A dead bore

Have you heard 1: Former President Estrada and Benpres Holdings chairman Oscar Lopez both opted for quiet family-only birthday celebrations last Monday, Mr. Estrada turned 67 while Mr. Lopez turned 74.

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Have you heard 2: There’s talk that the sugar farmers of Negros Occidental are seriously thinking of diversifying into the making of basi, the hard drink fermented from sugar cane popular in Northern Luzon.

The number one liquor in the Visayas and Mindanao is rum, which is also made from sugar cane.

By the way, Distilleria Limtuaco – whose most recent advertising campaign has been bashed by feminists – has launched its newest product, a mango liquer rum, at the Manila F.AM.E. International, the country’s twice-a-year trade fair for foreign buyers which ends today.

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Have you heard 3: There’s a great demand for ulang or giant prawns. (In aquaculture, prawns grow in fresh water while shrimps grow in sea water). Why, MBL Farms, the country’s only private prawns hatchery, can only meet the orders of two Metro Manila hotels.

MBL is the baby of computer engineer Luis Lina, who borrowed P2 million from uncle, Bert Lina, the local partner of Federal Express. China alone exports annually $500-million worth of giant prawns.

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Henry Sy’s business reach is not limited to malls and department stores, although these continue to be the main revenue earners of his empire, which is characterized by its high cash in hand at the end of the day, seven days a week.

Proof? Last Tuesday, Mr. Sy was a key factor in the annual stockholders meetings of both San Miguel Corp. and Equitable PCI Bank.

In the case of San Miguel, Mr. Sy’s shares could have given Presidential Committee on Good Government chairman Haydee Yorac the crucial eighth seat in the 15-man board. Instead, Mr. Sy’s son and San Miguel director, Henry Sy Jr., voted to keep Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. as chairman of the food and beverage giant.

In the case of Equitable PCI, Mr. Sy nominated five directors, including daughter and Banco de Oro Universal Bank chairman Teresita Sy Coson, to the board of the country’s third largest bank, setting the stage for drama and spectacle. Well, that didn’t happen because Mr. Sy’s nominations were deemed invalid on a technicality even before the meeting started.

As a result, EPBIB’s annual stockholders meeting was a dead bore. There were few questions which chairman Antonio Go and other members of the board had to answer from the floor. There were no changes in the board, which included Social Security System president Corazon dela Paz as one of three vice-chairmen.

As everybody knows, the SSS is trying to sell its shares in EPCIB to the Sy-controlled Banco de Oro, subject to approval by all the government agencies concerned. Right now, the proposed deal is being studied by the Department of Justice.