Item or not

Rumors that a female veteran broadcaster and the most eligible bachelor in the Cabinet were an item circulated a little after President Arroyo’s US state visit. The broadcaster, known for her feisty reporting and unpaid credit card bills, had been sporting a huge eternity ring on her finger that she suggests may have come from the eligible secretary. 

The story spread like wild fire and Mr. Secretary was eventually asked if he "scored a home run" with the broadcaster. Despite his political ambitions, Mr. Secretary emphatically denied the story – something that he did not do when he was rumored to be with hotter and younger babes, including an actress. 

Members of the press who joined the state visit said the story may have been spread by the broadcaster herself to cover up for the embarrassment she suffered at the White House. Apparently, during one of the functions, the US secret service got annoyed with her loud stand uppers, and asked her to step a little further away from the event. The secret service made the request several times and before the broadcaster realized, she had been subtly and discreetly escorted to the door. 

That the veteran broadcaster was housed together with the official entourage instead of being with other members of the press helped fan the rumors. And to keep the story alive, the broadcaster had even thanked the secretary for sending her pan de sal during her morning stint on radio. 

Tough fight

Globe Telecom has just added another feather to its cap when it was recently named third-best Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) carrier in the Asian region by Telecom Asia. Sharing top honors with Globe Telecom in the Best GSM Carrier Category in this year’s annual Telecom Asia awards are Maxis of Malaysia (1st place), Globe major stakeholder Singapore Telecom (2nd), China Mobile (4th).

Apparently, Globe scored high in the awards standings when judged in terms of financial performance, corporate governance and market leadership. And mind you, it was a tough fight, with very small winning margins (Maxis scored 6.5 while SingTel and Globe Telecom got 6.4 and 6.275, respectively.)

Globe Telecom president and CEO Gerardo Ablaza Jr. figured as one of the finalists in the Best Telecom CEO Category, joining the ranks of other leading telecom CEOs in the Asia Pacific region cited in the Telecom Asia Awards 2003, among them Chris Anderson of Optus, Tadashi Odonera of KDDI, Wang Xiaochu of China Mobile, Lee Hsien Yang of SingTel and Theresa Gattung of Telecom NZ.

The SingTel Group, where Globe is an affiliate, once again dominated the Telecom Asia Awards, for the sixth year running, SingTel claimed the Best Asian Carrier prize, while subsidiary Optus was voted Best Competitive Carrier and Optus CEO Chris Anderson was voted Best CEO. The awards have been held since 1998 as a write-in awards program where thousands of Telecom Asia’s magazine readers have taken part of.

Telecom Asia is Asia’s largest regional telecom publishing group. It publishes the magazines Telecom Asia, Wireless Asia, Telecom China and the website www.telecomasia.net, aimed at telecommunication professionals around the region.  

Letters

This column has just received a letter from Antonio C. Mencias, who was board chairman last year of the First BF Homeowners Association in Almanza, Las Piñas, reacting to a piece regarding complaints about the severe water problem in the neighborhood.

He says the Philippine Waterworks Corp. (PWC), the existing water service provider, agreed to construct a new deep well and a long over due check up of the water system. The catch is, homeowners will need to advance P5,000 each which they promised to deduct from future billings. They also promised rates lower by P1 per cubic meter than that proposed by Pilar Waterworks. 

Of the 750 homeowners, only 135 paid the P5,000 advanced payment, raising P570,000. Construction began in Nov. and was completed on April 15, 2003.

According to Mencias, they still do not have a 24-hour water supply but nevertheless have access to water three hours a day, everyday. Thus, they no longer need to call in those water delivery trucks that have been wearing down their roads.

He likewise denied accusations that the group’s board members were receiving honoraria from BF Homes Inc., a possible conflict of interest. He said that when he was serving in the association, the directors served gratis amore and none of them received money or goods from anyone.

For comments, complaints, feedback, e-mail at [email protected]