Biz Buzz: ‘Frenemies’ unite

It is one of the rare occasions when even “frenemies” get together for a noble cause.

As the Philippines prepares for the much-awaited visit of Pope Francis in January 2015, three business leaders have been handpicked to help the clergy lay the groundwork for the event, which will primarily spotlight communities devastated by Super Typhoon “Yolanda.”

Assisting the Catholic Church to prepare for the papal visit are Ramon S. Ang (RSA), president and single biggest stockholder of conglomerate San Miguel Corp., and Manuel V. Pangilinan (MVP), chair of telecom giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and managing director of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd.

Apart from “frenemies” RSA and MVP, Security Bank Corp. president Alberto Villarosa is also part of the stringent preparation efforts.

Biz Buzz confirmed that the three influential business leaders were brought onboard by the Catholic clergy preparing for the papal visit under a five-member central committee led by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Manila archbishop and Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president, and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, Reverend Giuseppe Pinto (Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines) and Palo Archbishop John Du.

The fifth member of the central steering committee is a representative from the government sector, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr.

Villarosa was tapped to help drive the committee on finance while RSA was enlisted to power the committee on transportation. Note that RSA was summoned to help out when Philippine Airlines (PAL) was still under San Miguel’s stewardship although losing the flag carrier does not reduce RSA’s commitment to help with the preparations for the papal visit.

MVP is part of the sub-committee on telecommunications (under the committee on information and media), having an interest not just in the country’s biggest telecom company but also in mass media. Apart from committing financial resources, MVP is tasked with providing connectivity to this visit.

Even when the Pope is not visiting, these business leaders are active in their own corporate social responsibility and personal philanthropy.–Doris C. Dumlao

Jolli-wars

Ting family-led holding firm Jolliville Holdings Corp. isn’t giving up on its legal battle with fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. over trademark rights.

“The company maintains its position that it has the lawful right to use its name and logo,” Jolliville told the Philippine Stock Exchange, adding that it was set to file its appeal with the IPO office.

Jolliville disclosed Tuesday that it had received a resolution dated Sept. 16 from the Bureau of Legal Affairs of the Philippine Intellectual Property Office (IPO), which acted on Jollibee’s petition.

The decision effectively denied the registration of Jolliville’s name and logo application with the IPO office.

Although the two firms have very different businesses, Jollibee—now Asia’s biggest restaurant chain in terms of market capitalization—isn’t keen on sharing the “Jolli” trademark with Jolliville, which has interests in leasing, management services, technical services, property development (Metro Manila, Calapan City and Puerto Galera in Oriental Mindoro), landbanking, trading, business process outsourcing and power generation.–Doris C. Dumlao

Calax lobbying

How far would officials go to make sure that they get their way on certain big-ticket infrastructure projects? A very long way, apparently.

Of course, Biz Buzz learned a few weeks ago that one ranking official from a government agency was so worried by word from her informers that the Palace might order a rebidding for the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax) project.

As a result, this official asked a math whiz subordinate to come up with numbers showing how the P8.5-billion premium offered by San Miguel Corp. would be negated by the delays that any rebidding would cause.

(Recall that SMC said it offered a P20.1-billion premium for the project, but was disqualified for what it claimed was an easily resolved technicality. An Ayala-led consortium was the second-highest bidder with a premium offer of P11.6 billion.)

This government official was supposedly so horrified by the prospect of a rebidding that the official stormed the Malacañang office of the lawyers in charge of reviewing the entire process to confront them.

“Sinugod nila yung Malacañang,” said one source familiar with the event, adding that the government official even demanded an explanation as to why San Miguel’s appeal was being heard at all. There’s no love lost between this official and the conglomerate, apparently.

Expect more noise about this project in the coming days as the Palace decision nears.–Daxim L. Lucas

Timepiece of choice

It is often said that you can tell a lot about a person based on their timepiece of choice. This may be more telling for men, given that a watch is one of the very few accessories permitted on most occasions.

So it was quite interesting to see Philippine Stock Exchange CEO Hans Sicat in a recent briefing sporting one of Samsung’s next-generation smart watches.

We say interesting in the sense that many executives on his level prefer to adorn their wrists with the Swiss or French varieties, or perhaps the occasional timepiece from Japan.

Then again, this executive, who has led various reforms at the PSE, has always been comfortable with technology. On more than one occasion, Sicat was quick to whip out his tablet computer when asked to confirm some specific information relating to the exchange’s operations.

Sicat, who says he bought his “latest toy” on a whim after being sold a smartphone (also made by the South Korean technology giant), says he would likely buy Apple Inc.’s smart watch when it goes on sale.

The added bonus of having this particular device (apart from screening calls without appearing to do so) is being able to take covert photographs and record conversations.

We’re not sure why the CEO of the PSE would need such functions for—or if he plans to use them at all. But the next time you find yourself in a meeting with this CEO, remember, you might just be on the record.–Miguel R. Camus

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