A one-carat diamond as pabitin

He has been skipping lunch at home during the working week, raising the suspicion of his home partner that he might be, uh, bored with domesticity.

Nobody, however, is telling on the man, in large part because of the eccentricities of his current partner.

Yes, this is one who dangled a one-carat diamond as a pabitin or party favor during the recent birthday party of her daughter. And yes, the one who immediately sanitizes her hands after signing a charge slip. (After all, that credit card with no credit limit has all sorts of germs like any other credit card).

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Just because Anscor Insurance Brokers Inc. president Andres Soriano III has been seen a couple of times talking to Zuellig Insurance Brokers, Inc. president Eduardo Atayde doesn’t means there’s a buy out in the offing.

Fact is, Anscor senior vice president Ernest Cuyegkeng has also been seen talking to Ed Atayde.

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Here’s a cute story about incoming Nestle Phils. president Salvador Pigem, who takes over from Juan Santos on April 1.

It seems Mr. Pigem motored to Southwoods to play some golf. He went alone, in the hope that he would either meet a friend or two, or link up with other golfers going solo. He had to wait a while but he eventually formed a flight.

When Nestle officers led by Johnny Santos (a regular at Manila Golf) heard what he did, they were, needles to say, aghast. After all, they could have easily organized a group of officers to play golf with Mr. Pigem, anytime and anywhere.

This is not Mr. Pigem’s first stint in the Philippines. In the mid-1990, Mr. Pigem, who prefers to be called a Catalan rather than a Spaniard – after all, this Spanish province, with Barcelona as its capital, has its own language and culture – headed Nestle’s ice cream division.

Oh yes, Mr. Santos will stay on as director. More important than attending the twice a year board meetings, Mr. Santos will be introducing Mr. Pigem to his friends in business and in politics.

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Die-hard cigarette smokers swear there’s something wrong with the menthol version of their favorite imported brands – the two biggest money-earners in the country.

To save on costs, the cigarettes imported from Indonesia do not incorporate the menthol during the production process. Instead, the menthol is sprayed almost as an afterthought – which means you can smell the menthol but you don’t feel it when you inhale.

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Bank notes: It was a quickie for Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho, who flew to the United States last Tuesday to talk the top guys of California Public Employees Retirement System and will be back in his office today.

Basically, Lito Camacho spiel is that the recommendation of CalPERS’ consultant to drop the Philippines from its list of preferred investment site was based on third party data that was even verified.

CalPERS’ local investment of $33 million is huge by Philippine standards but really a drop in the bucket of the $133-billion portfolio of the US-based retirement fund.