The first anniversary of his second life

These days, First Guarantee Life Assurance Co. chairman and chief executive officer Peter Coyiuto makes it a habit to read all the Chinese papers found in Binondo.

Mr. Coyiuto, the only one among his siblings who studied in a non-Chinese school (De La Salle University up to college and then the University of Pennsylvania-Wharton School of Business for his MBA), has recently learned how to read Mandarin.

No, Mr. Coyiuto didn’t ask his wife, Elena Tanyu-Coyiuto (herself a product of a finishing school in Switzerland) to teach him. Instead, he hired a personal live-in tutor from China.

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Well, well. It looks like Solid Mills, Inc. president Philip Ang has finally closed down the last of the company’s textile factories.

As everybody knows, Solid Mills used to be a major reason why the Department of Trade and Industry has a subsidiary called Garments and Textile Export Board and not a Garments Export Board.

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Party list Rep. Blanca Kim Bernardo-Lokin isn’t expecting any Christmas presents from mall operators this year.

You see, Kim Bernardo-Lokin is the sole author of the "Free Parking Act of 2003", which has been given, uh, less priority by the Lower House because of the ongoing budget hearings.

Basically, the proposed law will mandate malls and other wholesale and retail establishments with a floor area of at least 1,000 square meters to provide free parking to its clients.

There’s more. The bill will also hold the developer or management of the establishment as responsible for anything that happens to the car or the car owner in the parking area.

Just to show you how serious she is in going after violators, Ms. Bernardo-Lokin has proposed pretty stiff penalties from P500,000 to P10 million a year.

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So far, Tanduay Distillers, Inc. has let go of 30 factory workers specifically hired for the company’s expansion into the gin business.

As everybody knows, Tanduay has been ordered by Mandaluyong judge Erwin Sorongan to stop producing gin under the brand name, Ginebra Kapitan, until the infringement case filed by Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. has been resolved.

Tanduay officers assigned to the gin project have been given other projects to work on.

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Citibank Global Consumer Banking personal loans director Benjamin Oliva just celebrated the first anniversary of his se-cond life. You see, Benjie Oliva had to be rushed to the hospital on the eve of All Saints Day 2002, which resulted in a quadruple heart baypass.

At that time, Mr. Oliva headed Citi’s credit card business. He has been in charge of personal loans since middle of this year.