Biz Buzz: Makati condo ‘drug lab’

WE’VE all heard about illegal drug labs or drug storage facilities being busted by the police in gated villages, of course.

But as the buzz intensified that the government would next crack down on suppliers running the drug business out of Metro Manila’s high-rise condominiums, the maintenance staff of this high-rise condominium building in Makati’s central business district had recently been finding—on a regular basis—mysterious packages of “shabu” (the local name of crystal meth) and marijuana in the garbage area.

These discoveries have happened four times, so far, in each instance yielding 10 to 15 kilos of illegal substance apparently dumped in haste. The management of the building reported all these instances to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

Whoever owned the stash must have heard rumors of a forthcoming raid under “Oplan Katok” and did not want to take the risk of any residue being traced to his or her condominium unit if the supply were to be flushed into the toilet, a source from the building’s management confirmed.

“Nowadays, suspicion is that there is an increasing number of suppliers and users who are foreigners specially connected with the BPO (business process outsourcing) industry,” said the source.

In the past, there had been a number of Chinese and Taiwanese who were caught using their units in the same high-rise building as a small lab or storage facility. One particular Chinese drug lord—who had a mix of legitimate and illegitimate businesses, according to authorities—was even caught by PDEA and police in the past.

Although the ownership of the stash is still being investigated, the police and barangay authorities were pleased with the full cooperation of the building’s management.

It goes without saying, of course, that this underscores the big responsibility faced by property managers in the ongoing war on drugs. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla

Shunning perks

BEING a finance secretary in any country brings with it a lot of attendant perks, but more so in the Philippines, a darling among investment bankers all over the world thanks to its regular and highly anticipated global bond issues.

Given this, one of the most attractive perks the secretary of finance enjoys is the steady stream of foreign trips to conduct “road shows” for would-be investors and creditors overseas. And what a perk it is. Imagine receiving frequent invitations for trips to the world’s financial capitals (New York and London are favorites, but the itineraries could also include Tokyo, Boston, Los Angeles or some of the other European cities) paid for by foreign investment banks, all eager to grab a slice of the Philippines’ bond underwriting business and the generous fees that come with it.

It goes without saying that these investment bankers woo Philippine finance secretaries by flying them on first or business class, billeting them at the swankiest hotels and wining and dining them at the finest restaurants. And once the business part of the trip is over, the finance secretary (and whoever is with him on the trip) may choose to extend his stay for a few more days to enjoy the foreign city at a more leisurely pace or take a side trip to a tourist destination.

But change has truly come, as they say, because Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III doesn’t seem to be a big fan of “junkets.”

According to a Biz Buzz source, the head of the Duterte administration’s economic team has so far shunned the usual route of taking foreign road shows to promote the country to investors and chose instead to communicate with the international financial community via… teleconference.

That’s right. Instead of flying to big events abroad, Dominguez just holds conference calls where prospective investors can dial in and listen to local officials present the latest fiscal developments and field questions as well.

The first one last month was hosted by Credit Suisse (which is probably thankful for the savings it will have because it won’t have to fly a battery of Philippine officials overseas). Another conference call was held just last week to brief investors on second-quarter economic developments.

Asked about this by Biz Buzz, the finance chief explained that he would rather have potential foreign investors visit the country so they could see the situation on the ground for themselves and would go on road shows only as a last resort.

Besides, he said, he’s had his fill of travel when he was president of Philippine Airlines in the mid-1990s.

Given this scenario, the tightly knit community of investment bankers are now looking for new ways to guarantee their gravy train with the Department of Finance, no thanks to its new head who’s not falling for the usual tricks, it seems. Daxim L. Lucas

Hanjin fallout

THE DOMESTIC shipping industry—along with stakeholders across the globe—is now moving to digest the full impact of the collapse of South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co. From what we’ve heard thus far, it was relatively milder in the Philippine context.

Industry insiders said Hanjin Shipping sailed once a week to Manila. In fact, its last ship had already left port. Of course, that did not take into account alliances and agreements the once major global shipping player had.

Even then, other companies said they were ready to take on those requirements. It was difficult to immediately get specifics on the scale of business that Hanjin Shipping handled here. Apparently, international carriers are wary about giving detailed figures for fear of running afoul of antitrust regulators overseas.

But perhaps more troubling for some players was what the bankruptcy said about the global sea freight industry.

Even before Hanjin’s collapse, the writing was on the wall with companies ordering larger and larger vessels, way out of pace with the growth in global trade, Patrick Ronas, president of the Association of International Shipping Lines, told Biz Buzz.

While big-picture issues needed to be sorted, there was also the question of jobs to be affected.

Fortunately, the collapse did not directly affect another one of Hanjin’s major businesses here, the Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction shipyard in Subic.

But still, industry insiders estimated Hanjin Shipping employed less than 100 people nationwide, plus seafarers who might be affected. We’ll have more details as they emerge.  Miguel R. Camus

‘Be like SM’

WITHOUT doubt, shopping malls are big contributors to Metro Manila’s traffic problem because of private and public vehicles that take shoppers and mall goers to and from them. And the bigger the mall, the bigger the traffic problem it usually creates.

So much so that a Quezon City lawmaker has noticed these traffic-causing phenomena and urged them to take steps to improve the flow of vehicles in their environs.

Last week, Quezon City Rep. Winnie Castelo urged mall owners to ease vehicular traffic by providing space for “road setback” (basically, an additional lane on private property) that would serve as extra roadway for public utility vehicles and private vehicles to service boarding or alighting passengers.

As it stands today, many malls have minimal road setback areas (or none at all), leaving vehicles with no option but to use public roads for traffic-causing loading and unloading activities.

“It would just take minor road work on the part of the malls to contribute considerably to ease traffic,” Castelo said. “Apparently, congestion is heavier where there is a mall. However, it’s not like the mall owners are at the mercy of this situation. By providing minimal horizontal work, they can effectively ease traffic.”

And which malls are on the lawmaker’s traffic congestion list?

“Empirical data show that, on account of the lack of road setbacks, traffic congestion is heavy in the following mall sites: Ayala Uptown Mall in Katipunan, Fisher Mall in Quezon Avenue and  Fairview Mall in Regalado Street, Quezon City,” Castelo said.

On the other hand, which malls are worthy of emulation, according to the Quezon City solon?

“It is observed in SM Novaliches, SM San Mateo and SM Megamall, which all have road setbacks, that there is smooth flow of traffic in their respective areas,” Castelo said. “If SM can do it, I see no reason for other malls not to follow suit.”

In line with this, the lawmaker intends to file a bill requiring all local government units to mandate malls in high-vehicle volume routes to provide road setbacks or additional lanes for vehicular traffic.

Take heed, mall developers. Daxim L. Lucas

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