Biz Buzz: David leaves PBCom
Former Development Bank of the Philippines president Reynaldo David has resigned as a director and executive committee chairman of Philippine Bank of Communications effective last Friday. Giving up this post in the bank recently bought by the group of former trade minister Roberto V. Ongpin now gives the banker more time to concentrate on the ongoing Senate hearings probing DBP transactions during the term of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
David says he was brought on board to help Ongpin’s group study the acquisition and conduct the due-diligence audit on PBCom and that he was not looking at any permanent post in the bank in the first place. “My role is done,” he says.
Under David’s term at DBP, the bank’s profits hit record levels. But because of his being friends with “FG,” he has become collateral damage in the search for the suspected financial pipeline leading to Malacañang’s former tenants.
Indeed, facing allegations of extending “behest” loans and insider trading are not exactly what he envisioned his retirement to be.—Doris C. Dumlao
Speaking of which …
Businessman and his nephew Eric Recto last week executed a joint affidavit in response to Sen. Serge Osmeña’s allegations that the former trade minister had engaged in “insider trading” in his deal to acquire shares of Philex Mining Corp. and sell them to businessman Manuel Pangilinan of PLDT.
In their affidavit, the two made it clear at the outset that they “have no quarrel with MVP” despite the tycoon’s own affidavit having been waved about by senators supposedly as rock-solid proof of insider trading.
“The Philex transaction was beneficial to [MVP] and to his companies, and also to us, and also including the Development Bank of the Philippines,” they said. Ongpin and Recto said that, contrary to senators’ allegations, “there is nothing in MVP’s affidavit which supports the allegation of insider trading.”
“On the contrary, we believe that MVP’s affidavit clearly supports our position that there was no insider trading,” they added.
The two differed with MVP only on two points. Where MVP said that it was Ongpin’s group that contacted him to offer their block of Philex shares, both Ongpin and Recto insisted that it was the telecoms tycoon who contacted them and set up a meeting at the Makati Shangri-La’s Horizon Club to negotiate a deal.
All compelling arguments, of course. But will it succeed in keeping the senate “inquisitors” at bay? Probably not. They have one particular endgame in mind.—Daxim L. Lucas
12-year ‘ID’ window
The Securities and Exchange Commission has struck what is believed to be a good compromise formula in tightening the rules on independent directorship on all listed, public and mutual fund companies—without courting lawsuit from legal luminaries critical of these initiatives, that is.
Under the rules, which will take effect on Jan. 2 (awaiting only a formal signing and promulgation in newspapers of general circulation), independent directors (or “IDs”) can serve in the same company for a term of five consecutive years. There will be a cooling-off period of two years before he or she can be re-elected for a maximum of five years. After serving as an ID for 10 years, the ID will be perpetually barred from being re-elected again in the same company.
The IDs are also allowed to simultaneously serve only in a maximum of five companies within the same conglomerate but there is no limit to directorship in unrelated entities.
But the most crucial compromise is that all previous terms served by existing independent directors will not be covered by the new term limits, which means that the tightening will more significantly affect incoming rather than existing independent directors, most of whom would have naturally retired within the next 12 years.—Doris C. Dumlao
Azure compromise in the works
Not a few Filipinos’ attention was caught by a paid notice published in this paper some weeks ago by the heirs of a certain Jose G. Victoria, notifying the public that cases have been filed against Columbia Motors Corp. and a subsidiary of Century Properties Inc. involving the Azure project in Parañaque City.
The cases filed with the HLURB, Ombudsman and regular courts basically accused Columbia and Century of falsification of documents used to acquire a permit to develop and sell the multibillion-peso Azure project, which was endorsed by international celebrity Paris Hilton.
The heirs of Victoria have also filed a civil case seeking the segregation of a one-hectare portion of the property, damages amounting to P35.3 million plus legal interest of 6 percent a year.
Biz Buzz sources said, however, that the parties—mainly Columbia Motors as landowner and the Victoria heirs—are in the process of forging an amicable settlement that should be executed soon so that the cloud over Azure can finally be lifted.
Until then, Azure buyers can only wait with bated breath.—Tina Arceo-Dumlao
iPhone telcos not created equal
Pre-orders for the new iPhone 4S seems to have hit fever pitch in recent days, with some officials in Globe Telecom smiling smugly that the company’s initial allocation of the new Apple product has been wiped out within the first 36 hours of their online reservation page going live.
The Ayala-controlled firm started taking pre-orders last Dec. 1, along with its rival Smart Communications, which will also offer the iPhone to its clients for the first time.
According to our sources, Globe will have its usual iPhone launch event on Dec. 16, Friday, at the new Greenbelt 5 mall (as opposed to its usual venue at the courtyard of Tower One along Ayala Ave.) on account of the telco’s more upscale subscribers.
Smart, for its part, will supposedly launch its iPhone 4S line at the “Smart Araneta Center” on the same day.
Rumor has it that while Smart made a preemptive strike in announcing the launch of its iPhone line, it won’t receive its stock of Apple devices until Dec. 20, long after rival Globe has moved out its inventory (perhaps an Apple concession to its old loyal telco partner?).—Daxim L. Lucas
BPO in Megamall
The SM group will not be left out in the race to beef up office property portfolio catering to business process outsourcing firms. Recently, the group finished construction of a new podium parking building in front of its best-selling shopping complex Megamall. This is in preparation for the construction by 2013 of a new BPO building using that open space fronting Edsa.
Though the SM has a vast land bank along the Manila Bay side, it has to make the most out of the limited property size within the Ortigas central business district.
This could change, of course, if and when “Tatang” Henry Sy (and we’re not saying this is a certainty) bags what could be the biggest property deal in the country through a potential partnership with the Ortigas group.—Doris C. Dumlao
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