Marco Polo arrives in Cebu

Cebu will certainly get a boost with the recent opening of Marco Polo Hotel. Formerly known as the Cebu Plaza Hotel, the four-star Marco Polo sports a refreshingly refurbished and beautiful look, thanks to Metrobank’s George Ty. While there are already a number of good hotels in Cebu such as the Shangri-La Mactan and the Marriott, Marco Polo is sure to push tourism in Cebu even more with its proximity to the Mactan International Airport and to the business and commercial centers in the city. Lush greenery, well-appointed suites equipped with wireless broadband Internet access and state-of-the-art communication facilities are only some of the perks offered by the hotel. Were he alive today, even the famed Venetian traveler would find a welcome respite with the superb accommodations and facilities of the hotel named after him.

Wanted: New plane for GMA

The Lear 60 aircraft chartered from Pepito Alvarez has been so extensively used by GMA that it has now clocked in 2,000 hours of flight time, and the aircraft is now due for an overhaul and a hot section inspection in the United States. The Palace is said to be looking around for a plane they can charter while the Lear 60 is on downtime. Of course, the opposition is probably hoping a tad nastily that GMA would rent an aircraft that is not exactly reliable. The Philippines is probably one of the few countries whose Chief Executive does not have his/her own plane and just relies on chartered aircraft. It’s about time Congress allotted some funds for the purchase of a decent and reliable aircraft for the country’s President. No matter how poor the Philippines may be, considering that it has 7,100 islands, the President of this country should have her own Air Force One — but certainly not a jumbo jet.

Alleged con artist buying epcib shares?

There’s been a lot of rumor going around that the so-called "mystery buyer" of Winston Garcia for the shares of the Sy group in Equitable PCI Bank (EPCIB) at P95 per share is Edilberto Marcos, allegedly a con artist who has been claiming that he is the first-born son of Ferdinand Marcos. A couple of years ago, a certain Edilberto del Carmen, aka "Edilberto Marcos," figured in a high-profile case involving the sale of a fictional $20-million gold certificate to an undercover FBI agent. "Edilberto Marcos" was later sentenced by a Manhattan federal court to a 12-year prison term in 2003 for operating a multi-billion dollar fake international gold certificate fraud scheme. Evidence presented during the trial reportedly showed that the man had been claiming that he is in possession of a large share of the Marcos family fortune, which included billions of dollars in gold. This is something that Winston Garcia may want to check out before he makes a fool of himself and of the GSIS stakeholders.

Feedback: DLSU reacts

Dr. Ronaldo B. Mactal, chairman of the History Department of the De La Salle University-Manila reacted to a column item entitled "Bro Armin’s ‘alternative’ school" (April 20, 2006), where Spybiz reported the feedback from very concerned individuals regarding the so-called alternative classes where students are allegedly enticed to join Black and White Movement (BWM) activities and anti-GMA rallies. Dr. Mactal’s letter states that the History Department and the Center for Social Concern and Action (COSCA) of DLSU-Manila were the sponsors of the Alternative Education Program for Philippine History students and that the practice of including alternative classes in the course syllabi has been with the DLSU-Manila "since time immemorial." Dr. Mactal added that the lecture series on contemporary issues and problems in Philippine history has been going on for three years, long before the conception of the BWM. He also denied that the alternative classes are politically inspired, or that students are enticed ala-hakot style and given incentives to attend BWM-sponsored activities. The points raised by Dr. Mactal are well taken. However, Spybiz maintains its opinion that it is inappropriate for school authorities to entice students to join politically inspired movements in the guise of pedagogy.

* * *

Join our ring of Eye-spies by sending your intelligence information, complaints, pictures, and comments to [email protected].

All information will be strictly confidential.