Lucio Tan Jr. loses a baby

With the money they got from selling Virginia Farms, the Chiongbians are said to be putting up another shipping company. As everybody knows, the Chiongbians are the "W" (for William Lines) in WG&A.

The talk is Virginia’s new owner is – ho hum, who else? – Lucio Tan. Just recently, Mr. Tan lost P200 million in an e-procurement venture called Catering X, the baby of his son Lucio Tan Jr.

A joint venture with Oracle Asia-Pacific, Catering X aimed to bring together buyers and sellers of food and other stuff that airlines and hotels would need. The idea was to get the best quality, least-priced stuff through electronic bidding.

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What a mess. One board of Philippine Communications Satellite Co. headed by Honorio Poblador III has told employees they will have to hit the streets and look for jobs soon. You see, the company has no money coming in and could no longer meet the overhead cost.

On the side chance that the company is not really in such dire straits and that their jobs could be saved, some of these ever loyal employees have been recently going to the office of Philcomsat chairman Enrique Locsin, who has sided with another board headed by Manuel Nieto Jr.

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Bank notes 1: How strange. This bank has cancelled this company’s eight-zero credit line.

For one, canceling an approved line is just not done.

For another, the bank has a more than a professional relationship with the company. The majority owners of the bank and the company are in-laws, by virtue of the marriage of the bank owner’s daughter to the company owner’s brother.

Then again, the company’s property ventures – including a building in Binondo – have been truly disastrous.

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Bank notes 2: That Metrobank Group is slowly looking and acting younger could be placed squarely on Arthur Ty, vice-chairman of Philippine Savings Bank and the older son of Group chairman George S.K. Ty and Mary Vy Ty.

According to car shops or talyers, Metrobank has the most competitive car financing programs (read: cheapest interest rate) within the banking industry – and that is not limited to cars from Toyota Motor Phils. Inc., where the younger Mr. Ty’s brother, Alfred Ty, is a senior officer.

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Bank notes 3: Since the start of the month, there has been a tiangge of organic products every Saturday someplace between the Banco de Oro Universal Bank head office and The Podium (which are both majority owned by Henry Sy).

Geared towards The Podium’s upscale customer, the tiangge – which sell not only organically grown vegetables and dairy products from animals that have been organically fed but also soaps, candles and whatever – is currently in its pilot stage.