BIZ BUZZ: Spain’s King to visit PH

Spain is on quite a roll.

First, Carlos Alcaraz won back-to-back Wimbledon titles to bump up his grand slam title haul to four at just 21 years old. Then just a few hours later, a solid Spanish team beat England 2-1 to bag the highly prized Euro 2024 silverware.

Spanish monarch Felipe VI could bring some of that luck to the Philippines when he visits the Philippines sometime in 2025.

The Marcos administration had invited the King to come over for a visit, and after months of waiting, he finally said yes.His visit will come at a time of warming relations between the Philippines and its European partners—a stark contrast during the time of former President Rodrigo Duterte when human rights issues cooled ties with the European Union.

King Felipe VI’s visit is also expected to bolster trade and security ties between the Philippines and its former colonizer, which, to recall, put on the table an offer to provide the Philippines with its first submarines and frigates care of Navantia, plus other military equipment for use by the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Then there’s defense and technology company Arquimea, which is supporting the Philippine space agency and preparing to locally manufacture drones and make the Philippines its regional hub.

But aside from these, the visit is expected to highlight the depth and breadth of the relationship between the two countries that had extended to dual citizenship for qualified individuals and paved the way for more Filipino companies to expand and plant the country’s flag on Spanish soil.

The Philippine and Spanish embassies are already working on the timing as well as the coverage of the King’s visit.

Stay tuned for more details. But what’s sure is that the Marcos administration will pull out all the stops to make sure that he gets the treatment worthy of a King. —Tina Arceo-Dumlao

Economic team head-hunting

Amid talks about a mini-revamp of the economic team, one name has surfaced as a prospective Cabinet newbie: economist Stella Luz Alabastro-Quimbo, currently Marikina representative (2nd district) and a former commissioner of the Philippine Competition Commission.

According to the grapevine, she is eyed to lead the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), with current Neda chief Arsenio Balisacan rumored to be heading to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

But for those eager to see the University of the Philippines summa cum laude graduate (who also obtained her MA and PhD from the premier state university) holding a Cabinet post, now is not yet the time.

“No, I am running for mayor in Marikina,” Quimbo told Biz Buzz.

Other sources said Quimbo had even been invited to join the Department of Education but had obviously declined. Neither is she keen on taking on the Neda nor DTI portfolio at this time.

Keen observers believe that Balisacan, for his part, would prefer to stay on as Neda chief—instead of taking the lateral movement to DTI—as he has a number of initiatives to complete, particularly those that will professionalize government economic forecasting.

Meanwhile, Frederick Go, special assistant to the President for investment and economic affairs, has denied that he would take on the DTI soon.

But all the clues lead to the active head-hunting for a new trade chief, replacing current Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual. (The caveat is this has been a recurring speculation for years.) —Doris Dumlao-Abadilla INQ