Freddie Garcia: Back to the future

Our Eye-spy at the ABS-CBN network disclosed that negotiations are ongoing for the return of Freddie Garcia to ABS-CBN. It will be recalled that Freddie Garcia retired in 2003, but was rehired as a management consultant. Garcia was an old hand at ABS-CBN, and was known to be close to the late Eugenio "Geny" Lopez Jr. It was said that one of the reasons for Freddie’s early retirement was because Eugenio "Gabby" Lopez III wanted his own man. There has been a rigodon going on at the Kapamilya network since last year, but despite the changes, ratings and net profits continued to go down. In 2004, ABS-CBN posted a net income of P750+ million, way below the 2003 figures of P1.008 billion. While GMA hit a net income target of P2 billion in 2005, ABS-CBN turned in P288 million, more than a 60-percent drop from 2004. Perhaps the ABS-CBN management has come to realize that Freddie Garcia is the "main man" to bring ABS-CBN "back to the future." In fact, former GMA 7 CEO Nards Jimenez at one point regretted letting Freddie Garcia go from the Kapuso network. There is no question Freddie is the best in the industry and there’s nobody quite like him. If all goes well, it will be "back to the future" for Freddie and the "Philippines’ largest network."

Developer’s unfair practices

Buyers of middle class high rise units from this developer are complaining about alleged unfair trade practices committed by the company. Spybiz informants reported that common areas were converted into saleable units after the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) granted the license to sell and after the master deeds had allegedly been submitted to the registry of deeds. Buyers have also complained about the acrid, burning smell coming from the garbage chutes located near the fire exit stairways on each floor. The noxious fumes are health hazards, and not only that — safety is compromised because the stairways are enveloped with smoke, making them impassable, especially when emergencies occur. The developer, whose projects are found in many cities, reportedly engineered the articles and by-laws of the master deeds to retain voting rights over any buyer. The developer’s legal team was able to hide its alleged shenanigans by working in cahoots with a "friendly" association board, the sources claimed.

Still unhappy at the NBI

Despite the "All’s well…" pronouncement by NBI acting director Atty. Nestor Mantaring last week, it seems that the so-called silent brigades are still unhappy over the rigodon of several old hands at the Bureau. Ear-spies reported that Atty. Mantaring moved the deputies around to avert an impending assault on his position. The "silent brigade" has expressed apprehension that the changes would render several programs moot and subject them to new policies. Sources have also expressed disappointment over the pathetic condition of the nation’s "intelligence" bureau which does not even have Internet-capable PCs, no hotline, no cameras, no radios and worse, no transpo funds for its operatives to attend training and other capability-enhancing activities. Several officers are also beginning to feel resentful of the "bata-bata" system and "batchmate" mentality similar to the PMA "mistah" culture that is allegedly prevalent in the Bureau. Insiders have also complained about this senior officer who acts as if he owns the Bureau, but has yet to prove his mettle in face-to-face combat. This guy is said to be so unpopular that even visiting Australian counterparts did not like him at all.

Nurses may need a fix

It looks like the nursing board needs a doc to resolve the brewing controversy over alleged leaks in the recent June 2006 nursing licensure examinations. A number of graduates from several Baguio universities have accused a prominent review center of distributing copies of exam questions to their reviewees, who were identified because they wore jackets bearing the name of the said review center. The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), of course, has denied that any leakage occurred, but the 91 petitioners have asked the PRC to postpone the release of exam results. Lawmakers have called for an investigation to preserve the credibility of the eligibility tests, with Congressman Joseph Santiago threatening to elevate the inquiry to the House if PRC fails to act quickly. Sources, however, claimed the controversy may have stemmed from fierce rivalry among review centers considering that the global demand for nurses, especially from the Philippines is growing, with doctors and teachers shifting gears to nursing for high-paying jobs abroad. It’s bad enough that nurses are leaving the country in droves; it’s even worse that a shadow has been cast over the quality of nurses being produced by substandard nursing schools. Last year, only 12,843 or 49.4 percent of the 26,000 examinees passed. If the passing figures are higher this year, could it mean there was indeed a leakage?

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