HAS the Word War between the Manila Electric Co.’s (Meralco) Geny Lopez and the Government Service Insurance System’s (GSIS) Winston Garcia deteriorated into a Wasted Win?

I ask this in the wake of a completely unexpected, if not downright stunning, move that saw Lopez sell his giant toll-road business last week to MVP (Manny V. Pangilinan, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. top honcho).

I say Wasted Win because with the sale, the Lopezes threw away a high-performing program such as the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex) just like that.

In the wink of an eye, seemingly, a highly successful money-making venture had just been dropped like a hot potato. With it went the dreams of some of the brightest minds in the industry.

Geny needed the dough to ward off GSIS’s attempt to shoo away the Lopezes from Meralco?

The Nlex rehabilitation was a win-win scheme from Day One. And many souls with pure hearts and passions burning had willingly cast their lot into it, believing truly in the wisdom behind the project when the Lopezes first dangled it publicly some 10 years or so ago. 

The Lopezes control the Nlex, that engineering marvel that has become the country’s yardstick in state-of-the-art road-design technology.

With the Nlex falling into the hands of MVP’s Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) in a blockbuster sale last week, the question is, what happens now to the top brass at the Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC), led by its president Ping de Jesus, the man chiefly credited with the astonishing success in the rehabilitation scheme and running of what was then known as the North Diversion Road?

The sale was lock, stock and barrel. Meaning, everything that the Lopez family owned in the toll-road business through its corporate vehicle, First Philippine Infrastructure Inc. (FPII), would now be under the total control of MVP’s MPIC.

MVP acquired the FPII at a staggering cost of P12.26 billion.

Geny’s family, through First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC) and Benpres Holdings Corp., owns 99.84 percent of FPII. FPII is a publicly listed firm that owns 67.1 percent of MNTC and 46 percent of the Tollways Management Corp. (TMC).

The MNTC was tasked to finance, design, construct, operate and maintain the Nlex in partnership with TMC.

With MVP’s MPIC taking over, what’s going to happen now to MNTC and TMC?

That has not been thoroughly answered even as Angel Ong, the president and CEO of Benpres, said the Lopez divestment “was in line with the firm’s strategy to trim [down] debt to a more manageable level.”

Said Ong: “This sale is the culmination of efforts to divest of the company’s toll-road business in support of its balance-sheet management plan. Our commitment to our shareholders has always been to pursue financial restructuring that will make Benpres a stronger, more sustainable company going forward.”

In a Star report, the Philippine Stock Exchange said Benpres will receive P6.2 billion from the sale of its 49-percent stake in FPII. The remaining P6 billion will go to FPHC, which owns the remaining 51 percent of FPII.

MVP’s MPIC will pay P11.8 billion in cash upon closure of the deal in November; the balance will be settled through assumption of advances.

MVP said the sale is the culmination of his company’s bid to focus on infrastructure and utilities, including water distribution and the toll-way business.

He said he is targeting the “economic growth of Central and Northern Luzon.”

Said MVP: “The steady increase in population and urbanization should keep pace with the provision of domestic infrastructure that links resources to their channels and destinations.”

Jose Ma. K. Lim, MPIC president and CEO, told the Star’s Zinnia de la Peña:  “Our involvement in toll-road operations will complement and strengthen our existing investment portfolio to achieve greater shareholder value.”

The sale made MPIC the owner of 67.1 percent of MNTC, which built the 84-kilometer road wonder that connects Metro Manila to Central and Northern Luzon.

Other shareholders of MNTC include Egis Projects S.A. of France, the world’s biggest toll-way operator, Leighton Asia Ltd. of Australia and the Philippine National Construction Corp., the state-owned company that holds the franchise for the operation of the Nlex.

I am particularly interested in the sale as the Nlex has become part and parcel of my life since it was built in the ’60s. I am a country boy, a son of Pangasinan. The Nlex has been, and still is, “the avenue of my life, the boulevard of my dreams,” as it connects my land of birth to the Big City.

I hope Ping de Jesus, the top honcho at MNTC who literally shed blood, sweat and tears in making the Nlex a world-class road project, is fine; the same wish goes to his slew of able lieutenants to include the indefatigable Marlene Ochoa. I heard Ping is due to resign shortly.

Will the Lopezes desert Ping and his staff in this terrible hour of grief?

Life, indeed, has holes that we sometimes fail to see during the course of our journey.

In the case at hand, Geny and his family will be tested by life’s scales of fair play and justice.

WHEN the Mazda 6 was first introduced, consumers deemed it as a penultimate or last option for the executive-sedan arena. Since then it has made much noise (such as being 2005 Philippine Car of the Year), but with stiff competition being introduced of late, can it be considered a contender?

THIS writer’s younger sister owns a 2006 version while his younger brother has the 2005 one (his youngest brother owns a D-Max). And, you know, they all keep their Isuzu Crosswind Sportivos even when there are tens of other fascinating SUVs out there in the market, some of them a bit cheaper. The entire family knows they are good. But are they keepers?

Eyes on the Road: Be cool behind the wheel

ON the road, we encounter motorists with varying driving habits that are sometimes irritating and can cause our temper to flare.

At such times, the No. 1 rule is that you must keep your cool. It’s a tip that my own father Paquito taught me even before I learned how to drive.

HAS the Word War between the Manila Electric Co.’s (Meralco) Geny Lopez and the Government Service Insurance System’s (GSIS) Winston Garcia deteriorated into a Wasted Win?

THIS one is really small, but it comes huge in more ways than one.

It is fast, really fast. Easily, it can tackle 120 kph without much rpm.

It is spacious, as it can fit in five adults with much ease.

AN innovative and new technology for cleaning a car’s fuel system and engine internals has been introduced by All-Inclusive Sales Inc., a leading distributor of motor-vehicle components in the country today, as part of its various car-care solutions.