A P10,000 emergency loan for GMA?

Government Service Insurance System president Winston Garcia recently approved a P10,000 emergency loan to all members, whether they applied for one or not.

GSIS has a membership base of about 1.2 million, including President Macapagal-Arroyo.

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Bank notes 1: Speaking of loans, Asia United Bank president Abraham Co and his team have added a twist to its salary loan program. It has tied up with an appliance retailer so that employees of corporations accredited by the bank can buy appliances this Christmas.

Needless to say, such a set-up benefits employees who want to use their 13th month pay for more pressing needs and either do not have a credit card or have maxed out on their credit card limit.

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Bank notes 2: One of the minor reasons why the SM group of Henry Sy is said to terribly interested in getting control of China Banking Corp. is the head office parking lot, which one of the sons of Mr. Sy wants to convert into a mixed-used building similar to the nearby former IBM Bldg. along Paseo de Roxas which houses a huge McDonald’s outlet on the ground floor.

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Ortigas & Co. Limited Partnership chief operating officer Rex Drilon II has finally located the old crew of Joe del Rosario who used to put up that annual Christmas tableau for COD Department Store inside the Araneta Commercial Center.

That COD crew is putting up a similar show starting next week – Mr. Drilon has already signed a check for P6 million – at the Greenhills Commercial Center, which has an estimated daily pedestrian traffic count of 100,000 during working days and up to 120,000 during weekends.

This Christmas season, that traffic count is expected to reach 200,000.

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Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. isn’t very popular among local feed producers right now. You see, Cito Lorenzo is backing the recommendation of Bureau of Animal Industry director Jose Molina to reduce the paperwork needed in importing feeds.

First to be affected is dog food.

Under the BAI pilot, all foreign manufacturers of dog food will have to be inspected by a BAI team (whose expenses will, of course, be shouldered either by the importer or the manufacturer). Once the manufacturer is accredited, the importer will no longer need to go to the BAI every time a shipment order is made.

In effect, the importer will save at least five days under the new set-up.