Gone at 60

It wasn’t much of a surprise when Ayala Corp. treasurer Manuel Bengzon retired effective this week because, well, everybody from former president Jaime Zobel de Ayala down must do that at 60.

His replacement isn’t much of a surprise either. Yup, former Energy Secretary Delfin Lazaro, the guy who came to Manila to take engineeing at the University of the Philippines and who has since gone farther in his career than any of his more prosperous classmates.

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Bank notes 1: Social Security System president and chief executive officer Corazon de la Paz leaves this weekend for Geneva to attend a board meeting of the International Social Security Association. Government Service Insurance System president Winston Garcia isn’t going because he isn’t uh, a member of the board.

By the way, Cora de la Paz has agreed to an interesting project proposed by Philippine Savings Bank president Pascual Garica III.

Under the project currently piloted in some branches in Metro Manila (specifically, those located near public markets), PSBank will accept daily deposits of as low as P20 from self-employed SSS members and remit these to the SSS at the end of the month on behalf of the SSS member-depositor.

Patterned after the daily collections of five-six lenders, this PSBank innovation promises to be a win-win situation for everybody.

SSS gets its contributions. The SSS member has an easy payment schedule, which is easy on the pocket. (The amount doesn’t hurt as much if paid on a daily rather than on a monthly basis.)

And Tito Garcia and his people are able to widen the bank’s depositors base at minimal marketing cost.

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Bank notes 2: Philippine National Bank president Lorenzo Tan doesn’t have much of a life outside the bank on its first year of rehabilitation and his gym.

It, therefore, stands to reason that Yayi Tan is not the concurrent president of the World Wildlife Fund Phils. That’s Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan or Lory Tan, for short.

Lory Tan is one of the speakers at the fifth Ayala Young Leaders Congress this Wednesday to Friday.

Other speakers are 2002 Intel awardee for excellence in teaching Josette Biyo (she’s so well-known in the academe that an entire planet has been named after her); Figaro Coffee Co. chief executive officer Pacita Juan (whose passion for coffee now extends outside business to promoting coffee growing in the Philippines); and PNOC-Exploration Corp. president and chief executive officer Rufino Bomasang.

The AYLC is a pet project of Ayala Corp. president Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala II and Ayala Land, Inc. chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala. The brothers have channeled the Ayala Group’s tremendous resource to youth projects, believing that molding the youth is the key to the country’s economic future.