The Book of Max

To many of us, Max Soliven was a legend in the field of journalism, belonging to that elite breed of men who could make stones bleed with tears because of the zeal and passion of their writing. He was a great raconteur who always had an interesting story to tell owing to his vast experience as a journalist, having personally known nine Philippine presidents and many foreign leaders and extraordinary men. But to us his close friends, Max was a “character” who would go to great lengths to protect a friend – for such is the kind of Ilocano loyalty he exhibited – but would fiercely go after those who had the misfortune to earn his ire or even that of his closest friends. 

To this day, many loyal readers of Sir Max as he is referred to by those who highly respected him still miss his columns and wonder what he would write about the things that are happening in the country that he loved passionately. It was perhaps this thought that gave his daughter Sarah Soliven-de Guzman the fortitude to embark on the painstaking process of finally putting together the details that would help shape the biography of Max Soliven, almost five years since he died on Nov. 24, 2006.   

Titled Maximo V. Soliven: The Man and the Journalist, the book written by Nelson Navarro makes for a compelling read, and describes the man and the journalism icon that was Max. Many loyal admirers and friends have been invited to the book launching on Nov. 10 at the Manila Pen, and no doubt the spirit of Max will be present, perhaps even lighting up his pipe as he regales angels in heaven with the tales that marked his life as a journalist on earth.

Atlas windfall

Spy Bits received information that on Nov. 9, 2011 during the Atlas Consolidated Mining’s (AT) annual stockholders meeting, as disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the management will ask the stockholders to approve the change of AT par from P10 to P2.This financial strategy (or accounting engineering move if you will) will wipe out all previous deficits of Atlas Consolidated. The outcome of this exercise is a brilliant move because this year, AT will be extremely profitable and therefore, it will be able to retain a lot of earnings when the books close in 2011.  The very end result is that dividends can be declared next year.

Bribery at the Comelec

News about the bribery attempt of Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes by an IT expert no longer surprises people, but what came across as eyebrow-raising is the revelation that the said IT expert was even endorsed as a consultant reportedly by Comelec Commissioner Gus Lagman. Those in the know claim that contrary to the casually offhand explanation of Lagman that he “had a business deal once” with Jade Deinla, the two are reportedly close associates who had worked together – and failed – in pushing the Open Election System for the May 2010 presidential elections.’ 

Sources say Deinla allegedly thought he could make a fast buck after discovering that Ximex, a private contractor hired by the Comelec (during the time of Jose Melo as chairman) to transport ballot boxes and other election paraphernalia to areas in Visayas and Mindanao during the 2010 elections and the subsequent barangay polls, was having problems regarding collectibles from the Comelec.  Ximex was charging P43 million but this was reportedly being blocked by Commissioner Rene Sarmiento for being overpriced, so Deinla tried to bribe Brillantes with P3 million instead to facilitate the payment of the company’s claim. Too bad for Deinla because Brillantes promptly reported the bribery attempt and then ordered his immediate termination, with the possibility of administrative and criminal cases to be filed against him. What a guy!

Spy tidbits

The Fundacion Santiago and Fundacion Mapfre in cooperation with the Metropolitan Museum of Manila are featuring the Suite Vollard of renowned painter Pablo Picasso at the Galeriya Bangko Sentral of the Met from November 10 until January 7, 2012. The Suite Vollard is made up of 100 copper etchings commissioned by art dealer Ambroise Vollard and first exhibited in Paris in 1939. 

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