Nobody makes his wife cry (and gets away with it)

The two are brothers, both first sons of a man who has been careful not to visibly favor one over the over. Both have, however, unwittingly followed in the footsteps of the father.

One married into an equally wealthy family. The other married a classmate while studying abroad.

One openly has a second family, which has severely damaged the business relationship between the man’s family and his wife’s family. The other keeps a girlfriend conveniently based in a nearby country, which he frequently visits in the course of so-called business trips.

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Have you noticed that the land prices in Valle Verde and Corinthian Gardens have remained steady, if not going up?

That’s because the homeowners of these subdivisions have, as a group, been consciously made sure that the selling price and the rental price do not go down below a certain level.

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Based on the end-2002 financial reports now coming out, major corporations seem to have had a banner year, reporting huge increases in net income from 2001.

One the one hand, this could be indicative that the economy hit bottom in 2001 and has indeed begun its upswing. On the other hand, the growth in percent was computed from the low 2001 base and anything looks impressive after that.

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Bank notes 1: Okay, Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho is a naturally nice, if reticent, guy.

Lito Camacho’s "niceness" to everyone – he’s been incredibly nice to everybody (including shrews) except for the guy who made his wife cry – has, however, been interpreted in some circles as a medium-term preparation to reentering the private sector.

After all, these will be the same guys the forty-something Mr. Camacho will have to deal with, when he goes back to his old job as investment banker after his government stint.

And work he must, with two kids currently taking their undergraduate studies at Harvard University and four kids at the Manila International School.

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Bank notes 2: This banker is staying put after all. You see, his board is expected to announce soon his promotion, which formalizes what he has been doing all along anyway as chief operating officer.

Late last year, the banker was being wooed by another bank now headed by the man who encouraged him to return to the Philippines.

Aside from the opportunity of a re-team, the major come-on of the job being dangled is the immense and immediate impact he would have on the bottom line.