BIZ BUZZ: Polo Club drops ‘delinking’ scheme

After a heated debate, they divided the house and the majority favored the status quo. Manila Polo Club members voted on Tuesday to junk a proposal to delink proprietary shares from associate memberships that can only be used by heirs while the parent shares are still held by their family.

Likewise thrown out during the annual general meeting was another much-ballyhooed proposal to allow widows and widowers of associate members to apply as “courtesy” members.

Based on the final tally obtained by Biz Buzz, out of 1,149 proprietary members who cast their votes, 1,077 or 93.7 percent said “no” to the delinking, which is seen akin to selling standalone rights at a huge discount. There were only 45 or 3.9 percent voters who said “yes” while 27 or 2.35 percent abstained.

READ: BIZ BUZZ: To delink or not to delink: Polo Club debate heats up

Many feared that the delinking of associate membership for just P2 million would devalue shares of Polo Club as proprietary shareholders with associate memberships within the family would be tempted to pocket gains, flooding the market with sellers. Polo Club shares are currently worth more than P50 million.On the second controversial item covering widows and widowers, only 107 voted in favor, while 1,005 opposed and 35 abstained.

Polo Club has 2,177 proprietary shares to date, of which 149 have associate memberships (one or multiple). The club has a total of 297 associate members.

The vote against delinking reversed a measure already approved by the board and the members back in 2019 but was never implemented because the succeeding officers of the club felt that there hadn’t been much explanation about its impact. This was especially since many club members had simply given annual meeting proxies to those who were zealous in collecting them, oblivious to other items on the agenda.

As a final nail in the delinking coffin, five new club directors/trustees elected during the annual meeting had all stated prior to the meeting that they were against the delinking of shares. Four incumbent directors were reelected, at least two of whom are identified to be staunch proponents of delinking.

This means that majority of the nine-member board, including the newly elected club president Alejandro Jose Revilla, won’t support any shares tweaking anytime soon. “Hopefully, after the votes have been cast on Aug. 27, we can all move forward, set aside the divisive rhetoric, regroup, reset and work together with mutual respect for the good of the second home that we all love,” the five new board members (including Revilla) had said in a statement circulated ahead of the elections.—Doris Dumlao-Abadilla

P20-per kilo rice: Still elusive

It may take some time to reach the P20 a kilo retail pricing of rice once promised by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

“… First, let us try to lower retail prices to P29 per kilogram; then after that, we will try our best,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said on the sidelines of an industry event in Pasay City.“That’s an aspiration that our President has said. Well, you can say that’s the challenge,” said Tiu Laurel, referring to the campaign promise of his childhood friend.

READ: BIZ BUZZ: P20/kilo price goal for rice still on

Retail prices of rice ranged from a low of P43 to a high of P65 per kg as of Tuesday, thus remaining high despite Marcos’ signing of Executive Order (EO) No. 62 that reduced duties on rice to 15 percent until 2028. Tiu Laurel explained that Filipino consumers won’t immediately feel the impact of tariff reduction, which had taken effect in early July.

“Traders are expected to dispose of their old stocks by about mid-October, which they purchased at higher prices,” he added.The country imported nearly 450,000 metric tons of rice from January to June. However, following the issuance of EO No. 62, the arrival of rice imports slowed down.

Tiu Laurel said global rice prices remained high amid India’s ban on rice exports while Indonesia and Malaysia were building up their buffer stocks.

It seems Filipino consumers have no option but to stretch their budget—at least for now. —Jordeene B. Lagare