Another irritant for Henry Sy

Did you know 1: For that recent Nescafe print commercial that ran for a week, Nestle Phils. had to provide the coffee oil that the printing presses of newspapers brushed over their equipment.

The result? Great smelling pages for breakfast.

As everybody knows, Nescafe is the dominant coffee player in the country. In the case of instant coffee for household consumption, the subsidiary of the Switzerland-based giant has as estimated 90-percent market share.

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Did you know 2: A general and a retired banker are in the short list of possible successors to Rufo Colayco as chief executive officer of the Bases Conversion Development Authority, which will be in charge of the infrastructure development of the Clark-Subic-Tarlac triangle, including the railway that China is willing to finance through supplier’s credit.

There’s talk that former Ayala Land, Inc. president Francisco Licuanan III has been offered the job and has turned it down.

Rufo Colayco has already said his goodbyes last week.

After taking a well-needed vacation, Mr. Colayco is expected to help out his brother and chairman of the Jardine Group in the Philippines Aloysius Colayco in Argosy Partners, a venture capital company that has invested, among others, in an online games company called Level Up! and its latest game, Ragnorak Level Up! president Ben Colayco is the elder son of Nonoy Colayco.

The American company that produces La-Z Boy reclining chairs is threatening to file an intellectual infringement case against inventor and Kim Philip Marketing Corp. president and general manager Tony dela Cruz, who has come up with a reclining chair called Easy Boy.

Just to make sure there’s no confusion in the future, Kim Philip has decided to rename its reclining chairs, Sit n Joy (now, now, don’t start thinking of food).

Among its many features, Mr. De la Cruz’s product is retractable, making it easy for a wide chair to get through the smaller width of doors in the country.

Because it is produced locally, Easy Boy is also priced more cheaply than even Thailand-made La-Z Boy rip-offs and, more importantly, can be customized to the requirements of its customers and repaired within days.

By the way, Kim Philip is not a typographical error. "Kim" means gold in Chinese and is considered a lucky word to use in business ventures.

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Here’s the latest rough spot for SM Prime Holdings founder Henry Sy and the construction of an SM mall inside the Clark Economic Special Zone.

After compromising on the location – inside rather than at the gate of the Clark near the jeepney stands – Clark Development Corp. president Emmanuel Angeles is now being criticized for giving SM the import privileges that is extended to all Clark locators.

The confusion, of course, lies in what SM can and cannot import tax-free.

As a Clark locator, SM doesn’t have to pay taxes on construction materials and equipment like escalators used in putting up the mall. SM, however, will have to pay taxes on all imported products that it intends to sell to its customers.