‘As rare as faithful men’

Ford Motors Phils. must have done some survey on this, if only among its customers.

You see, Ford promises that the limited edition of its 2002 Expedition is "as rare as faithful men" and, most likely, equally high on maintenance. Only 50 units of this edition will be sold.

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The ever-articulate Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos is the principal author of the Terrorism Act, which makes terrorism an unlawful act.

Until the bill becomes law, calling a person a terrorist is "perjorative" (Imee Marcos loves to use words that require the frequent use of one of those huge library-type dictionaries) and is an act of prejudice.

After all, there can be no terrorists where there is no law against them, is there?

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Tiresome as it may be, National Transmission Corp. president and chief executive officer Asisclo Gonzaga patiently explains to new acquaintances how he came about his first name. No, his Bohol-based parents did not misspell the name. And yes, he was named after the saint of the day in November when he was born.

Boy Gonzaga’s job is to make Transco viable so it can be privatized. Transco is in charge of all those transmission towers and lines where electricity passes from the power generating company (like the National Power Co.) to power distributing company (like Manila Electric Co.). All those aluminum-covered lines, including the submarine lines that connect the many islands of the Visayas, are estimated to cost about $2 billion.

The privatization is not an actual sale. It’s a 25-year concession that can be renewed for another 25 years.

Once privatized, Mr. Gonzaga loses his job not because he’s not good at it (after all, he spent 37 years with the National Power Corp., many of those years as chief operating officer) but because there’s a one-year prescription period under the law that deregulated the electricity industry. Conflict of interest and all that.

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Bank notes: It looks like Fe Barin will be attending her first Monetary Board meeting as a member next Thursday ahead of Vicente Valdepeñas.

While Vic Valdepeñas has been reappointed to serve another six years, his official papers have yet to be signed by President Macapagal-Arroyo and sent to MB chairman, Bangko Sentral Governor Rafael Buenaventura.

Here’s Mr. Valdepeñas’s problem – an unresolved case before the Sandiganbayan on something forgettable that he signed during his stint of what is now the National Development Economic Authority before 1986 and the EDSA Revolution. Obviously, such a clearance was not a requirement when Mr. Valdepeñas was first appointed in 1996.

Right now, the MB has been meeting with only five members, just barely enough to make a quorum (and a great deterrent for MB members to take an official leave and travel).