ME funding

Did you know 1: The washrooms of Andrew Gotianun, Jr.-developed Festival Mall are much cleaner than neighbor, Alabang Town Center. Fact, even the pay lounges around Burnham Park in Baguio are better maintained than ATC.

Then again, Ayala Land, Inc. chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala and his family don’t hang out at ATC.

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Did you know 2: Based on an informal survey conducted by e-PLDT Ventus president Rosalie Montenegro, an unmet need of call center workers is a nearby place to crash (read: sleep)

It turns out these workers are willing to lease bed space in (so far, non-existent) nearby dormitories for about P3,000 a month. Right now, many of these workers go to work hours earlier than their shift because of the difficulty and/or danger of taking a bus or the train at night.

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Did you know 3: The bulk of overseas Filipino workers in Dubai are professionals like accountants and all sorts of doctors rather than blue collar workers.

Then again, Dubai has made it easy for Filipinos holding tourist visas to find work and then change their legal status.

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BDO Private Banking head Andrew Alcid has a rather endearing ritual that other fathers might like to emulate. You see, Andy Alcid takes each one of his three children on regular one-on-one father-child bonding sessions to their favorite restaurants.

Now, these restaurants range from a Japanese restaurant in a five-star Makati-based hotel to any one of the 400-plus outlets of Jollibee Foods Corp. nationwide.

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Sigh. Speculations on who President Macapagal-Arroyo will name to the Monetary Board, the monetary policy-setting board of the Bangko Sentral, are picking up. Four of the seven MB members, including chairman Bangko Sentral Governor Rafael Buenaventura, will end their six-year term this July.

Of the four, three are supposed to represent the private sector. The fourth is, of course, governor-designate Amando Tetangco Jr., who becomes governor-nominee when Paeng Buenaventura finishes his term.

And given the generous compensation package, all are expected to serve full time (read: that means he/she cannot have another day job).

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Given its orientation, Planters Development Bank chaired by Jesus Tambunting insisted on including the acronym, SME, in its equity fund venture with Aureos Capital.

You see, the fund is actually a ME, since its minimum loan of P100 million effectively disqualifies any small-sized enterprise.