Biz Buzz: British royalty in Manila

After the recent visit of two heads of state: French President Francois Hollande (with French actresses/environment advocates Marion Cotillard and Melanie Laurent in his entourage) and Indonesian president Joko Widodo, a key British royalty is the next international VIP to fly to town.

The “Princess Royal” Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise of Buckingham Palace—the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth and seventh in line of succession to the British throne—is set to visit the Philippines from March 16 to 19, UK’s protocol office has confirmed.

There’s no official word yet on the 64-year-old Princess’ agenda but there’s buzz that part of the original itinerary is to drop by British School Manila (BSM). Many are wondering now whether this will push through given that a royal visit may only put further unwanted spotlight on the school. On the other hand, Princess Royal’s visit can also bring some comfort to a grief-stricken BSM community.

As we all know, the international school is currently in a difficult situation after an 18-year-old student who would have graduated from high school this year jumped to his death in a Makati carpark. The family of the deceased had reportedly blamed the unfortunate incident on a “bully” teacher.

The board of governors of BSM has asked the council of trustees to form an independent review panel. People are awaiting the results of this fact-finding mission with keen interest.–Doris C. Dumlao

Far from over

If you think congestion at the country’s main ports has eased significantly, think again.

While the queue of ships waiting to berth at the Manila International Container Port and the Manila South Harbor has gone down from a high of 30 and six, respectively, in December last year to just four and two, this is mainly due to the traditionally lean first quarter and the long break for the Chinese New Year, and not so much about reforms.

But even with the reduced activity, more than half of the vessels that call on the two ports, through which at least 80 percent of Luzon imports are handled, still fail to meet their berthing schedule due to the debilitating and lingering congestion at the ports, where there are as many as 8,000 containers unprocessed for more than 30 days.

With the expected return to normal activity at the start of the second quarter, one can expect the port congestion issue to again rear its ugly head.–Tina Arceo-Dumlao

Super consortium

One of the more interesting announcements in the infrastructure space last week was the “super-consortium” of Ayala Land Inc., Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Megaworld Corp. and SM Prime Holdings that is bidding for the massive Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike project.

To be sure, a PPP deal of this size, with an estimated development cost of P123 billion, warrants an unprecedented alliance between the Sy, Zobel, Aboitiz and Andrew Tan groups. But it should be noted that ambitions here extend beyond just winning the project against formidable rivals like San Miguel Corp. and foreign players from Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia when bids are submitted by early July this year.

In fact, observers we’ve spoken to are taking a keen interest on whether their partnership known as Team Trident, whose members all take the same 25-percent stake, can survive and even thrive. (Imagine planning one project with four different groups, each coming from a position of huge success in their respective businesses.)

But Team Trident, which we’ve gathered started from the Ayala-Aboitiz partnership from the initial Cavite-Laguna Expressway auction and expanded with Megaworld and SM, does make sense. Their combined resources would help ensure a more competitive bid while cutting each members’ individual exposure.

That’s handy for the Lakeshore deal, which combines three massive projects: A 47-kilometer tollroad, a 45-kilometer flood control dike and a 700-hectare land reclamation project in Laguna Lake near Muntinlupa and Taguig.

We know the groups are very keen on the land reclamation part—three members of Team Trident are major property developers while Aboitiz Equity, a power and banking conglomerate, has some exposure through Aboitiz Land.

Their interest here is also easy to understand. At 700 hectares, the reclamation project is about three times the size of a development like Bonifacio Global City in Taguig—with the added benefit of a waterfront view.

Such a huge supply, when introduced to the market, would certainly have an impact on land values and Ayala, SM and Megaworld are among the biggest landholders in Metro Manila. Controlling how this new supply is introduced would help them maximize their existing businesses as well as that of the Lakeshore project.

Meanwhile, some might be wondering how they came up with the name “Trident” in the first place considering there are four members. Maybe a group was added a little late for extra comfort? Apparently, the real reason is quite literal. Just check out an aerial view of Laguna Lake and you’ll have your answer.–Miguel R. Camus

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