Soong, JLR part ways
Two decades after his pioneering foray into the ultra high-end luxury car market in the Philippines—some say he practically created the segmen—businessman Wellington Soong is parting ways with the Jaguar-Land Rover (JLR) brands.
Why? Biz Buzz learned that long simmering disagreements between Soong and the new bosses at JLR are to blame.
In particular, JLR top brass wants the businessman to commit to building a new showroom, sales and maintenance facility (a five-story structure, they specified) that would entail an investment of no less than $12 million. Wow. It’s as if the sky high rent he pays for his current swanky showroom in Bonifacio Global City isn’t enough overhead, huh?
More importantly, the new JLR team wants Soong to sell more luxury vehicles, something that may become increasingly difficult once the next tax scheme being pushed by the Department of Finance causes prices of luxury vehicles to double (at least).
It’s an interesting twist in the road for the colorful businessman. Having started with a small car showroom in the Enzo Building along Sen. Gil Puyat Ave. just weeks before the 1997 East Asian financial crisis, Soong’s Jaguar franchise survived all that and more, and he went on to become one of the most well-respected dealers of luxury vehicles in the country (along with the not-so-luxurious-but-very-expensive Land Rover Defenders favored by wealthy adventurer types).
The good news for Soong’s Jaguar and Land Rover clients, however, is that he will continue to service their maintenance needs thanks to the availability of spare parts from his own suppliers, and at more “competitive” prices than those he used to secure from JLR’s factories, we hear.
More importantly, he will be able to focus on cars and SUVs that are even higher up the price scale. We’re talking about the other brands in his portfolio: Ferrari, Maserati and Aston Martin (Soong owns a Vanquish, the same type and color used in a James Bond movie not too long ago).
As for JLR, Biz Buzz hears they’re talking to either CATS of Felix Ang or the local Berjaya unit that runs Mazda’s Philippine operations. Stay tuned. —DAXIM L. LUCAS
‘Real numbers’
Business cannot thrive without law and order, thus the #RealNumbersPH presentation made Tuesday by government officials regarding the status of President Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs grabbed the attention of media.
The good news, according to the Philippine National Police, is that so-called “focus crimes” like robbery, car theft and physical injury have declined as a “direct result” of the antiillegal drugs campaign (with rape dropping 45 percent from July to December of 2016).
But what caught many people’s attention was PNP’s assertion that of the total 9,432 homicide cases recorded from July 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017, only 19.6 percent or 1,847 are drug-related.
That figure ran counter to the number being bandied about by the President’s critics —including a lawyer who filed a complaint before the International Criminal Court—that as many as 9,000 had been killed in police anti-drug operations since the President took office last year.
According to a report of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the drug trade has grown into a P140-billion industry and that there are now over 4-million Filipino drug users.
On the upside, the private sector and some foreign donors are working to address the problem and are now helping build no less than eight drug rehabilitation centers, to add to the four set to be finished this year and the 48 drug rehabilitation centers already existing.
San Miguel Foundation, Kausaban Foundation, Megaworld Corp., Friends of the Philippines, and Alliance Global Group, Inc., as well as China and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, are helping build drug rehab centers to be located in Bataan, Bohol, Taguig, Bukidnon, Cavite, Agusan del Sur, Davao and the Soccksargen region.
With that in the pipeline, the Duterte administration’s next campaign will be to call on these business groups and conglomerates to provide more livelihood opportunities for reformed drug addicts and erstwhile drug peddlers. —DAXIM L. LUCAS
Another DOTr departure
The Department of Transportation is losing another one of its key officials.
We heard DOTr’s undersecretary for aviation, Roberto Lim, has tendered his “irrevocable” resignation and will step down this month.
This was confirmed by no less than DOTr secretary Arthur Tugade, who said Lim had informed him of the decision, described to be “in the interest of the department.”
This was yet another high-profile departure at the DOTr, following last year’s resignation of former Ayala Corp. executive Noel Kintanar as undersecretary for rails and toll roads. Kintanar was eventually replaced by Cesar Chavez this year.
Recall that both Lim and Kintanar, each with wide private-sector experience in their government posts, had received flak from lawmakers precisely for those reasons.
DOTr’s Tugade defended his officials, saying their expertise was valuable and that corruption would not be tolerated.
The soft-spoken Lim, before joining government service, had served as country manager of the International Air Transport Association. He was also a former vice president of flag carrier Philippine Airlines. Privately, he runs the Apartment 1B restaurant chain with his spouse.
Perhaps, the worry now is what these leadership disruptions mean for the agenda of the DOTr, easily among the busiest—if not the busiest—when it comes to implementing big infrastructure projects.
The aviation undersecretary helps craft the policy on airports, and as we know, such a policy is badly needed for the greater Manila area, given congestion issues at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
This includes any firm decision on a Naia replacement, with massive proposals from San Miguel Corp. (Bulacan) and the Solar-Belle Corp. group (Sangley, Cavite) having emerged.
One businessman recently told us things have gotten unusually quiet on that front, and maybe Lim’s resignation partly explains this.
Hopefully things can get back on track at the soonest possible time. —MIGUEL R. CAMUS
Revisiting Torre de Manila
After getting the Jose Rizal monument “photobombing” legal issue out of the way, DMCI Homes is ready to resume work on the controversial Torre de Manila, which was 90 percent sold out when a court challenge put a halt to its construction.
DMCI Holdings president Isidro Consunji said the group would first have to audit what had been damaged in the last two years but he reckoned that the residential condominium could be finished in 15 to 18 months.
While 90 percent of Torre de Manila’s inventory had been taken up by the market, Consunji estimated that DMCI Homes had received only P500 million of the entire P4.5-billion in sales value. Buyers likewise obtained payment relief when the Supreme Court issued an injunction on the project two years ago, he noted.
While the structure of the building is already complete (Torre de Manila had topped out or installed the last beam before the court injunction), Consunji said only half of its value had been realized. The more expensive stuff—elevator, glass fixtures, toilet fixtures and fit-outs —would likely account for the other half of the cost, he said.
Are there buyers backing out because of the photobombing controversy? Consunji said less than 10 percent of buyers had indicated they won’t push through with their purchase. In the last two years, however, DMCI Homes said it had followed lawyers’ advice to “do nothing” (read: not process rescission of contracts of sale) because buyers may get upset if property values go up once the legal question is settled. Now that the case has been resolved, Consunji said DMCI Homes won’t raise any qualms with buyers who will back out. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA
Real Estate Personality of the Year
Frederick “Deck” Go, the man responsible for turning Robinsons Land Corp. into a leading property developer in this country, was hailed by Property Report magazine as the “Real Estate Personality of the Year” —a special citation given to a person who had made lasting contributions to the real estate landscape.
“Go has been with Robinsons Land since its infancy as its chief operating officer when the company was established more than half a century ago. Because of his exemplary leadership, he became company president in 2006, overseeing the firm’s overall growth and development of shopping centers, office buildings, residential condominiums and subdivisions as well as hotels and resorts,” Property Report said.
An Ateneo de Manila University graduate, Go credited his sharp management and business sense to his Jesuit education.
Go, who is turning 48 this June, joined RLC in 1999 and was elected president and chief operating officer in 2006.
Before that, he was a journalist. In college, he was editor-in-chief of Guidon, the official student publication of Ateneo and then worked at Manila Times at age 19 when the broadsheet was still owned by the Gokongweis. Heeding the call of his uncle, John Gokongwei, he was first assigned to the sports section and afterwards covered the Securities and Exchange Commission beat, moving to manager level after two years.
He was 23 when he joined RLC, which at that time only had few assets including only one mall, Robinsons Galleria. Today, RLC has 44 operating shopping malls alongside its growing hotel, residential and office property portfolio.
We once asked Go what he liked most about the property business and this was what he said: “You can build something that can last forever. You can show it to your grandchildren.” —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA