BIZ BUZZ: Back in the game
His long years as a banker were followed by long years as a government banking regulator, and then a short stint exclusively back with the private sector.
But now, Biz Buzz heard that former Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor and General Counsel Juan de Zuñiga Jr. is back in government.
That’s right. The banker-lawyer who retired from public service just last year after a distinguished stint on the Monetary Board from 2014 to 2020 is now back regulating banks. Well, sort of.
That’s because, earlier this month, President Duterte appointed de Zuñiga as director of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) as a representative of the private sector. In effect, he merely switched places with former PDIC director Anita Linda Aquino who was appointed to the Monetary Board last year.
We hear de Zuñiga is looking forward to a second stint in government that is “interesting, challenging and fulfilling,” and hoping to find it at the PDIC.
Of course, this won’t be too different from his former job at the central bank. The only difference is that while his BSP job entailed dealing with “live” banks, the PDIC’s biggest challenges usually involve performing post mortems on “dead” banks, including divvying up the proverbial “body parts” to satisfy the claims of various stakeholders.
But given how the owners of these dead banks are, more often than not, guilty of some kind of malfeasance that resulted in the collapse of their financial institutions, de Zuñiga’s skills as a lawyer and bank regulator will come in handy.
Thankfully, we’re told he would be allowed to retain his private sector engagements which pay handsomely, namely, serving as one of the counsels of Divina Law, and independent directorships with Philippine Airlines and the Manila Bulletin.
His appointment was sealed last Monday after de Zuñiga took his oath of office before Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, who ultimately vets (some say recommends) all appointments in the economic sphere of this administration before the President affixes his imprimatur.
—Daxim L. Lucas
Truly inclusive
There are more and more companies that talk about gender diversity, equality and inclusion these days, but not enough are warming up to nontraditional relationships and family structures when it comes to the provision of benefits to their workers.
The Aboitiz Group is one of the few to openly recognize LGBTQ+ or common-law partners and extend to them the medical benefits due to dependents of employees. Starting Aug. 15, Aboitiz Equity Ventures team members with a legal civil status of “single” were given the option of listing their LGBTQ+ or common-law partners as one of their dependents under their health insurance policy. As a listed dependent, these partners are entitled to the same medical coverage as the spouse of a legally married team member.
The new policy is seen as a testament to the Aboitiz Group’s commitment to its sustainability journey. The policy supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDG 5: Reducing Inequalities.
“The Aboitiz Group is committed to building and nurturing a culture where its team members are celebrated for their individuality and diversity. The inclusion of LGBTQ+ and common-law partners into our team members’ healthcare dependents is just one way the Group shows how we value and respect each team member’s individuality, and how we are sensitive to their needs. As an equal opportunity employer, we are an innovative company that embraces a progressive culture—one that recognizes team members as valued drivers of organizational success,” Aboitiz Group president and chief executive officer Sabin Aboitiz said.
Apart from supporting UN SDG 5, the new policy comes as one of the many products of the Aboitiz group’s “REMIX” program, inspired by the book “The Remix” by Lindsey Pollak.
The program aims to future-proof the organization by encouraging senior team leaders and junior team members to share ideas, insights, and suggestions on how to improve—or “remix”—internal policies or processes. Recent outputs of the REMIX program involve addressing team members’ individual needs on mental health by providing counselling sessions and mental health awareness sessions, and the inclusion of mental health concerns for medical leaves.
