Some free advice

The President will be traveling to the United States this coming September ostensibly to attend the UN General Assembly in New York. Unlike his predecessors, President Noynoy will be traveling lean and light with just a handful of aides and a select number of Cabinet secretaries. In keeping with his promise, he would like to keep the expenses down to the barest minimum and PNoy and his delegation may even take a regular (not a chartered) flight. While in New York, pre-arranged meetings have been set by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima between the President and several businessmen to discuss investment prospects in the Philippines. After New York, a meeting with US President Barack Obama has been scheduled in Washington, DC – an event very much anticipated with interest by the White House.

President Aquino has been compared to President Obama on many occasions. They are about the same age, both won on “change” replacing unpopular leaders, and both were or are heavy smokers. The White House reportedly has a special smoking room where Obama still takes a few puffs every now and then. The two of them may spend some private moments to give each other advice not necessarily on how to quit smoking but on how to keep their ratings up. The latest Gallup Survey shows Barack Obama’s approval ratings dipping further down to 44 from a high of 70 at the start of the year – a signal that political analysts say could be ominous for the November 2010 US Senate elections. So far President Noynoy continues to enjoy a high trust rating from a majority of Filipinos, but his ratings are expected to go down primarily due to two recent controversial issues – Luisita and the toll tax hike.

Gift for PNoy

Since President Aquino is a known practical shooting enthusiast and gun collector, US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry Thomas is recommending a visit to the National Rifle Association headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia. Being a gun enthusiast, the NRA would be happy with a visit from the Philippine president. There are plans (not yet confirmed) to gift the President with the latest hi-tech gun specially made by a US arms manufacturer.

Cool, calm and collected

Despite all the nasty rumors being spread around about his early retirement, the soft-spoken and low-key Philippine Airlines president Jimmy Bautista has been working almost literally day and night to keep the country’s flag carrier afloat. Despite the enormous pressure placed on him by PAL’s pilots and flight attendants threatening to go on strike, Jimmy has managed to stay calm and maintain his composure. He is totally convinced the Collective Bargaining Agreement will be signed soon. “El Kapitan” Lucio Tan should consider himself lucky to have a guy like Jimmy Bautista.

MRT-Devco on track

It looks like Bob Sobrepeña’s MRT Development Co. (MRT-Devco) is now right on track with the Makati RTC’s recent ruling that its contract with outdoor advertiser Trackworks was already canceled – giving MRT-Devco the go signal to dismantle several billboards found to have violated building codes. Trackworks has been remiss in its payments since 2006 (amounting to more than P367 million to date), prompting MRT-Devco to terminate its services and give exclusive advertising rights to another party. Trackworks has also lost appeals filed before the Pasig RTC, which said it found no reason to grant the outdoor advertiser’s appeal for a writ of injunction considering that its officers had admitted owing MRT-Devco more than P300 million in unsettled obligations. The question now is: When will Trackworks be able to completely pay its huge debt?

Adding money salt to pain

Still trying to recover from a painful defeat despite spending billions in the last elections, the family of Manny Villar has been trying to keep a low profile and getting on with their lives. There are still however some nasty sadistic people sending bogus text messages telling people they have won either cash or a house and lot in a lottery reportedly sponsored by the Manny Villar Charities Foundation. The Villar Foundation has issued a statement saying these text messages are not true.

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