Reviving a settled debate

ONE OF the biggest debates hounding the Aquino administration’s efforts to improve the country’s mass transit system is where to locate the so-called Metro Manila Integrated Rail Terminal, better known as the “LRT common station.”

You’d have to wonder, however, why this debate is still ongoing, considering that the issue has been settled five years ago.

And who settled it? No less than the National Economic and Development Authority, apparently.

Biz Buzz recently got hold of a document that detailed how the issue was deliberated on and settled way back in 2009. The Neda document pointed out that the common station should be located in front of SM North Edsa primarily because that site would cause the least disruption to vehicular traffic flow along Edsa.

Locating the common station in front of Trinoma Mall—the proposal favored by the current leadership of the Department of Transportation and Communications, ostensibly because it would be the cheaper option—would aggravate the already bad traffic situation on Edsa, the 2009 Neda study said.

“The area will be overcrowded due to the heavy volume of MRT3 and LRT1 commuters transferring in a confined area, exacerbated by the addition of MRT7 in the future,” it added.

But no such vehicular traffic disruption would occur if the common station would be located in a recessed section adjacent to the SM North Edsa property, the study pointed out, partly because the SM North Edsa location would allow for the building of a larger concourse (it even has enough space for the proposed LRT9 line, the study said).

More importantly, however, Neda stressed that locating the common station in Trinoma would not achieve the stated goal of “closing the loop” between the MRT3 and LRT1 lines, since this setup would require commuters to walk a considerable distance between stations, similar to the distance between the MRT3 and LRT2 stations in Cubao (which has been the subject of many complaints from commuters).

“The proposed location may not be technically viable as it would involve placing the common station at a very close distance to the North Avenue station of the MRT3 and at a curved area for LRT1,” Neda said.

Apparently, SM was so convinced that this plan (as settled by Neda) would be feasible that they put down P200 million in earnest money as their contribution to the construction of the common station on their side of the road, as well as naming rights to it.

But of course, if one is determined to upend the plans of the retail conglomerate, why let a Neda study, which settled the issue a long time ago, stop you, right? Daxim L. Lucas

New gaming play 

Shares of Sinophil Corp. surged 47.95 percent Tuesday (and was the most actively traded stock in the market) after a two-day trading suspension as parent Belle Corp. unveiled plans to transform this dormant entity into a holding firm for its gaming investments.

Shares of Belle, on the other hand, fell 12.41 percent with the looming transfer of key gaming assets to Sinophil, which will turn the former into a more traditional real estate play.

Sinophil, which will soon be renamed “Premium Leisure Corp.” with the forthcoming amendment of its charter, will hold Belle’s 100-percent stake in Premium Leisure Amusement Inc. (PLAI)—which is part of the consortium behind the upcoming City of Dreams Manila—as well its 34.5-percent stake in online lotto equipment provider Pacific Online Systems Corp.

In line with this evolution, Sinophil will embark on a quasi-reorganization involving a reduction in authorized capital alongside a cut in the par value of shares. This is to slash about P2.64 billion (out of P3.5 billion) off its capital deficit. But afterward, it will again increase its authorized capital stock to P10.9 billion from P4.03 billion. After all, a wider balance sheet is needed to absorb the gaming assets that Belle will infuse.

Non-gaming assets under Sinophil, on the other hand, will be transferred to Belle as part of the reorganization, making the former a pure gaming play.

In the near term, Sinophil/Premium Leisure has no plans to conduct any follow-on offering. However, the restructuring was aptly timed to ride on the momentum from the forthcoming opening of City of Dreams Manila this October. Doris C. Dumlao

MB jockeying continues

In the world of banking, few appointments are as coveted as a slot on the seven-man Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (apart from being named by the President as central bank governor, of course).

And with two vacancies in the MB opening up next month, the jockeying among would-be appointees is reaching fever pitch.

Biz Buzz hears that one current government official—an appointee at one state-owned bank—has been angling for one of the two MB slots.

This official isn’t really a banker in the real sense of the word, but has apparently served his political patrons well through a crusade launched four years ago against perceived allies of the previous administration (never mind the failed outcome of that crusade, of course).

The other would-be appointee is a twice-retired banker who also served at this state-owned bank and participated in the same crusade (never mind the unremarkable performance of the financial institution under his watch).

Will they be rewarded for their crusading ways? Abangan. Daxim L. Lucas

New SEC commissioner

For anyone still wondering who Ephyro Luis B. Amatong is, and why the administration thought he deserved his recent appointment as commissioner of the country’s corporate regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC), read on.

Highlights of Amatong’s impressive resume included a stint as consultant for Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) in handling financial market and banking regulation and privatization initiatives including the disposition of 74 hectares of Food Terminal Inc. (FTI)—the biggest asset privatized so far by the Aquino administration.

Amatong also monitored National Power Corp., Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp (PSALM) and National Transmission Corp. (Transco), and aided the government in the recovery of P5 billion in taxes due from the redemption of the controversial Peace Bonds.

In 2011, he initiated the recovery of the improper investment of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) worth P800 million in Express Savings Bank and investigated the suspected misuse and dissipation of LWUA funds and assets.

Amatong graduated cum laude in Business Economics from the University of the Philippines and was awarded the dean’s medal for academic excellence from the UP College of Law before taking his master’s degree in law, with concentration on international finance, at the Harvard Law School. Not bad. Paolo Montecillo

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