Wealthy businessman moved by student suicide

A low key wealthy businessman who did not wish to be identified told Spy Bits he felt extremely dismayed when he learned about the 16-year-old student who took her own life after failing to settle a previous loan of P6,377 on time.

The low key businessman had been giving financial support and scholarships to poor but deserving college students for over a decade now – which is why the suicide of Kristel Tejada for something as paltry as P6,000 struck him as very sad and distressing. “If I only knew about her situation, I could have easily paid for the P6,377 and would have taken care of the tuition for the rest of her college years,” he confided to us, saying he is urging other wealthy businessmen to be more proactive by putting up a foundation that would help bright kids belonging to the “poorest of the poor” attain basic and college education.

The businessman pointed out that education foundations are given certain tax breaks and exemptions and so this proposal could be a win-win situation considering even government resources cannot cope with the booming student population. What happened to Kristel is very unfortunate but many are hopeful that her death will not be in vain because of the attention being given to the existing tuition policies at the University of the Philippines where students are made to pay according to the family’s income bracket. Many are also urging for a more humanitarian implementation of existing tuition assistance programs especially because majority of students in state universities and colleges belong to the lowest social brackets.

Certainly, wealthy businessmen can take up the slack knowing they can make a difference even in just one life of a student they help put through school – keeping in mind that “if you save even just one life, it’s as if you have already saved the world.”

RH bill in peril

With the 120-day suspension issued by the Supreme Court on the implementation of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill over the issue of its constitutionality, coupled with the installation of Pope Francis on the throne of St. Peter, the fear of pro-RH bill groups that the measure could be in peril seems to be coming into the fore. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and other anti-RH bill groups have been arguing against the legislation based on moral and religious issues, invoking the name of God in voicing their opposition – and so they are taking the ascension of Pope Francis as a “sign” in their favor. The new pontiff is known for his conservative views on social issues and at one time was even described by Argentine president Christina Kirchner as medieval for opposing contraception.  Even HIV/AIDS workers are wondering how their efforts could be affected by the new Pope, hoping he would adopt a more practical perspective on the use of condoms to prevent the spread of the disease.

In hindsight, many RH bill proponents, Catholics included, say that had Cardinal Tagle become the new pope, this would have given the CBCP enormous power in the Philippines since His Eminence was naturally against the passage of the RH bill. In any case, the contention over the bill is now on another plane. The best legal minds from both sides will have to fight it out not in the court of public opinion but in the court of law.

Quantum technology to turn sci-fi into reality?

The announcement by Blackberry smartphone creator Mike Lazaridis to pour in $100 million worth of funds for quantum technology research has generated a lot of buzz not only among quantum physicists and nanotechnology proponents but among Star Trek fans as well. (Nanotechnology or nanotech has been dubbed as the “science of the small” since it involves the manipulation of tiny, atom-like particles and molecules for the benefit of a number of industries including the military.) 

According to Lazaridis, the Greek-Canadian founder of Research In Motion Ltd. (the company behind Blackberry) who turned a small town called Waterloo in Ontario into a hub for quantum computing, he is looking at a lot of revolutionary products including a medical device known as the Star Trek “tricorder” that could scan the environment and humans.

Saying that a lot of the fictional devices featured in the science fiction franchise that began in the late 1960s have come true – such as computers, voice activated devices to the communicators as seen in smartphones today – Lazaridis is confident that the development of a ground breaking device that can perform multiple medical procedures like magnetic resonance imaging, scanning, and blood tests can become a reality in two to three years.

Port King on a roll

The winning streak of “Port King” Enrique “Ricky” Razon Jr. continues with the 2012 net profit of International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) growing 10 percent to $143 million – surpassing analysts’ projections of $141 million.

According to leading financial firm Maybank ATR Kim Eng, ICTSI’s strategy of making overseas acquisitions has boosted growth, with last year’s TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) volume also recording an increase of eight percent to 5.63 million TEUs. ATR particularly cited ICTSI’s new terminals in the last two years that accounted for the growth, among them Croatia, Indonesia, Pakistan and Oregon in the US.  Port revenue last year also increased 10 percent to $729 million, the analyst firm reported, upgrading its recommendation from hold to buy.

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