The dire consequence of singing

The word is National Economic Development Authority deputy director general Rafael Perpetuo Lotilla will replace Ed del Fonso (who decided to take it easy after a heart bypass) as president of Private Sector Assets and Liabilities Corp.

Popo Lotilla, who heads NEDA’s Central Support Office (read: everything that has to do with backroom operations), just needs the signature of President Macapagal-Arroyo to move to his new job.

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Well, well. The friends of former Finance Secretary Jose Isidro Camacho are planning a dinner for him later this week when he gets back from his month-long vacation in the United States.

No, Lito Camacho will not have to sing for his dinner because, being friends, everybody understand the dire consequences if his wife, Clara Acuna Camacho, gets wind of that.

Before taking his vacation, Lito Camacho took some potshots at the country’s budgetary deficit (or how much government is spending more than earning) and the fiscal deficit (or the ratio of the country’s entire debt to gross national product or total goods and services produced in the country plus remittances).

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Did you know 1: Now that the Magnolia ice cream brand name has reverted to San Miguel Corp. – Nestle Phils. had it for some years – the bright boys of SMC chairman and chief executive officer Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. are working out a relaunch before the end of the first semester this year.

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Did you know 2: Antonio Lopa, a brother-in-law of former President Aquino is said to be the new effective owner of Today, a broadsheet associated with Teodoro Locsin Jr. even before he was elected as congressman representing Makati.

Of course, everybody knows that Tony Lopa is a close buddy of another relative of Ms. Aquino, Antonio Cojuangco, who clinched late last year the purchase of Associated Broadcasting Corp. (Channel 5) from Edward Tan.

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Lucio Tan has hired two agronomists (one from South Africa and one from Brazil whose dollar salaries and all living expenses while in the country are paid for by Fortune Tobacco Corp.) to help garlic and onion farmers plant tobacco in, get this, Mindoro.

The first harvest will be sometime this March or April.

Okay, so the agronomists are also helping the farmers of the Ilocos region who used salt-infected water drawn from artesian wells last year to water their tobacco plants. Naturally, the resulting leaves didn’t burn very well.

Here’s the deal. Fortune Tobacco promises to buy all the leaves that meet its requirement on a non-exclusive basis. This means the farmers can choose to sell to other cigarette manufacturers if the price is right.