She had better grades than he did

Sotheby’s Philippine representative Clara Acuna-Camacho is this year’s president of the Harvard MBA Club, Kim Acuna-Camacho met her husband, Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho, while they were both in Boston. (It is said that she had better grades than he did).

By the way, Lito Camacho served as club president for four years.

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It should be interesting which bank would offer resigned Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. co-vice-chairman and chief executive officer Alfonso Yuchengco III a seat on its board. Tito Yuchengco is one of 30 who went to Australia to take a course that would help in his accreditation as an independent director of a commercial bank.

The accreditation is being done by the Institute of Corporate Directors, which is headed by former Finance Secretary Jesus Estanislao. As a matter of delicadeza, Jess Estanislao resigned last month as a director of Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co.

Right now, banks are encouraged to have at least two independent directors on it board.

Mr. Estanislao has suggested to Monetary Board chairman and Bangko Sentral Governor Rafael Buenaventura that independent directors in banks should account for at least a third of the total board, which is what Korea has. (In China, independent directors account for 50 percent of the board).

Because directors are now liable for their actions or lack of action and must, therefore, train for their duties, Mr. Estanislao is also proposing a per diem range, averaging at $50,000 a year. Right now, there are banks which pay their directors a measly P600 per meeting.

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The Insurance Commission will be a more serious place when Eduardo Malinis retires as commissioner next year. His witticisms are always delivered with a poker face.

For example, Mr. Malinis likes to crack that cleanliness comes after godliness – a play of words on his surname and that of his predecessor, Adelita Vergel de Dios.

Yesterday, the dark and slightly built Mr. Malinis livened up the induction of officers of the Philippine Life Insurance Association, Inc. by referring, with seemingly all seriousness, to Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho (whose department supervises the IC) as his look-alike.

The new PLIA board is headed by The Philippine-American Life and General Insurance Co. president and chief executive officer Jose Cuisia Jr.

Joey Cuisia’s special guest was wife, Victoria Cuisia, who has been supportive of his career, both emotionally and, when he was Central Bank governor, financially.

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The sense of urgency in Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. is palpable. Cito Lorenzo tells everybody he meets that he has only 17 months – next month, it will be only 16 months – to do his job.

For this reason, he moves fast, giving priority to projects which are practical and feasible in the short-term.

One such project is TGA Farms, whose president and chief executive officer Rene Tayag wants to bring Philippine tilapia to American tables.

After learning about Mr. Tayag’s export plans two week ago, Mr. Lorenzo has linked the entrepreneur to other government agencies such as the Department of Trade and Industry (headed by Manuel Roxas II) which can help him.

As of yesterday, contract growers of Mr. Tayag has been assured of working capital loans from either the Quedan and Rural Credit Guaranty Corp. or the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center.

To further bring down his costs and be more competitive with Taiwan, Philippine Fisheries Development Authority general manager Petronilo Buendia lent him an unused blast freezer in General Santos City.

The loan of the blast freezer, which is good for 10 years, frees up P5.1 million for Mr. Tayag.