Pirating from government

Bank notes 1: Since taking over as postmaster general six months ago, Dario Rama has turned around the bleeding Philippine Postal Corp., in part because of operational efficiencies. For instance, the P1-million discretionary signing authority of postmasters nationwide have been reduced to P10,000.

Leading by example has certainly helped. For instance, Mr. Rama has returned to the Post Office coffers a so-called P5-million discretionary fund (a no-questions-asked fund that does not require liquidation) that goes with being postmaster general.

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Bank notes 2: Don’t be surprised if recently retired Bangko Sentral deputy governor for banks Alberto Reyes is eventually invited to sit on the board of either Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. or Philippine Savings Bank (after the standard prescriptive period, of course).

You see, Metrobank Group majority stockholders George S.K. Ty is fond of pirating from government. PSBank chairman, for example, is former Finance Secretary Jose Pardo.

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Bank notes 3: United Coconut Planters Bank led by president and chief executive officer Jose Querubin has been quietly selling its foreclosed properties in the retail market after finally giving up on this Korean group which won the bid last year to acquire all of the bank’s ROPOAs but was unable to raise the necessary 20-percent downpayment even after so many extensions.

Jojo Querubin has been luckier with the bank’s non-performing loans. It looks like somebody is willing to take P11.9 billion of the bank’s non-performing loans at face value. The bank has received the 20-percent downpayment and expects to get the balance next month.

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Poor Fe Barin. After resigning from the heavy work load of the Energy Regulatory Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman seems to be handling one ticking bomb after another.

First, there were pre-need firms, College Assurance Plans Phils., Inc. Pacific Plans, Inc. And now, there’s TPG Corp., a member of the LBC Group, whose trust fund was found to be deficient by P910 million as of November 2002.

As required by law, the corporate fund, which is used for the company’s operation, is managed by the company while the trust fund, which involves other people’s money, is managed by a third-party or independent financial institution. In this particular case, the trust fund manager was investment firm ATR-Kim Eng Capital Partners, Inc..

ATR is the acronym of chairman Ramon Arnaiz, president Manuel Tordesillas, and Lorenzo Roxas. Kim Eng is ATR’s Singaporean partner.

Based on one particular complainant, Carlos Araneta, who copy furnished Bangko Sentral Governor Rafael Buenaventura and Philippine Stock Exchange president Francis Lim, the manager of the TPG trust fund – which had since divested from TPG – was guilty of "serious breach of fiduciary duty and gross mismanagement of trust funds of TPG."