Glorietta deaths

Entombed with the explosion-related deaths in Glorietta 2 are the hopes and aspirations of several small tenants in the mall who were looking forward to brisk sales this Christmas. This is something that tenant Ayala Land must address promptly, given the decline in consumer traffic to the mall in the aftermath of the deadly explosion (casualty toll: 11 dead, more than 100 wounded) that is now being touted as due to an accident caused by a deadly combination of methane and diesel fumes.

In stock-market lingo, there is that truism: “once burned, twice shy,” which means that those who got clobbered in the purchase of a particular stock would now think twice before reinvesting their money in the same stock. Erstwhile Glorietta mallgoers or patrons are now avoiding the place, having become paranoid about the possibility of another blast occurring in the mall. 

It will take some time for that fear to go away and, in this case, Ayala Land’s response to the loss of consumer traffic is commendable, as far as the kiosk owners are concerned. Reports have it that the Glorietta tenant is coming up with rent holidays for the kiosk owners in the mall.

But Ayala Land has to do more. Aside from coming up with various marketing come-ons to reattract mallgoers, it must also address the fear factor that has been engendered by the killer explosion.

The emotional impact of the disaster—highlighted in the blogs that can be accessed through writer Manuel Quezon III—is so strong that it has effectively stifled the urge to go shopping at the Glorietta malls.

Also, Ayala’s communications people must wake up; they must accept blame for their failure to give the people, especially those directly affected by the blast, the information that was badly needed for their peace of mind. Just two days after the explosion, a radio anchor wanting to get the side of Ayala Land on certain aspects of the disaster as part of continuing news coverage was told that the communications people of the tenant were unavailable as they were in a meeting on the “crisis.”

If the unavailability of the Ayala Land communications people was meant to be a “strategy,” it was a wrong one. It was a disaster, to say the least, because it opened the tenant to a lot of speculations, including a cruel and perhaps unfair one that it was hiding something.

What Ayala Land probably needs at this point, aside from experts who could address the fear factor that resulted from the explosion, is a group of communications wizards that could immediately assess “crisis situations” like what happened and address the public demand for information right away.

Halloween candy

That was a timely reminder from Sen. Mar Roxas II, also dubbed as “Mr. Palengke,” for parents to be wary of tainted candies that could be used as part of the Halloween trick-or-treat tradition. “This is as good a time as any to reiterate the earlier warnings of Bureau of Food and Drugs [BFAD]” the senator said, noting that the BFAD recently issued an advisory on White Rabbit Creamy Candy, Fat and Thin Lo Han Kou Pei Pa Koa Candy and other specific brands of candy and food products that have been found to contain formaldehyde.

“Don’t be tricked or spooked this Halloween. Just keep in mind the latest advisories from BFAD, and be vigilant against specific candy products that may pose health risks to children,” Roxas said. For him, it is incumbent upon retail and wholesale outlets to work closely with the BFAD to ensure that none of these unsafe food products reach consumers. He also urged sari-sari store owners to post all BFAD advisories on unsafe food products in conspicuous places.

Consumers—particularly parents—play an equally important role in keeping such unsafe food products away from their children. The senator called for public vigilance especially on certain brands that BFAD has identified to be dangerous not only to the health of children but also adults.  The senator is expected to file an appropriate bill that would tighten the supervisory powers of the BFAD so that tainted goods are inspected at the piers.

Roxas noted that the BFAD earlier issued a warning on various food products being sold that have been repacked by unauthorized entities, and encouraged the public to purchase food products only from establishments with proper business and sanitary government permits.

The senator should go beyond this admonition; he should seek severe penalties for those in the repacking business who knowingly bring in “expired” goods and repack and sell them at a lower price. Consumers’ interest should be the primary consideration of frontline agencies that supervise food imports.

E-mail: hugagni@yahoo.com

COMMISSION on Higher Education Chairman Romulo Neri certainly has some gumption saying publicly that he still hopes to get his top post at Neda after presiding over one of the most demoralizing periods of the organization. Good sense tells us that Neri should have no place there at all; come to think of it, he should never have been appointed there, in the first place.

Entombed with the explosion-related deaths in Glorietta 2 are the hopes and aspirations of several small tenants in the mall who were looking forward to brisk sales this Christmas.

A recent news report indicated that some passenger buses serving Metro Manila commuters traveling to Batangas and Laguna would soon run on compressed natural gas, or CNG, a type of fuel that is said to be cleaner and more environment-friendly than other fossil-based fuels like diesel and gasoline.

Coast-to-Coast: Pardon, prayers and remembering

I am not sure whether the author George Santayana, who posited that oft-quoted advisory that “those who forget history are likely to repeat it,” was a product of Catholic education or came from a deeply religious family.

The strong peso that this week hit its seven-year high of 43 to the US dollar is now a concern, according to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo.

It’s rare that a business deal intrigues investors and political scientists alike. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.’s (ICBC) move to buy 20 percent of Africa’s largest bank is such a transaction.

In this issue of “The Servant Leader,” allow me to share with you key parts of the message of our Pope Benedict XVI to the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences on “Charity and Justice in the Relations Among Peoples and Nations.”