Cat lover

Binondo chitchat 1: Although considered the country’s richest individual, Lucio Tan only recently upgraded his cellphone.

During an important meeting, the cellphone rang and rang until Mr. Tan took it out and then sheepishly apologized to everybody in the room. You see, Mr. Tan didn’t know how to turn off his new cellphone.

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Binondo chitchat 2: Now that his dad is no longer around and his children are grown up, Junior is seriously thinking of settling abroad where he can concentrate on his "cat hobby" without public censure.

In the company he is connected with, being good-looking is said to be a major qualification for junior managers on the corporate fast track.

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Okay, so the name Grace Sy Shalomesen doesn’t ring a bell. But her dad, the late Sy Pio Lato, does.

Before his sudden death at 49 of cirrhosis of the liver, Mr. Sy was being billed as the next taipan. (Now, that title is unanimously given to PureGold founder Lucio Co.)

At any rate, Ms. Sy – the illegitimate but publicly acknowledged daughter of Mr. Sy – has been trying since 2001 to get her share of the inheritance, which under the Family Code is equivalent to half of what a legitimate child can claim if the parent dies without a will.

In the case of Mr. Sy, his asset value at the time of death in 1996 was conservatively estimated at P3 billion. Of that total, P150 million had already been spent by his widow, Wee Tee Lato, to buy a home for herself and her six children in a Makati subdivision.

A court order issued last Tuesday by Manila regional trial court judge Amalia Andrade has set the pre-trial conference on Feb. 5, 2004.

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Rustan’s Coffee Corp. executive vice-president Emmanuel Lopez is right in the middle of expanding the Starbucks franchise, with the recent opening of its 60th outlet in Cebu, the first outside Luzon.

In the works are regional-initiated moves to develop more coffee blends that could match frapuccino’s popularity, on the one hand, and Rustan’s Coffee’s commitment to push Philippine-grown beans under the Vinta brand, on the other hand.

Noey Lopez is particularly proud of Vinta, whose contribution to the bottom line since its relaunch this year has gone up from an asterisk to a single-digit figure.

Yes, the franchise agreement between Rustan’s Coffee and the Seattle-based Starbucks group excludes the possibility of the Tantoco-owned company sub-franchising the business.

No, the Starbuck’s purchase of the North American business of Seattle’s Best Coffee has no bearing on franchise holders outside the United States. This means that the Seattle's Best Philippine franchise held by the family of Bernardine Siy will be honored.

And no, the franchise is not for sale (and certainly not for the ridiculously low price of P100 million).