Biz Buzz: PSE wins labor suit

A labor arbiter has dismissed for lack of merit the complaint for illegal dismissal and payment of back wages filed by Leonardo Quinitio, the former head of Philippine Stock Exchange’s (PSE) capital market development division, against the PSE, its president and CEO Hans Sicat and chief operating officer Roel Refran.

In a 23-page decision of the National Labor Relations Commission, arbiter Elias Salinas said Quinitio—who was dismissed for alleged falsification of records, misappropriation of company funds and entering into unauthorized deals—had been given “reasonable opportunity to be heard and to explain his side pertaining to the allegations.”

Quinitio was subjected to an internal audit examination based on information divulged by his then assistant, Jose Cecilio “Jay” Peñaflor, that fake Jollibee receipts amounting to P20,160 had been submitted for liquidation of food expanses incurred during an event sponsored by PSE in 2012. Peñaflor, of course, later became infamous for running a Ponzi-type investment scam, capitalizing on his formal credential as a PSE employee.

After some digging, the PSE sacked Quinitio, citing irregularities in certain transactions involving eight separate events organized by Global Access Group, Smart and PSE where it was alleged that “spurious receipts were falsified to obtain reimbursements for his benefit.”

For his part, Quinitio argued that in these events, no funds had been spent by the PSE. He also questioned the findings of fake receipts. He added that he was never involved in the process of reimbursements. In one of the questioned events organized by Smart, he said he never knew the specifics and that it was Peñaflor who had coordinated with Smart and conducted seminars.

The labor arbiter, however, faulted Quinitio for allowing irregularities to happen under his watch, noting that his “negligence is not only gross but also habitual.” The arbiter said the PSE did not abuse its discretion. As such, it was ruled that he was not illegally dismissed and therefore not entitled to back wages (he was earning P150,000 monthly at time of termination) and separation pay. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla

Free housing hoax

LAST July 29, the staff of the National Housing Authority (NHA) in Quezon City were surprised to find themselves deluged with people demanding free housing units. These people flocked to the NHA after hearing rumors about the government’s alleged “libreng pabahay” (free housing) program that was supposedly being implemented on a first-come, first-served basis.

There is, of course, no such program but people acted on rumors that, according to housing agencies, continued to victimize many unsuspecting folks to this day.

While the government subsidizes housing programs to make acceptable housing affordable to the homeless and underprivileged, subsidies were not used to operate a “dole out” system such as the so-called “libreng pabahay,” the Housing and Urban Development Council (HUDCC) clarified Tuesday. “Dole-out programs have been found to be counterproductive to the social development and economic empowerment of the homeless and underprivileged members of society.”

“Dirty tricks are being played and false rumors are being spread to confuse the public and this may not be the last,” HUDCC said.

HUDCC urged the media and the public to be extra vigilant against misinformation and to rely only on official announcements from their local officials, the key shelter agencies (HUDCC, NHA, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board or HLURB, Pag-IBIG, Social Housing Finance Corp., Home Guaranty Corp. and National Home Mortgage Finance Corp.) or other concerned agencies. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla

Philweb tender

IF BUSINESSMAN Roberto V. Ongpin is able to sell his 53.76 percent stake in Philweb Corp. to the highest bidder, the buyer may be required to buy out minority shareholders at the same price, a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official said.

“The shares being sold would be sufficient to gain control of Philweb. Hence, a mandatory tender offer may be triggered if one person or a group of persons acting in concert would acquire the auctioned shares,” SEC Commission Secretary Armand Pan said Tuesday.

Under the 2015 implementing rules of the Securities Regulation Code, in any acquisition that would result in ownership of more than 50 percent of the total outstanding equity securities of a public company, the acquirer will be required to make a tender offer for all the outstanding equity securities to all remaining stockholders of the company at a price supported by a fairness opinion provided by an independent financial advisor or equivalent third party.

As of Tuesday, Philweb was valued by the market at P12.63 billion, while Ongpin’s stake was valued at P6.79 billion.

Philweb has been forced to wind down its operations as a service provider to Pagcor’s e-Games network last Aug. 10 as its intellectual property licensing and management agreement (IPLMA) contract was not renewed by the state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. The auction is set to close by today. Ongpin also agreed to give the winning bidder a way out of the deal if the buyer is unable to obtain a renewal from Pagcor of the license to operate by the end of this month. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla

Out-of-the-box solution

NOW Corp. wants to ramp up its broadband internet service via unusual means.

NOW CEO Mel Velarde said the plan was to do this by creating an “economy sharing” internet service model the way Uber has done with the way we hire private cars.

The target is the lucrative enterprise sector, or businesses that usually pay more to secure guaranteed broadband speed. NOW says it can do just that for clients seeking anywhere from 10 megabits per second up to 700 Mbps.

The challenge, of course, is rolling out the network, which can cost massive sums, and plenty of headaches with local government unit requirements. The solution: Get their clients to pay for the infrastructure, cutting the company’s own capital spending.

Velarde said this was possible with their “Fiber in the air” broadband technology. The company will get building partners (the taller, the better) who lease the technology from NOW and provide the service to their tenants. In exchange, NOW shares 5 percent to 50 percent of revenues with them.

The starting rate was P250,000, but of course, it’s usually much bigger than that for larger structures.

Velarde said the company has already tapped 12 building partners in Metro Manila and they were looking at growth areas in Southern Luzon, Cebu and Davao by next year.

How does this benefit the broader public? Not much, really, since NOW can only accommodate so many customers to provide reliable services. Velarde said they want only a million customers at the moment, meaning just 1 percent of the population.

Speaking of the 1 percent, those living in exclusive gated villages might have something to look forward to.

Velarde said they were talking to some homeowners’ associations, still wary about telco towers near their lush gardens, but apparently open to the company’s technology, right now. Miguel R. Camus

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