Cover-up?

Should the government be made to shoulder the expenses incurred by Piatco allegedly for publicity?

According to the Philippine legal panel, the Philippine International Air Transport Corp. or Piatco spent around $1 million for the services of a media consultant credited for the publication of 155 articles favorable to the contract between the consortium and the government for the construction of the Terminal 3 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA 3).

The RP legal panel submitted documents on the media expenditure as part of its submission asking the Washington DC-based International Court for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) to dismiss Fraport’s $425 million claim against government to recover its alleged investment in the NAIA-3 project, including the amounts spent for media consultancy.

The group, composed of Solicitor General Eduardo Nachura, retired SC Justice Florentino Feliciano and Carol Lamm of White & Case LLP, said Fraport hired Alfonso Liongson, a media consultant, who was paid $200,000 monthly allegedly for media access and credibility, but was in fact used to cover up the bribes given to certain government officials, including a Cabinet secretary.

Piatco claims NAIA 3 was constructed at a cost of $565 million but according to Takenaka which constructed the terminal, it only cost $275 million. Howard Silverstone, a certified fraud examiner who testified for the Philippines, said the Fraport’s investment was not covered by the bilateral investment treaty between Germany and the Philippines because of its anomalous investment operations, a fact that would bar recovery by Fraport.

The lawyers also used as defense the admission of the government that it violated the rights of Asia ’s Emerging Dragons Corp. (AEDC) as the original proponent of the terminal. The Philippines is also facing a separate $565 million claim by Piatco before the International Chamber of Commerce in Singapore. A lower court earlier ordered the government to pay Piatco P3 billion as part of just compensation to legalize its takeover of NAIA 3.  

Wild as wild can get

A public relations (PR) practitioner behind the sly efforts to derail the government’s sale of its indirect stake in the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) has incurred the ire of a lawmaker on strong suspicion that the PR man was behind the publication of fabricated press statements attributed to the solon.

All the solon had to say about the sale was that it should be above board and that it should benefit the government, the majority of Filipinos and the investors who are buying the government shares for a whopping P25.4 billion. Nothing more, nothing less.

But lo! The desperate spin doctor had so mangled the lawmaker’s position that the latter is now wrongly perceived to be vehemently opposed to the transaction. The PR man had not only failed to add "luster" to the image of his businessman-client, but has done the poor fellow a great disservice by picturing him as a sore loser. As to why a "sore loser," that’s another story.

While the solon chose to remain silent as his position was spun out of context and then milked dry through countless republication and re-spin, he has had enough this week when he read in one national daily rabid and un-statesmanlike statements he did not make but were nonetheless attributed to him.

As the bogus story was without a byline, the irked lawmaker asked around to find its source who, as it turned out, was a complete stranger to him. The lawmaker is not taking the matter sitting down as he considers it a misrepresentation and usurpation of his office.

Meanwhile, the wild arguments peddled by the guy to stop the sale has prompted a number of congressmen and senators to cross party lines to urge the government not to pay heed to the noisemaker and to consummate the sale ASAP. At the same time, both business and labor cited the economic benefits to be gained from the sale of the assets sequestered in favor of the government from Prime Holdings Inc. worth P25.4 billion.

Heard from the grapevine is that the PR man is now distraughtly looking for someone who would mouth his wildest spin that the P25.4 billion would be used by the government to ensure the victory of administration candidates in the 2007 May elections.

The problem is, not even magicians can make P25.4 billion disappear and hope to evade plunder charges, and possibly jail time.

Making the right choice

Only a few months back, the Yuchengco empire was the subject of negative talk because of the unfortunate turn its pre-need arm took. Now it is back in the headlines, with talk on it brimming with positive insinuation and outlook both for the family and its companies. After taking the helm from her illustrious father, Ambassador Alfonso Yuchengco, his daughter Helen is obviously bringing in a young, energetic vibe into the family enterprise. Known for being tough and brilliant at the same time, she has recently been making very surprising yet aggressive decisions that are seen to soon catapult Yuchengco companies to greener prospects.

Recognizing how the family bank’s performance can significantly rub into their other financial services interests, Ms. Yuchengco successfully inked a deal with Lorenzo Tan to run RCBC as president and CEO. Together with his team of young, dynamic experts that he will be bringing in with him, Lorenzo will surely add great value to RCBC and turn around its position sooner than later.

In fact, the bank’s share price has shot up to P38 per share from the time Lorenzo announced his resignation from Sun Life Financial up to latest trades. What this shows is the investing public’s great confidence on the future RCBC franchise. What the figures also translate to is a P9 billion mark up for RCBC’s market cap in just a matter of two weeks!

The group’s formerly maligned real estate properties are also now becoming a source of envy among other industrialists. The RCBC and the Malayan Plazas, which are among the most prestigious business addresses in Makati and Ortigas respectively, are now worth several multiples from the time they were built in the late 1990s. Back then, when Asian economies collapsed, the buildings were thought as wasted investments. Just a few years later, they have turned themselves into a vast fortune that the family can easily make a cash cow from rentals alone (especially since latest property figures indicate a 15 to 17 percent increase in property rental values in the country’s premiere business districts).

Man who built bridges

Despite his being a global player, Teodorico Tumbocon-Haresco Jr., 2006 recipient of the Aurelio Periquet Jr. Business Leadership Award for 2006, is not the high-profile type of businessman. He is more of a technocrat, self-effacing and humble, preferring to let his achievements speak for himself..

But he exemplifies the modern, innovative, forward-looking and global-oriented type of technocrat - businessman that is so much needed by a developing country like the Philippines which is on the verge of an economic takeoff.

The book, British Legacy in the Philippines, lists Ted as one of the Filipinos who have made "monumental contributions" to national economic growth. Among others mentioned in the book as outstanding Filipinos are President Arroyo, former President Fidel V. Ramos and Dr. Jose Rizal.

At 56, Haresco, or Ted, as he is known to close friends, has already made an indelible mark in the high-tech end and cutting edge of domestic and global business. But he has also scored high in the basic area of infrastructure which is the foundation upon which economic growth is built.

Haresco was responsible for the planning and implementation of the President’s Bridge Program which has built some 1,500 modular steel bridges all over the Philippines . Under his direction, the prefabricated steel bridges, manufactured by M&J, an engineering firm of the United Kingdom , were constructed in record time and at least expense in once inaccessible parts of the rural countryside.

Haresco had succeeded in executing the bridge program through a concessional financing package at 1.89 percent interest per annum, instead of the usual three percent interest per annum for loans to foreign-assisted infrastructure projects. His success in building bridges across the Philippines has caught the attention of governments in other developing countries, which have since then adopted Haresco’s bridge re-engineering and refinancing program.

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