School hunting

Owning and funding educational institutions has become one of the means by which top Filipino businessmen give back to society.

The list keeps growing. We have Lucio Tan who owns the University of the East; the Yuchengco group and Mapua Institute of Technology; Henry Sy who has acquired majority of National University and has a minority stake in Far Eastern University; the Phinma group of Ramon del Rosario Jr. which bough Araullo University. And of course, worth mentioning is Manuel V. Pangilinan group of companies and the Gokongwei group which have financed the construction of buildings at the Ateneo de Manila University, aside of course from the yearly endowments that the university receives from them. MVP is also assisting San Beda College and the University of the Philippines, while the Gokongwei group is also a patron of De La Salle University.

Lately, we’ve heard that Megaworld Corp. and Alliance Global chairperson Andrew Tan is looking for a top private university to acquire and that he has his eyes on Adamson University whose collegiate basketball team of course plays in the prestigious UAAP league. Word is that Andrew Tan, whose business success has been phenomenal, really wants to own a school. The problem is that there are not a lot of school owners who are selling. Let us look at the UAAP list of members – UP, Ateneo, La Salle, UST, NU, FEU, Adamson. The first four of course are not for sale while NU and FEU are already owned by taipans. That leaves Adamson.

Next let us look at the NCAA roster – San Beda, San Sebastian, Letran, College of Saint Benilde, Mapua, Lyceum, JRU, EAC, University of Perpetual Help, and Arellano University. The first four again are not for sale. Mapua already has the Yuchengcos and we are not sure if the Laurels are selling Lyceum. The Caycos who own Arellano University seem not interested in selling. I am not sure about JRU, EAC and Perpetual Help.

Acquiring a school will not bring in hundreds of millions of pesos in earnings for Andrew Tan like his real estate projects or his casino ventures, but he believes that the “rewards” are even greater. And I’m sure that the other taipans and mega-businessmen who have invested in the educational system of this country share this belief.

Leaps and bounds

Just got word that Tulong Kapatid MVP Group Telethon raised P115 million as of yesterday for victims of typhoon Pablo, P1 million of which came from text messages. Top corporations from China, Myanmar, Singapore, Indonesia, and Hongkong through PLDT and Metro Pacific chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan are also sending donations. The MVP group, which includes PLDT, Metro Pacific, Philex Mining, to name a few, gave P66 million. The funds are earmarked for housing, schools, relief goods, soup kitchen, medical missions, and livelihood, according to group spokesperson Mike Toledo.

Judicial injustice?

It is no secret that Philippine airports aren’t getting the funding they need to be world class. What is mysterious is why. A prime example is advertising revenue, which can contribute millions for upkeep and upgrades. It is one of the top four sources of revenue for airports worldwide.

This brings us to the recent fiasco plaguing Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2.

For the past five years, NAIA has received a paltry P13.5 million annual revenue from Digichive Philippines, the company that was entrusted to manage the advertising space. A quick calculation of the utilized ad space immediately sounds alarm bells to anyone familiar with ad rates. In fact when Manila International Airport Authority’s (MIAA) general manager Jose Angel Honrado put the advertising contract up for bid with legitimate competition, Digichive suddenly raised its annual commitment from P13.5 million to P101.5 million, almost an eight-fold increase! And they still lost the bid to higher competitors.

And here is where it gets ugly.

Over the past few years, MIAA, under the leadership of Honrado, has been doing a solid job of championing the country’s airports. Under the guidance of the Department of Transportation and Communication, MIAA has dedicated significant efforts to make our airports better by recreating a fresh, new experience for every one who goes in and out of the Philippines.

Advertisements have played a vital role in helping drive incoming profits for NAIA Terminals 1, 2, and 3. Recently, we have learned that a bidding for the exclusive advertising concession rights at NAIA Terminal 2 concluded, with the members of the MIAA board reaching a decision to award the contract to the winning bidder.

However, the multi-million deal did not push through due to delays following an initial failure to send a formal notice of the award to the winning agency.

After the board had convened and agreed to award the contract to the winning bidder, San Juan Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Leonie Janolo Jr., intervened and issued a temporary retraining order (TRO) as requested by Digichive Philippines, the second highest bidder, restraining MIAA from awarding the project to the rightful winner.

Why is there a need to halt this project? Why is MIAA being prevented from upholding the process and doing what it thinks is right and just?

Due to this unnecessary delay, MIAA is losing P300,000 a day or roughly P11 million per month in revenues just for Terminal 2 alone.

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