ABS-CBN inching up to Number One

ABS-CBN has been slowly inching its way back to Number One ever since Eugenio "Gabby" Lopez III took over the network after the early retirement of Luis

"Cito" Alejandro as president. Our insiders at ABS-CBN told us that Alejandro, who was hired in 2004 shortly after Freddie Garcia’s retirement, was totally clueless and didn’t know squat about running a giant network. He started reorganizing the "Kapamilya" network and fired employees who have spent their most productive years in the company, offering them "early retirement" packages. A number of employees spurned the offer, filing cases against the Kapamilya network instead.

ABS-CBN soon got a clobbering at the ratings game from GMA 7 which, for the longest time, had been pretty content to be a far number two in the industry. At the time, only one of the 34 programs launched by ABS managed to compete with GMA. In the first quarter of 2005, Kapamilya lost P114 million – a far cry from the P124-million profit posted in the same period in 2004. The company’s profits plunged down 61 percent in 2005, registering a net profit of P294 million, way below the P761 million posted in 2004. For a network that has been lording it over for two decades, it was, to say the least, an unhappy sign of things to come. With Freddie Garcia back at ABS-CBN, the network is slowly regaining its hold in the industry, with a number of shows starting to inch their way up the ratings game.

Fooling an old man

It’s a sad day when money breaks up a family, which seems to be the case with an 84-year-old retiree and his daughter-in-law. According to documents we obtained, Jesus Rivera invested P500,000 in 2002 to a lending corporation put up by his daughter-in-law, Dr. Emelyn Rivera, along with five other doctors from the Makati Medical Center. Incorporated in 1996, First Domain Lending Corp. (FDLC) had a paid-up capital of only one million pesos, and bulk of the old man’s investment was used by FDLC to carry out its operations. Dr. Rivera would issue checks to her father-in-law as payment for interest earned by the old man for his investment – after which he would immediately infuse the money back to his capital.

Last year, however, the retiree noticed that something was amiss when a check from FDLC bounced, as it was drawn against a closed account. After an audit of his records, the old man found out that the lending company owed him some P28 million as of January 2007. Considering that FDLC only had a paid-up capital of one million, it would seem that the corporation was put up as a vehicle for large-scale estafa or syndicated fraud. In a recent family meeting, the doctor could not explain where her father-in-law’s money went, except to say that the lending business would fold if he pulled out his investment. It must have been painful for the old man to file criminal charges of large-scale estafa against a woman he loved like a daughter, helping send her through medical school when her parents practically abandoned her. Much like priests, doctors are trusted, especially by people who often put their lives under their care. What happened is a clear case of trust violated, all the more painful because it was done by a family member. Owing to his old age and the fact that he had been so disheartened by what happened, this 84-year-old man may never see his money again – money which represents 40 plus years of hard work.

Bubbling fight

Local soap and detergent suppliers were disappointed over the decision of the Department of Trade and Industry to junk their petition for a "safeguard measure" that would prevent foreign suppliers from manipulating the price of sodium tripolyphosphates or STTP, a key ingredient in soap and detergent making. Local players have recommended the imposition of the measure in the form of tariff rate quota and specific duty based on the provisions of Republic Act 8800 and the WTO agreement on safeguards, saying the measure will not result in the shortage of soap produce, nor will it compromise public interest.

Deeda Garcia-Versoza, COO of the Chemphil Group, reiterated that the continued viability of the local STTP industry through the safeguard measure is paramount in protecting the domestic supply chain. Without the safeguard measure, foreign suppliers could take advantage of the situation and render Filipinos helpless against increases in soap and detergent products, she said.

Members of the Federation of Philippine Industries claim the dismissal of the petition will result in "predatory pricing that governs the global scenario today," insisting that foreign suppliers seek to kill the local industry to establish their market dominance and dictate the prices eventually.

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