Our special presentation on Straight from the Sky we bring you an update of what’s going on with Bigfoot, the company of Mr. Michael Gleissner that put up high-tech facilities for movie production that would launch Cebu as the next Ballywood, that Indian Film industry that just recently won a world accolade when “Slumdog Millionaire” won the 2009 Oscar Awards for Best Picture. Bigfoot has been in Cebu for many years now, opening it first facilities in Ramos St. then on to Mactan and then at the South Road Properties (SRP).
So what’s up with Bigfoot these days? To answer that, we bring you Mr. Jose Mercado, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bigfoot Global and Mr. Matt Lubetich, CEO of Bigfoot Entertainment to tell us about what Bigfoot is doing in Cebu. Watch this show on SkyCable’s channel 15 at 8:00pm.
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I waited until the fight of Manny Paquiao vs. Hatton was over to email this column … and indeed, it was all over in just two rounds! I never doubted that Manny would win over Hatton simply because the latter isn’t even considered “The Great White Hope” by the Brits. He’s a good boxer, but not against the lags of Manny Pacquiao. So you can consider Manny’s win yesterday as just another day in the office!
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Another tragic road mishap in Tungkop, Minglanilla which involved another mini bus, with one fatality and four people hurt, but it was an eight-vehicle smash up. Just a few days ago, I got a call from a friend that since that tragic accident in Minglanilla that had numerous fatalities, drivers are driving very cautiously but then the call he made was now a complaint that indeed people have short memories and are driving as reckless as before. My friend asked me, what can we do to stop these erring drivers?
The solution to this is to report reckless drivers directly to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) so they can be apprehended at the South Bus Terminal which is just right beside the LTO office. It may not make better drivers out of these people, but the hassle of being sent to LTO once, then twice, then thrice might just teach them lessons that they would not forget. But the best solution is still for the Philippine National Police (PNP) to send patrol vehicles in those areas and apprehend them en flagrante delicto!
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How the world is fast changing today. Talking about the weather, we have rains in the middle of summer; talk about medical alerts, there’s now an imminent pandemic of the so-called Swine Flu virus. Talk about business, Newsweek magazine’s May 4th issue headlined, “Shanghai: The Next Detroit.” Call it a coincidence that America’s response to this news was splashed in all the major international news networks that the iconic US automaker Chrysler had filed for chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Indeed how the world has changed and I’m absolutely sure, it won’t stop changing.
That today, the biggest car manufacturer and the biggest car market is now China is something even the smartest economic pundits failed to predict. They should have seen it coming, that China is the best and cheapest manufacturer in the world. When I was in Hong Kong a couple of weeks ago, the Lighting Show, which featured all kinds of lighting fixtures for homes or buildings where a hundred percent made in China. The Electronics show in the lower floors were about ninety-five percent made in China. They had all sorts of electronic devices, from cellphones, to kitchen appliances to tv sets. Clearly if you want it cheap, China is it!
If I’m a bit sentimental with Chrysler, it is due to the fact that I grew up with our family having Chrysler cars. The first one I recall is our 1947 Dodge that my Dad later sold to our uncle Dr. Oliverio “Olli” Segura. Then the last car of my grandpa, Don Jose Avila, was a 1956 Plymouth. Then in the 60s we had a Plymouth Valiant and then a 1968 Dodge Dart. Those were great cars and perhaps the best known Chrysler then was the Dodge Charger used in the blockbuster movie “Bullitt” with Steve McQueen. I finally got a first hand look at Chrysler when I was with the Transfarm & Co. that distributed Chrysler in the mid-90s.
Chrysler’s filing for Chapter 11 doesn’t mean it is shutting down its operations. They have a new partnership with Italian automaker Fiat (that owns Ferrari) and hopefully this partnership would result in Chrysler’s making fuel efficient cars like what Fiat does. Incidentally another US icon that will soon disappear is Pontiac. How America fixes its sick auto industry is something the world would like to see. Now if only America can fix the cause of their auto woes, its labor unions, only then can we see change that would truly come to America.