5-6 stereotype

Did you know 1: There’s an estimated 35,000 Indians in the country that are believed to be in the 5-6 business – a stereotype the local Indian community isn’t too happy about.

After all, there are so many others who are engaged in trading and in manufacture.

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Did you know 2: The voting system used by the Philippine Stock Exchange during its recent board election was based on the Botong Pinoy technology developed by Mega Data Corp.

The results that reelected Alicia Morales Arroyo as chairman were immediately known and quickly certified as 100 percent correct by SGV & Co.

As everybody knows, Mega Data president Rafael Garcia III demonstrated the system to the Commission on Elections chaired by Benjamin Abalos but Comelec opted for Optical Mark Sensing (whose contract for this year’s election has since been invalidated).

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The hard hats used in the groundbreaking of its first – and the country’s as well – dedicated call center and business process outsourcing facility hasn’t been stored for long and Ayala Land, Inc. chairman Fernando Zobel and his team are already planning a second facility.

The first one already has a name. It’s called PeopleSupport Center and is located at the corner of Ayala Ave. and Amorsolo St. The second one will be located at the corner of Ayala Ave. and Salcedo St. and should be operational in the third quarter of next year.

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The University of Sto. Tomas board of trustees headed by rector, Fr. Tamerlane Lana, OP, amended the school’s by-laws on April 9, 2003 but Securities and Exchange Commission director for company registration and monitoring department Benito Cataran affixed the SEC’s seal only last Jan. 28 of this year.

The amended by-laws (and the attached April 9 board meeting) have some interesting data:

• It talks about its supervision of the school, UST, but not of the hospital, Sto. Tomas Hospital. (This is important because the hospital continues to get tax exemption for its importation of medical equipment on the basis of the equipment being used for educational purposes.)

• The board is in talks with the group of United Coconut Planters Bank chairman Deogracias Vistan for a build-operate-and transfer project involving the UST-Espana campus.

• A British group is interested in building a hospital in the UST property in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. A columbarian is also being discussed.

• The development of the UST General Santos property will also utilize the BOT model. Tentatively, 40 hectares will be allotted for "agriculture business moving towards university infrastructure"; 30 hectares for research; and five hectares for community service.