All bases covered

There’s talk the Welfareville compound in Mandaluyong will finally be put on the block within the next couple of months.

To make it easier to sell, the property managed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development has been divided into two parcels of land – parcel 1 covering 22 hectares includes the Women’s Correctional and the National Mental Hospital while parcel 2 covering 78 hectares is the residential area which initially started out with families who wanted to be near their loved ones in jail or in the hospital and which have since expanded to include anybody who didn’t want to pay real estate taxes on the property where their homes are built.

Mandaluyong Mayor Benjamin Abalos Jr. has already gotten board approval to participate in the auction of parcel 2. Benhur Abalos’ kitty is said to be P1 billion.

The plan here is to build medium-rise housing buildings, which will be offered to the current residents, with the balance of parcel 2 to be developed with whoever buys parcel 1 into a central business district.

There’s one problem here though. It is still not clear what were the terms of donation when the Fabella family donated the property to the National Government. Normally, a land donation is for specific purpose. If the donated land is used for a different purpose, then the land reverts back to the donor.

* * *

Before Cesar Purisima accepted the job as Trade Secretary, he got the commitment of SGV & Co.’s foreign partner, Ernst & Young, that he would be given a regional assignment after he leaves government.

As everybody knows, Mr. Purisima is now covered by the one-year prescription period for top government officials, which means he can’t go back to SGV or work for any Philippine company the Department of Trade and Industry has dealings with for a period of one year after he leaves DTI.

* * *

Here’s a major reason why Institute for Corporate Directors founder Jesus Estanislao is handling over the day-to-day management to incoming president Francisco Eizmendi Jr.

Jess Estanislao has given himself until June of this year to push for public governance or for fairness, transparency and accoun-tability in government.

If that doesn’t fly, he will concentrate on corporate governance, which has been gaining acceptance, particularly with the support of Bangko Sentral Governor Rafael Buenaventura and Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Lilia Bautista.

By the way, ICD will be holding courses for those who want to be independent (and highly paid) directors – a requirement for all publicly listed companies and for all banks – which will be handled by its Australian counterpart.