Grief-stricken

Bank notes 1: Okay, so San Miguel Corp. president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang preempted the family of Luis Coson by coming out first with an obituary. Mr. Ang and Louie Coson are very good friends.

As a result, a lot of people did not associate that Mr. Coson with the husband of Banco de Oro Universal Bank chairman Teresita Sy-Coson until the grief-stricken family was reminded that a published obituary was necessary and came out with one.

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Bank notes 2: HSBC (Phils.) president and chief executive officer Warner Manning can now eat like a normal person, at least temporarily. You see, Mr. Manning bet that he would lose 23 pounds from the time that he took over from Paul Lawrence last December to end-March this year.

And he did. His weight loss was certified by Tower Club health club supervisor Roderick Mendoza last March 26.

Now, all those who’ve accepted Mr. Manning’s challenge must now cough up the money, the check payable to a good cause, The Children’s Hour.

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Bank notes 3: A Filipino country manager of a foreign bank is being eyed to head the fixed income board of the Philippine Stock Exchange, which is expected to be operational by the middle of this year.

Already informally called the Fixed Income Exchange, the board is a liquidity mechanism being put up by a consortium of banks plus the Bankers Association of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Moneyline Telerate country manager Mercenita Matsuda is said to have already accepted the job of supervising trading at the fixed income exchange.

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There’s a malicious joke going around Binondo that FFCCCII no longer stands for Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. but for Federation of Fathers, Children, Cousins and other members of the Clan Inc.

The increase of father-and-son tandems elected to the federation board came about when many officers decided not to run for reelection this year. Then again, the entry of young blood such as Michael Tan, son of former president and current honorary president Lucio Tan, should shake (for the better) the federation and make it more relevant to the younger generation of Chinese-Filipinos.

As everybody knows, the newly elected federation president is Robin Sy. Mr. Sy made a big boo-boo when he announced the resignation of secretary-general Joaquin Sy, without being polite enough to thank him for his services.

Replacing Mr. Sy as secretary general is John Ngaw.

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Here’s an interesting (but small) sign at the main door of Makati Medical Center, asking those who believe they are suffering from acute severe respiratory syndrome to please refrain from entering the main building.

Instead, they are asked to go directly to the emergency room, where a specialized doctor would treat them.