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Secretary Jesli Lapus is getting some flak for the
P26.48-billion cyber education program that will be
implemented this September.
You see,
many educators believe the money will be better spent on
the country’s top three education priorities of training
programs for teachers, building more classrooms, and
coming out with more school books.
As
everybody knows, Jing Lapus flew off to China early on
into his new job last year to check out, well,
possibilities. As it stands right now, the program will
be primarily funded by a Chinese government loan, which
means that a corresponding interest rate will be charged
and China-branded computers and collaterals will be
used.
*****
Bank
notes 1:
Now that
he’s made stockholders like Alfonso Yuchengco happy,
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. president and chief
executive officer Lorenzo Tan has brought in his boys
from Philippine National Bank (PNB).
The
seven new-hires were recruited by Tan when he was asked
to rehabilitate PNB as president and CEO. Most of these
officers are also ex-Citibankers like Tan, which means
they will deserve every thousand pesos paid them as the
country’s fourth-largest bank tries to enter the magic
three circle.
Right
now, the country’s three largest banks are Metropolitan
Bank and Trust Co., Bank of the Philippine Islands, and
Equitable PCI Bank-Banco de Oro Universal Bank.
Bank
notes 2:
Forget about the Development Bank of the
Philippines
or Land Bank of the Philippines investing in Postal
Savings Bank. The thrift bank arm of the country’s
postal service has a P4-billion capitalization and has
20 branches, mostly in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Oh yes,
the bulk of its lending business are back-to-back loans
extended to local government units to build public
markets and such (read: the bank will be able to collect
100 percent on these loans).
*****
Here’s
an interesting example of the so-called sachet economy.
ABS-CBN’s
cable brand, SkyCable, is quietly expanding its postpaid
cable service to more depressed areas most prone to
illegal connection such as Tondo and some portions of
Luzon City.
The
service works pretty much like a postpaid mobilephone,
which means that the user can have access to cable TV if
he/she has extra money to spare for a day or a week.
The
basic investment here is a digital box at a rental fee
of P2,000. The come-on is that the monthly difference
between a legal and an illegal connection is about P200.
Sky
Cable’s main man is Carlo Katigbak, who used to run ABS-CBN’s
Interactive segment. |
