Downsizing for ‘empty nesters’

Did you know 1: Many wealthy "empty nesters" have traded their mansions (with a room for each kid and a guest room or two) for smaller homes. Mind you, the address is still very exclusive.

An example of such a community of, uh, grandparents is Kasiyahan Village near the Santuario de San Antonio in Forbes Park where the going rental rate is somewhere in the vicinity of P220,000.

And if you have to ask how much the sale price is, well, you obviously can’t afford it.

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Did you know 2: Given his fondness for scuba diving these days, it’s hard to notice if Energy Secretary Vicente Perez Jr. is blushing or not.

Fellow scuba enthusiast President Macapagal-Arroyo, however, has, at least once. That was the time, Vince Perez was teased for receiving a bouquet of roses the President intended to give to broadcaster Tina Panganiban-Perez.

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The mall that Robinsons Land Corp. is building at the corner of EDSA and Pioneer St. will be called – sigh – either Robinsons Pioneer or Pioneer Robinsons.

Despite the creativity of his children led by JG Summit president Lance Gokongwei, Robinsons founder John Gokongwei Jr. isn’t exactly known for coming up with imaginative (and knock your socks off) brand names.

By the way, Mr. John is a partner of Singapore-based United Land, Inc. founder Wee Cho Yaw in a couple of regional property development. Mr. Wee is also chairman of United Overseas Bank, which is the majority stockholder of UOB Phils.

Mr. Wee isn’t exactly happy about UOB Phils.’ problem with its minority stockholders (first with the group of former president Edgardo Espiritu and now with the Farmix Group of Manuel and Juanita Tan) and he has not been reticent about his feelings of his friends and business colleagues who are thinking of doing business in the country.

And what he did tell President Macapagal-Arroyo and Bangko Sentral Governor Rafael Buenaventura in a closed door talk a year or two ago was said to be most, uh, embarrassing.

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Bank notes: Unless a new chairman is appointed between now and Sept. 26, this month’s board meeting of United Coconut Planters Bank will be presided by president and chief executive officer Jose Querubin. That’s specified in the bank’s by-laws.

As everybody knows, the board has accepted the resignation of chairman Edward Go. Eddie Go’s resignation letter was dated Aug. 27.

As everybody also knows, UCPB is currently owned by government (through the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp., which extended a P20-billion facility to the bank) and coconut farmers (through the Presidential Commission on Good Government).