Biz Buzz: ‘Probinsiyano’–class resort?

CONGRESS is flush with loose talk that a Cebu resort is behind Cebu lawmakers’ move to junk the Department of Tourism’s five-star rating system for hotels, resorts and apartment hotels.

A Batasan Buzzard told us that Plantation Bay Resort and Spa owners and management were downcast that the establishment only got four stars from the DOT’s new grading system.

The Buzzard said the principals of the colonial architecture-inspired resort on Mactan Island felt slighted by the rating because they believed it belongs among the Philippines’ best and deserves a five-star rating.

“In most of its nearly 20 years of operation, Plantation Bay has enjoyed the highest occupancy of all international-class resorts in the Philippines—yes, better than all of them. This is without the benefit of a chain affiliation, and with almost zero expenditure on advertising and promotion,” crowed the Cebu resort on its website.

Plantation Bay officials attended a House Committee on Tourism probe initiated by Cebu Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia two weeks ago where Cebuano allies questioned the integrity of the state-sponsored rating system, and whether it was even necessary (considering that hotel grades are available for free from private website providers such as Agoda, Expedia and TripAdvisor).

In that hearing, Plantation Bay officials claimed the DOT preferred giving high marks to what it called a “probinsiyano” style of service—obtrusive and over eager to please—when most tourists were looking for a more reserved, subtle style of service, which it considered as the world-class standard.

Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe objected to Plantation Bay’s use of “probinsiyano” to denigrate people like him who grew up outside of Metro Manila.

“That’s insulting and shows a very low regard for non-Manila residents. We believe our service reflects our culture of being warm and hospitable and not cold and reserved. I think our numbers will show that tourists love our ‘probinsiyano’ style of service, if that’s how Plantation Bay wants to call it,” said Batocabe.

Batocabe said the DOT was just doing its job of complying with the law, which mandated the government to adopt a star-rating system to improve tourism facilities in the country.  Gil Cabacungan

Independent Christmas lights

WHEN it comes to steering the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the country’s monetary authorities take great pride in being independent from the rest of the Executive Branch in terms of formulating and implementing policy.

Apparently, this policy independence streak extends well into more mundane issues, like … like the central bank’s traditional Christmas lights display on its facade fronting Roxas Boulevard in Manila.

As many know, BSP has been in the habit of putting up blight Christmas lights on its two bunker-like buildings fronting Manila Bay since the booming 1990s (when the lights show featured a festive mix of Christmas-colored graphs and charts of economic growth, dollar reserves, and the like, all trending upward, save for inflation which was trending down).

This year, however, Biz Buzz heard that some government officials, wishing to ride the “inclusive growth” bandwagon being harped on by the Aquino administration, suggested that the BSP Christmas lights spell out precisely that: “Inclusive growth.”

No sooner was this proposed (we suppose, by someone who wanted to impress the administration) than the idea was shot down by the central bank hierarchy, which wanted the lights to convey a “less political” and “more appropriate” Christmas message.

Thus, BSP’s multi-story tower (facing the Manila Yacht Club) now appropriately sports a bright “Happy New Year” message on top of a traditional landscape scene, while the low-rise building (fronting the Philippine Navy headquarters) sports a similar Christmas scene and lights spelling out “Peace and Prosperity.”

Meanwhile, the Department of Finance in the same compound is also sporting a more visible and less austere holiday lights display this Christmas season, thanks in part to the government’s more comfortable budget position, no doubt.

Gone are the days of the DOF building looking like a poor cousin of the two well-decorated central bank structures flanking it on either side. Now, that’s more like it.  Daxim L. Lucas

Fallout

THE ONGOING controversy over Mitsubishi Montero’s alleged sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) incidents is affecting not only the business of car dealers but the banks funding the car purchases as well.

A banker from an institution, which is a big player in automotive financing, said there has been an increase in requests from consumers—whose car loans have already been approved—to switch to other vehicle models. Some want to cancel their contracts while others even want to return the Monteros they are already using in exchange for other types.

To check this isn’t any fluke, the banker asked the chief of another major bank whether such requests were rising. There were indeed some, the latter said, but not too much in his bank’s case. The banker explained that once the purchase order has been signed—whether or not the unit has yet to be delivered to the buyer—it was considered a done deal and the lender was obliged to remit the funding to the dealer.

Whether or not some Montero units are flawed in such a way that they result in SUA (versus the alternative view that it’s a driver error) is up to independent automotive experts to determine.  But until this issue is cleared, the jitters continue.  Doris Dumlao-Abadilla

GMA sale… take three

HERE’S an interesting twist on that aborted sale of a stake in GMA Network Inc. to an investor group led by champion boxer Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao and former Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson.

Biz Buzz, in a chance meeting, managed to catch up with Singson to get his thoughts on their offer, apparently rejected by GMA’s owners led by its chair and CEO Felipe Gozon.

While Singson was reluctant to talk about the sale, he did say that it wasn’t their group that first approached GMA.

Singson certainly was not going to talk about the valuation of the television network, which had figured in unsuccessful negotiations with a string of suitors that included Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., Globe Telecom and businessman Ramon S. Ang.

Perhaps the foremost question on everyone’s mind is, what would the Singson-Pacquiao tandem do with a TV network?

Singson’s simple answer: “Gusto ko lang [I just want to].” He added he was not interested in parking money in any other TV company.

In any case, if GMA was for sale before, it doesn’t look like its owners are in any kind of rush today. Gozon said the owners have recently decided to focus on building the business—for now—and maybe get a better offer down the line.

That’s not far-fetched with the advertising windfall expected to flood TV and media companies as the election season kicks into high gear. Miguel R. Camus

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