"Cito" Alejandro as president. Our insiders at ABS-CBN told us that Alejandro, who was hired in 2004 shortly after Freddie Garcia’s retirement, was totally clueless and didn’t know squat about running a giant network. He started reorganizing the "Kapamilya" network and fired employees who have spent their most productive years in the company, offering them "early retirement" packages. A number of employees spurned the offer, filing cases against the Kapamilya network instead.
ABS-CBN soon got a clobbering at the ratings game from GMA 7 which, for the longest time, had been pretty content to be a far number two in the industry. At the time, only one of the 34 programs launched by ABS managed to compete with GMA. In the first quarter of 2005, Kapamilya lost P114 million – a far cry from the P124-million profit posted in the same period in 2004. The company’s profits plunged down 61 percent in 2005, registering a net profit of P294 million, way below the P761 million posted in 2004. For a network that has been lording it over for two decades, it was, to say the least, an unhappy sign of things to come. With Freddie Garcia back at ABS-CBN, the network is slowly regaining its hold in the industry, with a number of shows starting to inch their way up the ratings game.
Last year, however, the retiree noticed that something was amiss when a check from FDLC bounced, as it was drawn against a closed account. After an audit of his records, the old man found out that the lending company owed him some P28 million as of January 2007. Considering that FDLC only had a paid-up capital of one million, it would seem that the corporation was put up as a vehicle for large-scale estafa or syndicated fraud. In a recent family meeting, the doctor could not explain where her father-in-law’s money went, except to say that the lending business would fold if he pulled out his investment. It must have been painful for the old man to file criminal charges of large-scale estafa against a woman he loved like a daughter, helping send her through medical school when her parents practically abandoned her. Much like priests, doctors are trusted, especially by people who often put their lives under their care. What happened is a clear case of trust violated, all the more painful because it was done by a family member. Owing to his old age and the fact that he had been so disheartened by what happened, this 84-year-old man may never see his money again – money which represents 40 plus years of hard work.
Deeda Garcia-Versoza, COO of the Chemphil Group, reiterated that the continued viability of the local STTP industry through the safeguard measure is paramount in protecting the domestic supply chain. Without the safeguard measure, foreign suppliers could take advantage of the situation and render Filipinos helpless against increases in soap and detergent products, she said.
Members of the Federation of Philippine Industries claim the dismissal of the petition will result in "predatory pricing that governs the global scenario today," insisting that foreign suppliers seek to kill the local industry to establish their market dominance and dictate the prices eventually.