Energy debates

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino’s vow to increase the country’s use of renewable energy is both wise and timely especially in view of the unrelenting hikes in the price of imported fuel and coal which fire our power plants.

The President made it clear that he intends to get the country free from what many businessmen call a “stranglehold” that imported fossil fuel and coal have imposed on our energy sector.

Friends from the business sector have warned us, however, that his renewable energy policy may be in for rough sailing. They expressed serious doubt that he has support for his renewable energy vision from within his own Cabinet.

The Aquino administration’s renewable energy policy is under fire, our friends warned. Ironically, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo appears to have taken the cudgels for groups now opposing the policy. Domingo has reportedly warned that Aquino’s pursuit of increased renewable energy use “is expensive,” and that this could drive investors away.

People were surprised by the recent actions of Domingo. They ask whether or not he should actually be defending President Aquino’s renewable energy policy in the business community instead of acting as spokesman for groups opposing it.

Energy Secretary Rene Almendras is also reportedly not predisposed to be a defender of the said policy. Almendras is reportedly contented with the growing discussion and debate about the Aquino policy on renewable energy. But whether or not he would defend the President’s renewable energy policy in these debates seems to be another matter altogether.

There is also a suggestion that Domingo let anti-renewable energy business interests speak for themselves. There is a major discomfort at the sight of a Cabinet member questioning the President’s commitment to renewable energy growth in public.

It may be a foregone conclusion that the two would not be sticking their necks out for the President’s policy.

Filipinos still believe that Cabinet members should stand by the President’s policies even when under attack by powerful business interests.

Globe pulls out product

Just recently, Globe Telecom pulled out from the market its latest mobile broadband stick “Tonino Lamborghini” after the Italian company that owns the brand threatened to sue for trademark infringement.

Globe says that it has temporarily stopped marketing the USB device which was introduced last June until its problems with the Italian firm Tonino Lamborghini have been sorted out. (although one tech blogger reports though that Globe stores in SM MegaMall and North EDSA are still selling the stick.)

The defense of the Ayala-owned telecom company is that had gotten the rights to use the name and logo “Tonino Lamborghini” through an agreement with a Singapore-based company called Primo Mobile, which it described to be “the master franchisor of mobile phone-related products for the Italian brand Tonino Lamborghini.”

Globe added that the design of the Globe Tattoo Tonino Lamborghini 4G broadband stick was reviewed and approved by Primo Mobile.

Tonino Lamborghini responded by saying that Primo Mobile had been granted only a trademark license - neither a master license nor a master franchise – and had no authority to sub-license the use of the Tonino Lamborghini trademark and logo. In any case, Primo Mobile’s trademark license agreement had been terminated some months ago.

Is the claim of Tonino Lamborghini that Primo Mobile was unauthorized to sub-license the use of its trademark actually true? Did Primo Mobile mislead Globe that it was the master franchisor of mobile phone-related products for Tonino Lamborghini? Did Globe fail to conduct due diligence, dealing with an unauthorized Singaporean company rather than the Italian firm itself?

Tonino Lamborghini makes a further allegation versus Globe that the advertising campaign for its broadband stick was “deceitful and unlawful”. Globe used the slogan “Feed the need for speed”, with Marlon Stockinger, the first Filipino to win a formula race in Europe as its endorser. It turns out however that Tonino Lamborghini is known for hand-made watches, while another Italian company Automobili Lamborghini is the maker of luxury sports cars.

Not so hidden agenda

Ever wonder where some of the country’s biggest names in business go to for their dental needs?

Their secret is Asian Center for Dental Specialties (ACDS), a specialty group practice formed to address both dental and dermatological needs in a one-stop “head and neck” facility.

The Makati clinic began operations in April of 2009 through the partnership of Dr. Ranny Reyes, Dr. Gina Gamboa and Dr. Leo De Castro, with the singular goal of delivering comprehensive and specialist-attended treatment plans and dental service to discerning patients who are willing to spend for it.

Reyes is a graduate of the UP College of Dentistry. He had his post-graduate training at the Royal Dental College, Aarhus, Denmark. Specializing in periodontology, Reyes has been the president of the Philippine Society of Periodontology and dean at the National University. At present he is a member of the National Board of Dentistry under the Professional Regulations Commission.

Gamboa has 23 years experience in general dentistry. She was trained locally under the preceptorship program and tutelage of a former professor of Columbia University, Dr. Irene Porter, who was also her professor in UP Dentistry. Dr. Gamboa is also a member of the PDA and Makati Dental Society.

Meanwhile, De Castro, a graduate of CEU with post-graduate residency in Implant Dentistry at New York University, is an active member of the Academy of Osseointegration, International Congress of Oralimplantologist and the Advance Accreditation Committee of the ICOI. He is currently the Speaker of the House of the PDA House of Delegates and a past president of the Philippine Dental Association, as well as the in-coming president of the Philippine Academy of Implant Dentistry.

ACDS team includes Jojo Mendiola as chairman of the board, Mario Locsin as president, and Natalie Riviello, Dr. Bobby Pangan of Philippine General Hospital’s ENT Department, Dr. Joseph Macasiray, Dr. Jed Rosero, Dr. Nadine Abela, and Dr. Rommel Almoro as directors. Participating doctors include Dr. Jonathan Fandialan of TMJ Center, Dr. Ana Ramona Locsin, Dr. Bernadette Kamantigue, Dr. Mina Rosero and Dr. Tess Pangan, as well as Dr. Randy Lopa, Dr. Tess Pangan, Dr. Rene Africa, Dr. Joseph Macasiray, Dr. Daniel Samaniego, Dr. Lydia Egay, Dr. Nadine Abela and Dr. Nono Almoro as consultants and visiting staff.

ACDS services include: general and family dentistry, periodontics, implant dentistry, prosthodontics, endodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics, cosmetic dentistry, temporomandibular disorders and orofacial pain. For more details, ACDS can be reached at 8185940 or 8163988.

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