Staying until after the elections

Did you know 1: Even middle-class families – those with a little extra cash and with relatives they can stay with in the United States – are flying out of the country this month and will be returning only after the May 10 presidential elections.

One of the wealthy families who have decided to stay in town is that of recently retired Bank of the Philippine Islands chairman Jaime Zobel de Ayala. He and his wife, Doña Bea, (as well as their children’s families) will be taking their annual summer break abroad only after the elections.

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Did you know 2: The price of pork will be going up soon. Here’s why. The cheaper feeds (such as corn) which government was supposed to import to bring down pork prices has been diverted to China because government took too long to raise the cash.

The problem is that traders of corn, soy and fish meal have already sold their old stocks in anticipation of new and cheaper stocks.

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Did you know 3: There’s talk that cigarettes are increasingly being smuggled into the country through Mindanao. The cigarettes come from Malaysia which is said to have some of the toughest restrictions on imported cigarettes.

Here’s the funny part. Some of these smuggled cigarettes carry brand names only found in the Philippines.

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Nobody is selling their Metropolitan Club shares right now.

You see, shareholders expect the price to go up by about 500 percent once RFM Corp. subsidiary, Philtown Realty puts up residential condominium on what used to be the club’s four tennis courts.

Philtown’s strategy for what it calls The Metropolitan is very much like the aspirational strategies RFM president and chief executive officer Jose Concepcion III is fond of using for branded consumer products.

The Metropolitan is right across the Rockwell Center, where the cheapest unit is selling for more than P90,000 per square meter. The Metropolitan is selling at P20,000/sqm cheaper.

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Oh dear, Tokyo-based Urban Corp. has formally asked Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Kojiro Takano to help in finding out what is the status of its winning bid for the Nampeidai property, which used to be the side of the Philippine chancery until 1999.

In a letter dated March 18, Urban’s general affairs section chief Toshio Ida detailed the steps the company has taken to win the bid for one of four Philippine government properties in Japan being sold.

• On Oct. 28, 2003, Urban was "declared eligible to submit

technical and financial proposals for the development of the Fujimi and Nampeidai properties".

• On Nov. 28, 2003, Urban submitted its proposals, together with the required callable bid security. On the same day, all of the qualified proposals were opened, with Urban submitting the highest bid for Nampeidai.

"As per Bid Bulletin No. 2 issued by the Department of Finance, the first and second highest bidders for each property should have received their invitations to negotiate with the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) by Dec. 5, 2003.

"Despite the lapse of more than 90 days, GRP has yet to issue the invitation to negotiate. Also, GRP has yet to identify the first and second highest bidders for each property. The non-issuance of the invitation has not been explained to the bid participants by the GRP."