Triathlete tycoons

The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.     —The Earl of Beaconsfield

Business tycoons of the Philippines who are positive role models in their healthy lifestyles as triathletes — competing in swimming, cycling and running — include Ayala Land’s Fernando Zobel de Ayala, Alaska Milk’s Fred Uytengsu and ABS-CBN Publishing, Inc. head Ernie Lopez.

Ayala Group’s Zobel has competed in the Cobra Ironman 70.3 Triathlon in CamSur, the Aviva Ironman in Singapore and is also a marathon runner.

Triathlete Wilfred Steven “Fred” Uytengsu Jr. is the grandson of prewar Cebu Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry president Tirso Uytengsu. The scion of a philanthropic ethnic Chinese business clan in southern Philippines with many educational charities, this year Fred donated the US$8-million Uytengsu Aquatics Center to the University of Southern California — the biggest-ever gift to USC Athletics by a former student-athlete. Fred was former swimming captain at USC.

Uytengsu is credited with bringing the Ironman and XTERRA races to the Philippines. His family’s Alaska team has won 13 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) championships and Alaska pioneered in promoting football among kids in the Philippines before the popularity of the Azkals team.

Ernesto Miguel “Ernie” L. Lopez of ABS-CBN Publishing, Inc. is among the country’s most passionate triathletes and noted for being the publisher of glossy magazines like Metro and Star Studio. His firm’s well-edited Juan Ponce Enrile, A Memoir has already sold over 10,000 copies since its September release, though critics claim that it should be sold under the “fiction” section of bookstores due to some alleged factual inaccuracies.

Ernie’s uncle, the mountain-climbing, book-loving tycoon Oscar Lopez, said he’s a former Harvard classmate of Enrile’s, although both of them ended up on opposite sides of the political divide during the 1970s martial law era.

When I asked what his next book-publishing project would be, Ernie Lopez replied, “Thank you. Will let you know when the plans are firm.” 

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US ambassador has Filipina girlfriend

A Philippine STAR reader and top Western business executive in Makati told me that US Ambassador Harry Thomas divorced his wife last year and that the top American diplomat now has a Filipina girlfriend.

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Is downloading a movie in one minute now possible?

In response to British businessman and TFC Capital chairman David Sullivan’s complaint to this columnist that “Philippine Internet service is slower than that in Cambodia,” we received the good news that the future of broadband is finally here in the Philippines with fiber optic technology direct to the home via PLDT MyDSL. 

Is it true the new “PLDT Fibr” (yes, it is really spelled without the “e”) would take only one second to download a 5Mb mp3 file, three seconds for a 35Mb video clip and only one minute to download an 800Mb movie?

This PLDT Fibr of 100 megabits per second (mbps) starts first in 100 exclusive villages of Metro Manila, Cebu and major cities for additional P3,500 per month. These include Forbes Park, Dasmariñas Village and Ayala Alabang, where realty prices are now sky-high. Paging MVP: When will PLDT Fibr be available to all homes?

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Entrepreneurs in sports equipment

This columnist commends Entrepreneur magazine of Summit Media for hosting its “Entrepreneur Networking Night.” The next one, with the topic “From Hobby to Hot Business,” will be on Dec. 17, Monday, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Cravings Event Hall on Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City near the Ateneo gym.

Speakers include Laureen Uy (Stylebreak), Atoy Llave (A-Toy Bodykits), Monique Borja (Bliss Yoga Manila), Ivan Man Dy (Old Manila Walks) and TV celebrity chef Rosebud Benitez (Chef Rosebud’s Kitchen, Quickfire).

For the next speakers, I recommend entrepreneurs in the business of promoting hobbies like medical technology graduate and Sportshouse retail chain founder Mars Chua (a respected leader of the Philippine Retailers Association), Toby’s Sports founder Roberto “Bobby” Claudio Sr. (who named the family business after his son and vice president for operations Roberto “Toby” Claudio Jr.), and Chris Sports founder Chris Tang (younger brother of Avesco electrical business tycoon and Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Inc. honorary president Jimmy Tang).

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Hotel boom in Morato/Timog area

Paging hardworking Tourism Secretary Mon Jimenez:  It’s good news to have the opening of the posh 32-suite The Raffles and the 280-room Fairmont Hotel in Makati, and other new hotel projects in the Fort like Grand Hyatt and Shangri-La. However, there’s also a hotel boom in Quezon City nowadays near the Scout/Morato/Timog area. I suggest that the DOT promote tourism in QC and other cities, too.

Aside from Mother Lily Y. Monteverde’s 207-room, newly renovated Imperial Palace Suites Hotel on Tomas Morato Avenue and also Ilocos Sur Congressman Eric Singson’s nice Rembrandt Hotel along the same street, here are two new and very elegant hotels:

The beautiful 116-room Luxent Hotel just had its soft opening on July 28 and is owned by 38-year-old poultry entrepreneur Roger Siy and his wife, Christina Siy. Its rooms, restaurants, buffet area and ballroom are already open, but the spa, gym and swimming pool will open in early 2013. I suggest that its lobby resto open beyond its present 10 p.m. closing time, since the area is a lively nightlife hub.  When I asked after how many years they expect to recoup their investment, Roger humbly replied: “Five years if we enjoy brisk business, and up to 20 years if business is not good.”

Cocoon Boutique Hotel is owned by Atty. Boy and Gigi Vinzon, located on Scout Tobias Street corner Scout Rallos Street right in the fast-growing residential townhouse enclave. It reportedly has more luxurious bed sheets than even those in the Makati Shangri-La Hotel! Cocoon is beside Maki House resto owned by Bobson Jeans owner Victor Tan.

Also soon to open in 2013 near the Scouts area is the Sequoia Hotel along Mother Ignacia Avenue right across Burger King Timog Avenue. I heard that Sequoia Hotel’s owners saw the billboard of architect John David O’Yek at the Luxent Hotel construction site and also got him for this reportedly lower-priced competitor project. Instead of targeting the low-priced market, why don’t the Sequoia Hotel owners invest more and target upscale travelers as well in order to be like Luxent and Cocoon?

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By the way, this year is the 250th anniversary of the short two-year British occupation of Manila and Cavite, which started in 1762. A lot of people wonder, if the more business-minded British had colonized us instead of the Spanish, would our society and economy be so much better now?  

One of the most active business chambers in the Philippines is the British Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (BCCP) led by the following board of directors: chairman Michael Whiting, managing director of Sinclair James; vice chairman Roger Lamb, director of Satona Consulting Asia; plus other officers like director Mahendra Gursahani, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank; director Tony Cripps, president and CEO of HSBC, etc.  BCCP executive director is David Mascenon.

British firms have expressed interest in participating in the government’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program for infrastructure, the Mandarin-speaking British Ambassador to the Philippines and Philippine STAR columnist Stephen Lillie said. He is also the UK Ambassador to three republics in the North Pacific: Palau, the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.

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Thanks to good samaritans!

I recently told Manila Mayor Alfredo “Fred” Lim that Manila resident and former Panorama magazine editor Randy Urlanda has cancer and needed emergency help in the hospital. Thanks to the action-oriented and compassionate city mayor and former crime-buster for giving assistance.

Thanks also to STAR reader and Buddhist philanthropist Manuel O. Chua of the Tulay Foundation and Aloha Hotel for his help to Randy Urlanda, after I texted the latter’s plight. By the way, his grandsons Derrick Chua and Desmond Chua are the young entrepreneurs behind South Korea’s No. 1 coffee-shop chain Caffé Bene, which is coming here to the Philippines with the first outlet in Eastwood City Walk 2.  Will this be the next UCC and Starbucks in success? Local brands like Figaro are doing quite well.

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