Ignored

Despite having as its head the country’s richest man, it must be a little lonely in the corner of retail conglomerate SM nowadays. This is especially so when their plea—multiple pleas, actually—seem to be falling on deaf ears.

Recently, veteran radio journalist Ted Failon interviewed Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya about the proposed automated ticketing system of the Metro Rail Transit that is being hotly contested by the Ayala-PLDT consortium on one side and the SM group on the other.

Asked to confirm whether SM had indeed filed a motion with the Department of Transportation and Communications for it to reconsider the project’s award to the Ayala-PLDT consortium, Abaya defended the bidding process as having been fair and transparent.

Then—causing the jaws of some listeners to drop—he added: “Siguro naglabas lang ng kaunting init ng katawan at alam naman nila kung paano magde-decide ang DOTC.” In English: Maybe they (referring to SM) are just letting off steam, because they know how DOTC will rule on the issue.

So there you have it. Apparently, SM knows how the DOTC will decide on its appeal. Or maybe they should know better than to file an appeal on the P1.8-billion ticketing project. Never mind that SM has sent six follow-up letters to the authorities concerned after their initial motion for reconsideration (no response to any of them, of course).

SM has no friends at the top nowadays, it seems. It must be a lonely feeling. Daxim L. Lucas

Paris returns

Hollywood’s “It” girl Paris Hilton is flying back to Manila soon to bring glitz and glamor to the inauguration of the Paris Beach Club, a centerpiece amenity space within the beach-inspired community Azure of Century Properties Group (CPG).

The hotel heiress was last in town in 2011 to collaborate with CPG in designing the three-level club, which has now been completed and will be officially unveiled on March 13 with the poster girl herself gracing the event. The Paris Beach Club and the Azure beach feature a man-made beach with fine white sand, simulated ocean waves, waterfalls and an infinity pool that overflows into two private beach coves located at opposite ends of the master-planned development.

Hilton, whose collaboration with CPG marked her first foray into the international real estate scene, is expected to stay in town for five days at the most.

Ahead of Hilton’s arrival, CPG announced the completion and turnover this month of Azure’s third tower, St. Tropez, consisting of close to 600 units. The first two towers—Rio and Santorini (all towers are named after the world’s most popular beach destinations)—delivered a total of 1,700 units last year. The completion of the first three buildings represents 36 percent of the total units of the entire beach-themed development.

As of the third quarter of 2013, Azure has pre-sold 98 percent or 4,000 of its launched units, with about 800 units yet to be launched. The upcoming towers are Positano, Miami, Maldives, Maui, Boracay and Bahamas.

To drum up Hilton’s arrival to launch the beach club in her name, Azure has launched the “best beach selfie” contest. One can earn a ticket to the March 13 grand launch of the Paris Beach Club by posting online his or her best beach-inspired selfie. Doris C. Dumlao

Post-PAL Andy

Andrew “Andy” Huang, long-time chief financial officer of flag carrier Philippine Airlines, has found a new calling after leaving the aviation industry.

Huang has reinvented himself as a chef, cooking specialty food out of his Bel-Air home sans any advertising or any delivery channel. It turns out that, in the last five or six years, Huang has been taking culinary courses and consulting with a Toronto-based nephew who is a professional chef.

Those who want to taste his cooking—branded as “Andy’s Good Eats”—have to place orders four hours in advance and pick up the food themselves. His offerings include exotic starters like lumpfish caviar cake and main dishes such as Hainanese chicken, Momofoku-style pork buns, Vietnamese style xoi man sticky rice and a Chinese version of Spanish bean stew Fabada Asturiana.

A business executive who has recently tasted Andy’s cooking swears the former PAL executive has a future in this new line of business. He “cooks the best Hainanese chicken and pork belly,” the executive said, adding that “there is [indeed] life after PAL.” Doris C. Dumlao

Nissan comeback

Since March 1 this year, Nissan Philippines Inc. (NPI) became the only face of the Nissan brand in the country. The company is 51-percent owned by Nissan Motor Ltd. of Japan and the remaining 49 percent is split between Nissan Motors Philippines Inc. (NMPI) and Universal Motors Corp. (UMC).

Nissan of Japan is taking a direct hand in the Philippine market to put order in Nissan’s operations and presence here. Prior to NPI, NMPI handled the car segment (from importing, assembly and sale) while UMC handled the commercial vehicle assembly and distribution. NMPI is majority owned by Taiwanese investor Yulon Motor. UMC, on the other hand, is owned by the Lee family.

Nissan’s head office has brought in Kenji Naito as president and SJ Huh as marketing boss. Their goal is to reintroduce the Nissan brand to Filipino consumers and regain lost market share. The two officials believe that the Philippines is a very promising market with its second-fastest growing economy in the region.

The formal launch of NPI is set this Friday where we heard the company is announcing the introduction of two new vehicle models. Keep your eyes open for this one. Daxim L. Lucas

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