Biz buzz: Health rumors

Every now and then, wild rumors surface about the supposed ill health, or even death, of one senior tycoon or another—rumors that invariable turn out to be untrue.

In the past, they were spread through SMS passed from one phone to another, often with the latest sender prefixing the message with an “I-just-got-this-don’t-know-if-true” disclaimer. Nowadays, however, they’re spread via social media channels like Facebook and Twitter.

And so it was with rumors about the supposed demise of the Philippines’ wealthiest man, Henry Sy Sr.

It started two Fridays ago on social media, with some people referring to an article published on a website with an address that looked like that of the UK-based Daily Mail. “Philippines’ richest man Henry Sy dies in London,” the headline proclaimed. But upon closer examination, the article was dated Jan. 13, 2016—but came into circulation only two weeks ago. It turns out that the website was also of dubious provenance. A closer look at the web address revealed that it was from “da1lymail.com” (a ‘1’ instead of an ‘i’), and deep down the page was an easily overlooked disclaimer that the entire outfit was a satirical news operation.

Of course, there was no truth to the rumor and the owner of the country’s largest shopping mall network was alive and well.

But wait, there’s more.

A week after that, another fake news website published another story claiming that “Tatang”—as Henry Sr. is fondly called by his employees— had again passed away, this time “in his Manila residence.”

But unlike the first one, this article (easily debunked) was published only last Oct. 1, 2016. This led a number of people in the business community to wonder: Is someone up to something against the Sy family? Someone who may stand to gain if there were doubts about the family patriarch or retail conglomerate’s stability?

According to Biz Buzz’ sources, there is one particular suspect that may be behind all this. And the motive is nothing else but business. Big business. So keep an eye on this space for more developments because there’s an ongoing war that’s far from over.

As for the Sy patriarch, he may as well have used that famous Mark Twain line: “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” —Daxim L. Lucas

‘Sincerest’ agency

It may not always see eye to eye with some of its regulated entities, but when it comes to winning public trust, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) beats all other government institutions.

For the second year in a row, the SEC emerged as number one among 35 government institutions which were scored based on perceived sincerity in fighting corruption, based on the Annual SWS Enterprise nationwide survey.

With a score of +50 to +69, the SEC was rated “very good” in this gauge, beating even the “good” rating of the Office of the President. It was the only office qualified for the “very good” category. The two-peat achievement is another feather on the cap of SEC Chair Teresita Herbosa, who shares ancestral roots with no less than national hero Jose Rizal.

Asked what she would attribute this high rating to, Herbosa told Biz Buzz: “SEC has adopted reforms including automation of internal and frontline processes, and less face to face. We reduced registration of new companies to one day. We opened four satellite offices in Metro Manila and one in Cebu.”

She also credits this high mark to the SEC’s International Business Response Service (IBRS) or integrated business numbering, issuance of certified true copies via courier or by appointment and release of certification of no derogatory info within a day of request. The SEC now has downloadable forms and computerized name verification iView.

The institutions with “good” ratings (score between +30 and +49) are the Office of the President, departments of Trade and Industry, Labor and Employment, Health, the Civil Service Commission, Department of Education, the Supreme Court and the Office of the Ombudsman.

Those rated with “moderate” sincerity are Commission on Audit, Department of Social Work and Development, Sandiganbayan, Government Service Insurance System, Department of Justice, barangay units, city/municipal local government units, Commission on Election and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.—Doris Dumlao-Abadilla