The coming of god

Maybe, just maybe, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. president and chief executive officer Manuel Pangilinan may be on a roll.

After stopping the entry of John Gokongwei Jr. into PLDT, Manny Pangilinan may have another reason to celebrate this Saturday when the college basketball teams of De La Salle University and Ateneo de Manila University fight for the UAAP championship.

There’s a lot of betting on the final outcome of the game

Among some members of the Alabang Golf and Country Club, there’s said to be a P300,000 (and growing) pot where a La Salle win by less than five points will be considered an Ateneo victory.

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Well, well. The Societe Generale de Surveillance seems to be back in business.

Under an administrative order signed by Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor, imported milk and meat used as raw materials by Philippine-based milk and meat processors will have to be checked at the port of origin by all third party with an international network such as SGS.

The AO takes effect some time this month.

As everybody knows, the National Government still owes SGS about P6 billion for services rendered the Bureau of Customs. Any new contract with government will be added to – not offset – the P6 billion in unpaid billing.

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Bank notes 1: Within the adrenaline-thickened walls of AIG, head man Maurice Greenberg is called god (in lower caps, of course).

The China born son of American missionaries, Mr. Greenberg makes it a point to visit the Philippines on his way to check on AIG’s China operations.

That means that many of the AIG executives headed by The Philippine American Life and General Insurance Co. president and chief executive officer Jose Cuisia Jr. will not be able to travel to Rome to witness the canonization rites of Fr. Escriva.

After all, a saint can wait but god, uhm, Mr. Greenberg, isn’t about to.

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Bank notes 2: The drinking water in Washington DC – the venue of this year’s joint meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank – must have gotten into Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho.

Since his return last Wednesday, Lito Camacho has made it a point to say something nice and personal to everybody he meets and to sound like he means it.

Needless to say, the ladies have been charmed – all over again.

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Bank notes 3: In his first meeting with revenue district officers last year, former Revenue Commissioner Rene Bañez explained the planned transformation of the Bureau of Internal Revenue to the Internal Revenue Management Authority.

In his first meeting with the same officers last month, Guillermo Parayno Jr., asked their help in meeting this year’s collection target.

In Metro Manila, the revenue district with the bigggest collection is Intramuros-Port Area, which is where most shipping companies and travel agencies are located.

The revenue district with the least collection is Binondo, in part because the district was split into two (Binondo and Sta. Cruz) during the time of former President Ramos and in part because the cost of doing business in Manila is higher than in other parts of the metropolis.