67 and still in love

Did you know 1: The local cellphone business is growing by a conservative five million every year. That estimate is based on the number of new SIMs purchased.

And of that total, Nokia handsets account for a dominant 90 percent. That’s because, early on, Nokia opted to market its brand name rather than what its product can do.

Said another way, Nokia is number one because it was the first to aggressively market its product, not because it’s technologically superior or even better looking than everyone else.

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Did you know 2: It was Jaime Ayala who was assigned by McKinsey to work out the succession process of Ayala Corp. when Jaime Zobel de Ayala was about to retire in favor of his son, Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala.

It was also Jim Ayala’s group who was called in by JG Summit when John Gokongwei Jr. was about to retire, also in favor of his son, Lance Gokongwei.

As everybody knows, Mr. Ayala will be moving to Ayala Land Inc. as president and chief executive officer starting next year. Francisco Licuanan III will stay on as consultant to make sure the transition is as painless as possible.

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Former Health Secretary Alfredo Bengzon is one tough cookie. And his no-nonsense style of management has been very effective in his performance of his job, first as head of Medical City and now as head of the Ateneo Professional School.

Alran Bengzon’s soft spot? His wife.

His face visibly softens when he talks about the first time he saw her and decided then and there that he was going to marry her. Dr. Bengzon is in his mid-60s and still on his first wife.

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Okay, National Treasurer Eduardo Sergio Edeza has tendered his resignation thrice and, thrice, his boss, Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho, has convinced him to stay on.

This time around, the fourth time, Boy Edeza is determined to leave government by end-December. Lito Camacho is equally confident that the "understanding" between him and Mr. Edeza is current and in force.

By the way, Mr. Edeza will only decide on the timing and the amount involved in any foreign borrowing for the quarter and after next week’s float by the Bangko Sentral. In theory, the National Government still needs to raise $200 million for this year.