manila for the recording artists, who were happy to waive their talent fee because of the message that the project conveyed.
Pangilinan sat in one of the sessions and approved the final cut, which touched him so much that he asked that it be played to an international audience at the toned down First Pacific Christmas party in Hong Kong on Dec. 5.
First Pacific officers, employees and partners were not immune to the powerful message of hope and joy such that donations have been coming in.
“The Prayer” was recorded to help raise awareness of the relief and recovery project of the Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation in the calamity-stricken areas in the Visayas such as Bohol, which is yet to recover from the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck in October, and Eastern Visayas, which is still reeling from the onslaught of Supertyphoon “Yolanda.” Tina Arceo-Dumlao
Giving up sweets
While other groups like businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan or MVP have just recently entered the sugar industry by buying into Roxas Holdings Inc., the state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines is on the way out. Landbank is divesting whatever remains of its interest in Victorias Milling Corp.
After selling its direct shares two years ago or as soon as VMC’s shares resumed trading on the Philippine Stock Exchange, Landbank has made a public offer to sell 165.02 million VMC convertible notes for a minimum bid of P286.71 million, based on a public notice published by the bank to get the best possible price for the block. Some industry sources speculate this could reflect the growing caution not just of the bank but of the government in general over the sugar industry when the Asean free trade area sets in by 2015.
Industry sources said several parties have expressed interest but the bank has yet to announce who had won the auction. From what we gather, the group of tycoon Lucio Tan (previously the biggest shareholder group until the acquisition by British Virgin Island-based firm Premier Network International Ltd. of a 24-percent stake early this year) did not participate in the bidding and thus is not keen on increasing its interest. To date, the Lucio Tan group has a 16-percent interest in the sugar firm through Philippine National Bank and Tanduay Distillers Inc. and is still the second-biggest voting block in VMC next to the new investor group.
The convertible notes carry an interest rate of 8 percent a year, which is attractive from an investors’ perspective given the decline in interest rates to record low levels. Interest and principal amounts are payable at the end of 2018. Landbank’s convertible notes, if converted into equity in the years ahead, will be equivalent to about 3-4 percent of VMC.
Meanwhile, days before MVP sealed a deal to invest in RHI (proving long-running rumors as true), there was speculation in the market that First Pacific was likewise interested in VMC. Doris C. Dumlao
Eat now before it closes
Just when the quaint Maria Luisa’s Garden Room inside the Makati Garden Club was starting to gain quite a following among discriminating eaters who want good food in lush but intimate surroundings, it may have no choice but to close.
That’s because the country-style café has been deemed in violation of the non-commercial restrictions in the residential/park zone since the Makati Garden Club is a designated “residential park”, thus commercial operations, even one as small as a 30-seat café, is not supposed to be allowed.
The members of the Makati Garden Club, founded by the late Maria Luisa Perez-Rubio, after whom the café was named, however, are hoping for some reconsideration since they need the additional funds from the café to augment dwindling finances.
Plus, nearby condominium developments such as Primea Discovery were allowed to have commercial operations on a much bigger scale than the tucked away café.
In the meantime, however, the ruling stands, thus patrons have only a few days left to enjoy a meal at the café as Maria Luisa’s Garden Room, deemed a hidden gem that is getting rave reviews among gourmands, is scheduled to cease operations at the end of the year. Tina Arceo-Dumlao
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