MVP on other matters

Manny Pangilinan, who chairs both the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Metro Pacific groups, is widely known for his business acumen as well as his support not only for Philippine basketball (both amateur and professional) but for Philippine sports in general.

I asked him whether there are still things that are not known or have not been written about him, and he said, maybe none. But I still gave it a try, and here it goes…

Are there still places that you haven’t been to but would like to visit?

MVP: The Middle East, Turkey, Greece, Africa, places of antiquity

Do you still have time to read books?

Much as I would love to, I find myself too tired to finish a book. I’m now reading a biography of Steve Jobs.

I learned from someone that the best way to finish a book is to set a quota, maybe finish one or two books a month….

That’s a good discipline. Maybe I should try that.

Do you still play squash?

No more. I’m back to playing badminton.

The first and last time I tried to play squash, I was concentrating more on not banging myself against the wall and against my opponent…

Well, you should find an opponent who is very good at squash. Otherwise, you and your opponent will just end up hitting each other.

Do you prefer any film genre?

I like action movies. And I prefer movies that do not have a complicated plot. They are too stressful.

Do you collect anything, say cars or paintings?

I have stopped driving, so I am no longer into cars. Paintings, I have some works of the masters as well as contemporary ones. But I do not go around looking for them. I collect turtles. My Metro Pacific office has one, a five-footed turtle. They say I need it to deflect the effects of the corners of my room.

Do you like football or soccer?

I am not exactly a fan, not even when I was in Hong Kong, because I find the game too slow. The game sometimes ends in a draw. (P.S. He is also not fond of golf. During one event, he told a crowd of golfers how he tried to learn the game with golfer par excellence Augie Palisoc, how he bought a golf set and hit the fairways after only one session at the driving range, and then gave up because the flight following his group was already frustrated about the pace of the game of the flight ahead).

Whatever happened to your dream of owning an NBA team?

We are still not ready for the complexity of handling an NBA team. The option of Sacramento Kings is still there. We also looked at Atlanta Hawks because we heard it was for sale. But nothing happened of it.

Are the Azkals ready to be a world-class team?

Maybe not at the moment. They are a young team and still need a lot of exposure.

How long is the partnership between Smart Communications and Araneta Coliseum?(Araneta Coliseum has been renamed Smart Araneta)?

It is for five years. In exchange for attaching Smart’s name to the coliseum, we are giving an endowment, aside from spending for part of the renovation. Araneta Coliseum is in need of repair.

Are you fond of electronic gadgets?

No I am not. (Except for his mobile phone, he does not carry around any other gadget. He does not exactly go for the latest and expensive models of mobile phones.)

For comments, suggestions, and insights, e-mail at [email protected].