Ageing very fast

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. president and chief executive officer Manuel Pangilinan admits he has aged several years in the 12 months of 2002 – and this year is going to be more of the same.

As everybody knows, Manny Pangili-nan is the nominee of the Hong Kong-based First Pacific Group, which holds a 24-percent stake in PLDT.

* * *

Two of the three Binondo-based business organizations have stepped forward and have joined other groups pushing for the passage of amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Law.

Not included is the oldest group, Philippine-Chinese Charitable Association, Inc., which hasn’t held an election for years.

Mind you, this is the group with the most liquid group, in large part because it runs the Chinese General Hospital and Chinese Cemetery.

* * *

Bank notes 1: The chief representative of Accelerating Growth, Investment, and Liberalization with Equity in the Bangko Sentral Francesca Banigued insists that any journalist wishing to interview her should submit his/her resume (on top of the usual interview questions).

Needless to say, Ms. Baniqued’s non-negotiable requirement has been very successful. She hasn’t been interviewed, has she?

By the way, the USAID-funded project continues to be on the lookout for new recruits. A Ph.D. is a primary requirement.

* * *

Bank notes 2: The compromise agreement between the United Overseas Bank, Ltd. and the Espiritu Group makes for interesting reading.

Here are some terms of the agreement, which was signed by UOB (Phils.) president Chua Teng Hui and former UOB (Phils.) president John Anthony Espiritu middle of last year and which was considered confidential until a recent court order.

• The Espiritu group had the biggest holding among the Filipino stockholders, in part through investments in fellow stockholders such as Sta. Lucia Realty and Development Corp.; Exchange Equity Corp.; Golden Era Holdings, Inc.; and Westmont Investment Corp.

• The Espiritu group negotiated on behalf of the Filipino stockholders except for the Tankiansee group, which holds a 7.66-percent stake through Farmix Fertilizer and Pearl Bank.

• The Singapore-based UOBL agreed to pay to the Espiritu group the amount of P964 million, representing the Bangko Sentral-determined net realizable value of the P1.4 billion in receivables.

• From the P964 million, which will be paid in American dollars to Mr. Espiritu (who is then expected to divide the money among the Filipino stockholders), P144.6 million will be deducted for expenses such as legal fees.

• The Espiritu Group agreed that Westmont Investment Corp. will indemnify UOBL for any expenses incurred in the court case filed by investors against the investment company or any congressional investigations.