A ‘drive through’ for DVDs

Yes, SM Group’s Teresita Sy-Coson is looking g-o-o-d, thanks to the South Beach diet.

Ms. Sy-Coson recently had brunch with Ortigas & Co. chief operating officer Rex Drilon II on the same day that Mr. Drilon was invited to the US Embassy to discuss, uhm, the thriving flea market business in Greenhills.

SM’s presence in the Greenhills Commercial Center is currently limited to a Watson’s outlet.

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As caretaker, Peter Favila should have stayed until Sept. 16 when Francis Lim formally reports for work as Philippine Stock Exchange president.

Then again, Mr. Favila has scheduled his annual medical check-up in the United States even before he accepted the temporary job of bridging the shortened term of resigned president Cayetano Paderanga Jr. and the incoming president, who delayed his first day of work by 10 days.

As everybody knows, the Chinese ghost month – that’s the seventh month in the lunar calendar that started this year on Aug. 16 – is not a good time to start any major activity, both personal and professional.

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Bangko Sentral Governor Rafael Buenaventura isn’t exactly malingering when he asked (and got approval from) President Macapagal-Arroyo to stay in the United States until early October.

You see, instead of coming home and then leaving again in two weeks’ time, Paeng Buenaventura will just link up with the country’s economic managers in New York to brief the country’s bankers and investors. This is sometime in the third week of September.

From there, Mr. Buenaventura will be attending the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank in Washington D

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Did you know 1: Employees at the Department of Agriculture head office do not use the bundy clock. Instead, they go through a machine that reads their fingerprint.

Then again, some smart guys arrive early in the morning to have their "fingerprint" read and then immediately leave for places unknown.

Technically, these workers have officially logged in for work for the day and are, therefore, paid for a honest day’s work.

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Did you know 2: In case Quiapo is too far or too seedy for your taste, the best place to find those cheap – okay, so they’re pirated DVDs is Makati Cinema Square. Why, these goodies are even available in Glorietta.

For regular buyers with the mobile phone number of their favorite seller, the orders can be delivered through a "drive through" set up. Here’s how it works. Call your suki and list the titles that you want to order. Tell your suki when you will pass by and the make of your car. Agree on where you are going to meet. An exchange of titles for cash is made when you drive by.