Stand-out ring tone

Now is the time to borrow.

You see, banks are so desperate to lend out money that the interest rate is a negotiable 11.5 percent – and that goes for loans of less than a million.

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Economists at the University of the Philippines don’t exactly want to talk about it to outsiders but, based on their calculations, the country’s total debt is already at 114 percent of gross domestic product or total goods and services produced by the country less overseas remittances.

Officially, the country’s ratio is, uh, less than 100 percent but significantly higher than that of Argentina (and still functioning, thankfully, despite that).

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Although partly owned by the Catholic Church, nobody can accuse Ortigas & Co. Ltd. Partnership of being biased.

Why, after putting up a nice chapel at the Greenhills Commercial Center, OCLP chief operating officer Rex Drilon II will soon be inaugurating a permanent praying area for those who practice Islam. Since the five-times-a-day ritual (which include the washing of the hands and feet) is only mandatory for males, it is the womenfolk who mind the stores and with whom visitors to the tiangge or flea market have to seriously haggle with.

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Did you know 1: Internal Revenue Commissioner Guillermo Parayno Jr. doesn’t wear any jewelry, not even a watch (although he still keeps in his night drawer at home the watch given by the US Treasury when he was Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs). For Willy Parayno, that’s one of the reasons why he has his mobile phone with him at all times.

Oh yes, that blue-covered thing that Mr. Parayno carries with him everywhere isn’t a thermos bottle but a PDA.

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Did you know 2: Among the in-laws of Manila Electric Co. chairman Manuel Lopez, the one with the most interesting ring tone is Jackie Ejercito Lopez.

Whenever someone rings her up, the voice of Ms. Lopez’s young son tells his mommy to answer the phone. A photo of the son is also the wallpaper of Ms. Lopez’s mobile phone.

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Did you know 3: As a name recall strategy developed by former Information Secretary Gregorio Cendana, the name association of entertainer Judy Ann Santos and senatorial candidate Jamby Madrigal seems to have taken a life of its own.

These days, a real fear for Ms. Madrigal (whose family is mainly into bigtime real estate, having gotten rid of its banking stocks for billions of pesos) is that voters might write down the name of Ms. Santos’s nickname, Juday, instead of Ms. Madrigals’ name on the ballot come May.

Oh yes, Greg Cendana is no longer involved with the campaign of Ms. Madrigal.