Right moves, right investments

At a dinner the other night, a foreign executive informed us that a number of well-to-do Malaysians are waiting in the wings to invest heavily in the country. They are said to be looking into the tourism and real estate industry. They are however waiting to see if President Aquino will be true to his word that he will “even the playing field.” Malaysian investors have been burned a couple of times before with the erratic and changing business rules in the Philippines. Enjoying an 80 plus approval rating, President Noy “can do no wrong” for now and if he makes the right moves, then he can expect the right investments to come in. Perhaps this could also be the perfect time to start initiating charter change, in particular the economic provisions so that the playing field can get all the more even.

Where in the world is Gibo?

Our sources tell us that defeated presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro is still hurting from the wounds inflicted by his party mates who were the first to urge him to run only to jump ship at the first opportunity. Gilbert is said to be with his family in San Francisco since his birthday, June 14. Our sources however tell us that Gilbert will soon be coming back with a vengeance and plans to do the Cha-Cha (charter change advocacy) - something which he had always believed in since his early days as a congressman. Maybe his cousin President Noy can appoint him to a commission on Charter Change.

High expectations, low pay

DBP president and CEO Rey David resigned shortly before the installation of President Noynoy so the new President could have a free hand in choosing his replacement. To the credit of Rey, he is leaving the government bank financially stronger with P291-bilion plus in assets, reflecting a 92 percent growth since he took over in 2004. According to our inside source, two contenders for the DBP post are Benito Gonzales and Antonio Payumo. Former central bank governor Joey Cuisia is also being considered to either head DBP or GSIS. Unfortunately, with the low salary and high expectations to match the performance of Rey David, not too many qualified professional managers are very keen to take on the job. So far there are many applicants, but only a few are said to be qualified.

MVP-5

PLDT chairman Manny Pangilinan celebrated his birthday with a big bash at the NBC Tent last night. At the young age of 64, MVP is still as active as ever and plans to be hands-on in turning ABC 5 around. MVP bought the TV channel from Tony Boy Cojuangco for an undisclosed amount last year. Viewers and advertisers are beginning to see a marked change in TV 5’s programming and are closely watching whether MVP’s network will give the top two channels a run for their money. Indeed, that’s exactly what he wants to do as he plans to pour P8 billion into the network. There are also plans to move the Novaliches-based TV station to a closer location, somewhere around the Pioneer area in Mandaluyong so that people will have easier access when they come to watch the live shows.

‘Jueteng’ to be true

Despite PNoy’s marching orders to new DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo to crack down on jueteng, there are moves once again to legalize the numbers game with the strongest voice coming from former president Joseph Estrada. Even when he was a senator, Erap had been advocating for jueteng’s legalization strongly believing it would be difficult to eradicate it totally unless government has ready jobs for the kubradors and cabos who rely on the numbers game for their livelihood. As long as poverty remains at a high level, Filipinos will continue to try their luck with the games of chance believing that “jueteng” will make part of their dreams come true.

Damned if you’re beautiful

(We got this story from our inside source whom we shall just call Joe Isuzu.) The new Social Secretary at Malacañang, Susan Reyes (a long-time loving companion of the late Geny Lopez), has what it takes to efficiently do the job and be a real asset to the new president. Not only will the entire Lopez clan vouch for her, even the Liberal Party’s Mar Roxas would have surely endorsed her. After all, Reyes was a staunch supporter of the Noy-Mar tandem - as opposed to Noy-Bi. But Malacañang being a “snake pit” (a description made by a former Palace resident) - she must learn to be above the backbiting and vitriol that is daily “breakfast” fare at the Palace. This early, some insecure ladies are already commenting - not without a hint of malice and envy - about Susan’s timeless beauty and “worse,” her “single” status. A clear case of damned if you’re beautiful and damned if you’re not.  

Going too far

There is a rumor that a businessman who had been doing anything and everything to get close to President Noynoy bought a property a couple of houses away from the Aquino residence at Times Street. The story goes that he did this just so he could have “bragging rights” of being a neighbor of the new president. This led to the joke that he wanted so much to be close to Noynoy, he even planned to build a tunnel leading to PNoy’s bedroom and serve the president his breakfast. We asked the businessman if this tale was true - he neither confirms nor denies it.

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