RRR: A man of conflict

Controversial Presidential Adviser Roberto R. Romulo is once again in the middle of a highly-publicized tumult, with GSIS president and general manager Winston Garcia set to announce that he is filing a case with the SEC to disqualify Romulo as independent director of Equitable PCI Bank because of conflict of interest and his failure to act independently from the EPCIB management. The legal basis for the disqualification stems from the fact that Romulo is an officer of the corporation, its subsidiaries or affiliates such as Equitable Card Network Inc., during the past three years from the time he was elected as independent director – which is a clear violation of BSP Circular No. 391, Series of 2003. Romulo was first elected in the EPCIB board in 2002 but he has been sitting as Equitable Card Network Inc. as chairman for more than a decade. In last year’s elections, RRR moved for the disqualification of certain nominees of the board for supposed conflict of interest but now it seems that it is Romulo himself who has clear numerous conflicts of interest. Romulo is well-known in business circles as a close partner of EPCIB minority shareholder Antonio Go in the latter’s computer business, Equicom Systems Management, which is identified as a joint venture between Equitable Group and Telus International. Romulo sits as chairman while Anthony Conway, a Go consultant, is a board member and operating officer. While he was voted as independent director of EPCIB, he has been siding with Go on numerous issues that have allowed Go to perpetuate his vise-like grip on the bank. Romulo seems to enjoy being in the middle of so many conflicts. It will be recalled that former solicitor general Frank Chavez had filed serious criminal and administrative charges against Romulo and these are now pending before the Sandiganbayan. Sources close to Chavez disclosed that he is expected to file more evidence pointing to Romulo being a truly Renaissance man of conflict.

V Bar’s statement on shooting incident

The management of Venezia Inc., owner of V Bar at Glorietta 2, gave an official statement regarding the June 8 shooting incident that resulted in the death of young TV director Luigi Santiago. According to the owners, the initial altercation between two girls belonging to two different groups was immediately quelled by the bar security who asked the quarreling groups to leave the V Bar premises. The ensuing fights which resulted in the shooting incident happened in the vicinity of Luk Yuen restaurant and Landmark, well away from the V Bar premises, and this fact had been established by the Makati police. Further, the shooter was not a regular of the bar, and had reportedly been seen by the staff only twice between a space of six months. Regulars frequent the bar at least twice or thrice a week and are easily identifiable by the staff, the management further stated. Regarding the incident, V Bar says it strictly enforces the banning of deadly weapons in the premises, and that it is always ready to assist the authorities and the victim’s family in all investigations regarding the said incident.

From the listening post: DFA diplomatic postings

Our DFA Ear-Spy reported that the Department of Foreign Affairs has recently been instructed to nominate columnist Amando Doronila to Brussels. That leaves poor former SEC Commissioner Lilia Bautista – who was promised by GMA herself that she would be going to Brussels – out in the cold. Meanwhile, Rome has been promised to former Iloilo Governor Emily Lopez, while current DFA chief of protocol Toto Zaide has been nominated to Paris. Ambassador Philip Lhuiller who is the current Ambassador to Italy is being nominated to the Buenos Aires post. London is still up in the air but as reported by our Ear-Spy, this was promised to Tonet Lagdameo, son-in-law of banana king Antonio Floirendo. GMA herself promised it to her "Tito Tony," who gave financial backing to her father Diosdado Macapagal in his 1965 re-election bid, and again did the same for GMA in her 2004 presidential bid.

Spy Tidbiz: Free again

The other day, our Eye-Spy spotted multi-millionaire businessman Andy Soriano III with the beautiful Carol Masibay Garcia at the NuVo restaurant in toney Greenbelt. Both are free again, with Andresito recently becoming an eligible bachelor while Carol, who was formerly linked with Sen. Mar Roxas, is now available. Was it just a friendly date, or something more romantic? We’ll find out soon enough.

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