Napoles should be in Forbes ‘Top 50’ wealthiest

Readers who saw Forbes magazine’s list of the Top 50 richest in the Philippines emailed Spy Bits saying they were expecting the name of now (in)famous businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles to be included. Our indignant readers also castigated the editors of Forbes for doing a very poor job at research, insisting that Napoles should be included in the roster of the country’s wealthiest.

The JLN president and CEO – who is being implicated in the alleged P10 billion pork barrel scam – could probably be richer than some of those included in the Top 20 judging from the lavish and opulent lifestyle of her 23-year-old daughter Jeane whose 21st birthday bash held at a posh Beverly Hills hotel could put the debutantes of Manila’s crème de la crème of society to shame.

All one has to do is check out the Instagram and Facebook accounts of Jeane (both of which were unfortunately deactivated shortly after the pork barrel scandal broke) to have a glimpse of the kind of wealth the Napoles family must be swimming in. Those who know Janet Napoles’ “baby girl” – said to be a designer who studied at the very private Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, say she is driven around in Porsches, and only buys designer brands like Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Chanel, Hublot, Herve Leger. A math savvy Spy Bits reader calculates that Jeane could easily wear millions on any given day considering that a Hublot watch alone can be worth half a million pesos, so what more if you throw in her shoes, her purse, her clothes, and jewelry?

According to an account by Rappler.com, the 23-year-old Jeane is the registered owner of a 1,610 sq-ft, two-bedroom residential apartment at the tony Ritz Carlton Los Angeles estimated at P80 million pesos. Located at the Olympic Boulevard, the Ritz’s contemporary guest rooms at the 22nd to 26th floors are already oozing with opulence (as seen in the photo from the Ritz Carlton website), so how much more so the private residences located from the 27th to the 52nd floors of the hotel? Certainly, they are among the most luxurious and prestigious, “offering stunning views, world class amenities and the legendary services of the Ritz Carlton hotel” according to real estate specialist Signature Residence Worldwide.

With the daughter who has no known job already luxuriating in astonishing wealth, how much more so the mother who says she has businesses in China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and many others? So definitely, Janet Lim Napoles should be included in the Forbes list of the Philippines’ 50 richest, reiterated one of our exasperated readers.

SM’s green agenda

In her first public speech, new US Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy urged businesses to embrace the opportunity in fighting climate change since this will ultimately bring more jobs, saying that lowering carbon footprint can strengthen the economy. A recent report by the American Sustainable Business Council entitled “Climate Change Preparedness and the Small Business Sector” also disclosed that small businesses are the ones that are especially vulnerable to climate change, with floods, earthquakes, hurricanes and other disasters enough to put small businesses permanently out of business.

In the Philippines, small and medium scale enterprises – from agriculture to real estate to the retail sector – know very well the crippling effects of major disasters, with many unable to recover from the devastating effects of Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng and even the heavy rains in August last year. At the recent Green Retail Agenda conference titled “Adapting Business for Climate Change” organized by SM Prime Holdings, various business leaders as well as representatives from government, the academe and media discussed the implications of climate change, with focus given on disaster risk resilience, logistics programs as well as sustainable best practices that could help empower retail businesses in preparation for the unforeseen effects of climate change.

Environmental champion Senator Loren Legarda, who chairs the Senate Committee on Climate Change, has been encouraging the business sector to devote more effort in disaster risk reduction efforts, noting that the country’s economic gains are at “high risk” to disasters particularly those brought about by typhoons and earthquakes, with potential losses estimated at over $9 billion in the wake of a strong earthquake.

The Green Retail Agenda comes on the heels of the UN University Institute for Environment and Human Security World Risk Index that ranked the Philippines as the third among countries most prone to disasters. SM Prime president Hans Sy was recently admitted to the by-invitation only Private Sector Advisory Group and was a presenter at the Global Forum on Disaster Risk Reduction by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) in Geneva a few months ago.

Hans told us it’s about time businesses pooled their knowledge on the threat of climate change for the survival not only of businesses but also the communities – something which should be in the agenda of every businessman big or small.

Spy tidbit

Our friend Harry Liu of Los Ricos Compania Corp. emailed us about the launch of their latest product, the Coco Natura Jam. Simply made from just two premium ingredients – coco sugar and fresh coconut milk – the product is all natural with no preservatives or additives. Those watching their sugar intake will be glad to know that the coco jam – which contains potassium, lauric acid and zinc – is considered a low glycemic food – meaning it won’t cause a spike in blood sugar levels.

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