|
Yes,
Cebu is putting up a second international seaport, this
time in the township of Naga.
Interestingly, the town will also host an industrial
park entirely for small exporters, a first in the
country. The industrial park is a project of Planters
Development Bank, which foreclosed the MCR property
during the 1997 financial crisis. (MCR stockholders
include Manny Osmena, whose latest baby is a resort spa
time-sharing concept in
Cebu that will be managed by the Hilton chain of hotels).
To be
formally launched in mid-July by PlantersBank chairman
and chief executive officer Jesus Tambunting, the park
will be initially managed by the bank. The bank will
also lend the locators the money to buy the land and to
build their factories. So far, about 11 exporters have
signed up. At full capacity, the park will have 50
locators.
Oh yes,
Philippine Economic Zone Authority director general
Lilia de Lima has approved the park as an eco-zone. That
means locators will get tax incentives for up to 10
years.
****
Did you
know 1:
SM
suppliers currently account for only 40 percent of the
P5-billion small-and medium-sized enterprises portfolio
of Banco de Oro Universal Bank.
As
everybody knows, the department store chain and the bank
are both majority owned by Henry Sy.
Did you
know 2:
It’s really a nuance but whenever there are complaints,
Bank of the Philippine Islands now tends to favor
customers over operations since Aurelio Montinola III
became president and chief executive officer.
Said
another way, BPI branch people are nicer to clients,
thank goodness.
****
University of
Sto.
Tomas placed last Wednesday a three-fourth-page ad in a
national broadsheet after its bankers told the
Dominicans over the weekend to definitively resolve
first an, uhm, internal problem before the first tranche
of a P3-billion loan to UST Hospital Inc. is released.
The hospital has been awaiting the loan release since
the start of the month to start construction of a
multistory medical arts center (read: basically rooms
for doctors).
Basically, UST two years ago spun off its hospital into
another nonstock, nonprofit organization. The school
says the hospital is still 100-percent owned by the
Dominicans but was spun off to improve bottom line by
wresting operational control from the doctors. UST
alumni claim the inclusion of non-Dominicans among the
hospital’s incorporators is bothersome and that the
hospital’s profitability should not be at the expense of
the school. |
