A Quimbo

With only two weeks left until the terms of two Monetary Board members end, President Aquino has yet to name his appointments to the policy-making body that runs the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

As we’ve explained earlier, a slot in the seven-person board is highly coveted by bankers and non-bankers alike, partly because of prestige, partly because of power.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the monthly take home pay of a Monetary Board member is among the highest, if not the highest, among all government officials (approaching P1 million a month when other benefits are included, last we heard).

Biz Buzz now heard that one name being put forward for one of two Monetary Board vacancies is University of the Philippines economics professor Stella Quimbo.

If that surname sounds familiar, that’s because she’s the wife of Liberal Party stalwart and Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo.

People in economic and academic circles are full of praise for Ms. Quimbo, many describing her as “brilliant” and “competent.”

“You don’t always need a banker in the Monetary Board. Sometimes, you need an economist,” said one supportive fellow economist.

Of course, Rep. Quimbo is also the chair of the House ways and means committee and is crucial to any tax measure that the Aquino administration needs to push (like the proposed reduction in fiscal incentives for so-called investors taking undue advantage of the local tax system).

That Rep. Quimbo holds the key to future tax laws is probably not lost on Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima… who also happens to sit in the Monetary Board and has considerable clout with regard to who would be appointed to it next. Abangan. Daxim L. Lucas

Diluted

As the shareholders of Alliance Select Foods International Inc. ratified on Monday the entry of a new local investor group called Strong Oak Inc. (owning a 28.7-percent stake), Singaporean stockholders—who have taken their allegations of mismanagement and self-dealing to court—found themselves sidelined in terms of board representation.

Out of Alliance’s seven-member board, the Singaporeans managed to have only one representative (Hedy Yap-Chua) reelected, whereas previously, they had two regular directors plus one independent director. On the other hand, Strong Oak got one regular board seat while its nominee for independent director (ex-Procter & Gamble guy Erwin Elechicon) also won a seat.

Strong Oak is owned by a company called Seawood Resources Inc. led by Marie Grace Vera Cruz. She is also Strong Oak’s new representative in the Alliance board.

Asked why her company invested in Alliance despite an ongoing shareholder squabble, Vera Cruz told reporters: “We saw it as an opportunity to invest. I’m very positive. Anything is an opportunity.” She added that her company had a long-term investment horizon, hinting that the assumption was that issues in Alliance would be resolved over time.

Of the P563.7-million private placement made by Strong Oak, 90 percent had been put in an escrow account subject to the listing on the local stock market of new shares issued to it by Alliance.

Strong Oak’s investment in Alliance represented less than 20 percent of its total portfolio, which also includes shares in port operations and information technology, Vera Cruz said. Doris C. Dumlao

‘Harassed’

Hedy Yap-Chua, now the lone representative of the group of Singaporean shareholders who are unhappy with Alliance’s management, believes that the counter-petition filed by Alliance against her was  meant to “harass” her as her group raised vital corporate governance issues.

As of press time, our sources said a subpoena had been issued for the arrest of Yap-Chua and former Alliance director Albert Hong Hin Kay. Alliance had slapped the two of them with criminal complaint at the Pasig City regional trial court for allegedly breaching their fiduciary duty to the company and revealing confidential information relating to the company’s financials.

“I believe it’s something to harass us. Our lawyers are working on it,” Yap-Chua said at the sidelines of Alliance’s stockholders’ meeting.

“This is not a personal scoreboard. It is not a boardroom squabble. We are merely trying to raise the standard of corporate governance and transparency. Unfortunately, a lot of people have interpreted this as a boardroom squabble but this is the only way a director can raise issues,” Yap-Chua said, noting her group was very disappointed with this investment. (Alliance chief executive officer Jonathan Dee denied allegations of lack of transparency, railroading of the private placement, self-dealing transactions and excessive management compensation).

Yap Chua said if Alliance really needed the fresh investment from Strong Oak—which she noted had obviously sided with management in the elections—the company should have immediately obtained more than 10 percent for the full issuance of shares. The rest had been put in escrow and could be accessed by Alliance only once the shares were listed on the exchange. Doris C. Dumlao

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