Biz Buzz: New BAP chief

There’s a changing of the guards at the influential Bankers Association of the Philippines, with president Aurelio “Gigi” Montinola III (also president of Bank of the Philippine Islands) bowing out and passing the baton to Security Bank president Alberto “Abet” Villarosa.

Biz Buzz espied a dapper-looking Montinola at the gala night of Standard Chartered Bank at the Manila Peninsula right after the BAP elections and cocktails on Monday, gracing the anniversary celebration of Standard Chartered in the Philippines. His successor Villarosa was there as well.

If he looks much more relaxed now, Montinola says in jest that it’s because he indeed feels so much more relaxed after retiring as BAP chief. At the same time, he’s confident on the “good team” now in charge of BAP.

Joining Villarosa at the BAP board are RCBC’s Lorenzo Tan (first vice president), Citibank’s Sanjiv Vohra (second vice president), Deutsche Bank’s Enrico Cruz (treasurer) and EastWest Bank’s Antonio Moncupa (secretary).—Doris C. Dumlao

AirAsia rising

No less than President Aquino will grace Wednesday’s inaugural flight of AirAsia Philippines—the local unit of Malaysian budget carrier giant AirAsia—from Clark to Davao.

The red-and-white airline, which operates several new Airbus A320s, will also be flying the Clark-Kalibo route to take advantage of the Boracay craze this summer and the Clark-Puerto Princesa route (having reduced their Davao frequency to accommodate this new flight).

AirAsia’s big boss, Tony Fernandes, will be flying in from Kuala Lumpur—almost certainly on a regularly scheduled flight of his airline—to join local AirAsia executives in the ceremonies.

The Clark-based flights will also be complimented by AirAsia’s new “Tune” hotel—a tall, red-and-white structure located just outside the perimeter fence of Clark (supposedly to take advantage of the lower real estate prices outside the former US base). Lower property prices, of course, mean lower costs and higher margins.

If this budget carrier-budget hotel business model sounds familiar (perhaps in orange and green colors, locally), that’s because Cebu Pacific has based its own business model on this (including its GoHotels concept).

In fact, even Cebu Pacific’s “It’s time every Juan flies” is similar to AirAsia’s “Now everyone can fly.” So much so that Tony Fernandes once joked that he has learned to temper revealing too much in his speeches whenever he and Cebu Pacific’s Lance Gokongwei are attending the same conference.—Daxim L. Lucas

‘Here for good’

British bank Standard Chartered, the oldest foreign bank operating in the Philippines, is proud of its historical business link to national hero Jose Rizal, being the same bank used (and even recommended to his friends) by the national hero during the Spanish colonial era when he was studying in Europe.

The bank is now celebrating its 140th anniversary in the Philippines, and to make this milestone meaningful, Stanchart Group CEO for Asia Jaspal Bindra announced during the bank’s gala night at the Manila Peninsula Monday a $1-million donation to the cause of eliminating curable blindness through a partnership with CBM/Cataract Foundation of the Philippines. This is part of the bank’s global “Seeing Is Believing” project.

“Even through civil wars, World Wars or other kinds of social unrest or upheavals in some nations, we continue to service our banking clients. We don’t get scared easily and we remain true to our commitment to service. This is the essence of our brand promise to be here for good,” Stanchart Philippine CEO Mahendra Gursahani said.—Doris C. Dumlao

“Hot” in Cebu

Property developer Cebu Holdings Inc. (CHI) has sizzled at the stock market in recent weeks (up 60 percent this month), enriching a lot of market pundits. Some are trading on momentum although some do speculate that an equity restructuring will take place in CHI to allow Ayala Land Inc., its single biggest stockholder, to attain majority control in the company. Although CHI holds the Ayala group’s crown jewels in Cebu—including the Ayala center complex and some assets within the central business district—ALI doesn’t own majority of this property company. Thus, the speculation is that it’s only logical that ALI will be in the market for more shares.

Biz Buzz on Tuesday asked ALI president Antonino Aquino about this unusual trading activity on CHI and he simply said: “Investors must be taking notice of increased level of activity” in Cebu, the country’s second-most important destination next to Metro Manila. But is ALI keen on raising its stake in CHI? Aquino replied: “We got more or less the right level. There will just be some small adjustment.”

Note that the Ayalas own around 47 percent of CHI while among the minority investors are the First Metro group and global fund management firm Aberdeen, based on ALI estimates.—Doris C. Dumlao

Kim not amused

Bureau of Internal Revenue chief Kim Henares was not amused by the “antics” of the camp of people’s champ Manny Pacquiao in response to the tax bureau’s request for more supporting documents for the boxer’s lingering tax issues.

(Pacquiao said on TV Monday, in jest, that he would slug it out with tax authorities in court since he couldn’t challenge them to a boxing match. This after he expressed disappointment at the BIR’s handling of his tax case.)

Our sources tell us that Pacquiao’s camp failed to submit complete documentation justifying his income—or more accurately, low income tax filings—despite his most recent boxing wins in the United States, despite repeated requests for the documents from the BIR.

“I have been very patient, as it is,” said Henares, who herself kidded that she can’t do boxing… but she can do shooting.—Daxim L. Lucas

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