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Perhaps
because they cater to the same market, newly built
PureGold-branded supermarkets are often located near SM
malls and vice versa.
Then
again, PureGold’s Lucio Co has never kept hidden his
admiration of SM founder Henry Sy. Besides, within the
Binondo community, Co is being tagged as the next retail
king or Tatang’s junior.
Meanwhile, the Robinsons mall chain seems to have a
different strategy. Okay, so it’s still normally located
near an SM mall but more interestingly, it has allowed
Samie Lim’s Waltermart to lease space and directly
compete with the Gokongwei’s own supermarket chain.
As
everybody knows, Lim’s family owns appliance distributor
chain, Abenson’s and furniture chain, Blim’s. He is also
the current president of the Philippine Chamber of
Commerce and Industry.
****
Did you
know 1:
Labor
and Employment Secretary Arturo Brion is headed next
month for Alberta to sign an agreement or two. As
everybody knows,
Canada
projects close to two million new jobs, many of them
available to immigrants, from 2006 to 2015.
Oh yes,
entry to Canada is possible only through direct
employers, who furnish the necessary documents for work
permits and immigrant visas to applicants through
recruitment agencies licensed by the Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration. This means the employer pays
for the processing fees.
Did you
know 2:
With more students than there are public school
buildings, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus is doubling
the current annual grant of P5,000 per student to
private schools willing to take in public school
students.
The
P10,000 per student scholarship begin in the next school
year.
Did you
know 3:
Despite
the ticket price of P400 per person, the weekend line
going to Manila’s new attraction, the Oceanarium, is
very l-o-n-g.
First
you have to line up about an hour to get a ticket. Then
you have to line up for another hour or two to see the
good stuff in batches.
****
On
hindsight, Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP)
president Reynaldo David saw his mistake by not
including seamen-students in the bank’s scholarship
program.
In
school year 2008-2009, the bank is giving 150
scholarships to freshmen nurses but, in school year
2009-2010, the 150 slots will be divided between
students taking up nursing and vocational courses
leading to jobs as seamen. Mind you, seamen encompass
everything from cooks to maritime officers.
Of
course, applicants have to pass the entrance exams given
by DBP-accredited schools. Upon its discretion, the bank
can then choose to either give the scholarships to the
top 150 applicants or equitably distribute the
scholarships among the accredited schools.
The
scholarship covers tuition and books until graduation.
In return, DBP hopes the graduates will do business with
the bank once they find jobs. |
