http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b59a8f9e-f30d-11de-a888-00144feab49a.html?nclick_check=1
By Roel Landingin
Published: December 28 2009 01:20 Last updated: December 28 2009 01:20
Lucio Tan is always in a hurry. He bought a helicopter in 1968 to be able to move quickly when visiting his factories – making him one of the first Filipino businessmen to own one.
At the office, he attends up to seven meetings simultaneously – associates see him as a blur moving from one room to another.
It’s a trait that has served Mr Tan very well, catapulting him from struggling working student in the late 1950s to being the country’s second-richest man just five decades later. Today, with a net worth of $1.7bn, according to Forbes magazine, he is wealthier than any of the scions of the elite Spanish families whose companies are now more than a hundred years old, or most of the ethnic Chinese merchants who began to build their businesses right after the second world war.
Mr Tan, 75, owns the Philippines’ biggest cigarette company, its largest airline and flag carrier, the fifth and 11th biggest banks, one of south-east Asia’s biggest hog farms, the country’s only other brewery, and about a hundred other businesses. He also owns prime properties in several cities in China and Hong Kong.
It is a remarkable rise for somebody who became a Philippine citizen only in 1960 and formed what was to be his flagship company, Fortune Tobacco Corporation, only in 1965. Born in the southern Chinese province of Fujian in 1934, Mr Tan was four years old when his parents came to the Philippines in search of better fortune.
But in a country where business fortunes can be made or lost on government connections, the rapid growth of Mr Tan’s corporate empire is also widely seen as a result of his close association with the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
In explaining Mr Tan’s phenomenal rise, “the bigger force is political connection but he knows how to strategise which businesses to get into”, says Dr Ellen Palanca, an economist specialising on ethnic Chinese businesses in the Philippines.
Mr Tan also came to the country at a time when its economic base was shifting from agriculture towards industry and services, and the traditional and landed Spanish mestizo elite were under pressure from Mr Marcos. “He was also lucky that the traditional oligarchs were the enemies of Marcos,” adds Dr Palanca.
Soon after the dictator was overthrown in 1986, the new government of president Corazon Aquino filed a civil case to expropriate Mr Tan’s key assets on the ground they were “ill-gotten”, and partly owned by Mr Marcos.
The government alleged that special concessions granted by Mr Marcos allowed Mr Tan to become the biggest cigarette maker in the 1970s, enter the brewery business in 1982 which had until then been a monopoly, and rapidly grow a troubled bank acquired in 1977 into the country’s third-biggest lender. Mr Tan has rejected those allegations.
Against the odds, not only has Mr Tan successfully warded off the government’s attempts to seize control of his companies – all the cases are still tied up in court – he has managed to grow his businesses. He even acquired new ones, including state companies being privatised such as Philippine Airlines and Philippine National Bank.
For reasons still unclear to outsiders, a serious rift erupted earlier this year with Mariano, one of Mr Tan’s seven siblings who are all working in the family business.
In July, Mariano, through his counsel, told government lawyers that he was ready to testify and provide valuable information to bolster the government’s two-decade-old cases against the elder Mr Tan and the Marcoses. The quarrel comes at a critical period for Mr Tan, who is preparing for his sons to eventually succeed him. The country is also in the early stages of a presidential election that could bring in a less friendly administration. Mr Tan declined to comment.
Sunday
Lucio Tan brother urged to help gov't 'one last time'
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/12/11/09/lucio-tan-brother-urged-help-govt-one-last-time
By Michelle Orosa, ABS-CBN News 12/12/2009 7:37 AM
MANILA, Philippines - The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) is giving Mariano Tanenglian, brother of tobacco magnate Lucio Tan, one week to appear in person before the commission before it considers a request for immunity.
If Tanenglian snubs PCGG's invitation--the 5th already--the PCGG is mulling to confer with an earlier recommendation of the Office of the Solicitor General to turn down his immunity request, which was based on his testimony against Tan.
PCCG Commissioner Ricardo Abcede said in a press conference Friday that it was Taneglian's "last chance" to prove that he has a valuable testimony to offer, which will help the state sequester his brother’s alleged ill-gotten wealth.
"It seems the prevailing situation is that Mr. Tangenglian will not provide solid information until he is given that he asks for, just as the state will not give him what he asks for until he has first made some valuable disclosures. It is precisely to break this otherwise understandable impasse that the PCGG wants to engage Mr. Tanenglian in an open discussion, in the hope that during the exchange an arrangement agreeable and beneficial to both the potential state witness and the state may be hammered out," said Abcede.
Abcede said the PCGG has already invited Tanenglian for discussion 4 times, this being the 5th. But Tanenglian has always sent his counsel to represent him instead.
"I have to wonder why he's not coming in person. Is it because of fear? He must have his reasons. But as a lawyer, I feel it would be best to see him in person and determine whether what he has to say is valuable, and determine his credibility," the commissioner remarked.
Tanenglian came forward early this year, agreeing to testify on allegations that his brother had acquired Allied Bank, Fortune Tobacco and Asia Brewery through close ties with then President Ferdinand Marcos and his family.
In exchange for his testimony, Tanenglian asked that he be given immunity from any charges.
The case against Tan’s alleged ill-gotten wealth has been pending resolution at the Sandiganbayan for more than 20 years.
But the Office of the Solicitor General also earlier decided, through drafts of material Tanenglian's counsel provided regarding the content of his testimony, that he was not providing any data that was not already available in public.
The OSG called on the PCGG to turn down his request for immunity.
Meanwhile, Abcede also denied that the tobacco magnate himself was being treated with "kid gloves" and that the case was intentionally being dragged in courts.
"The truth is all past administrations have battled it out with Lucio Tan but thus far, Mr. Tan has been victorious in retaining ownership and control over his companies. The Arroyo administration, through the OSG, is doing all it can to bring victory to the state, but in the end the courts have the final say," he concluded.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20091212-241554/PCGG_gives_Tan_brother_last_chance
By Alcuin PapaPhilippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: December 12, 2009
MANILA, Philippines – The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) is giving Mariano Tanenglian, brother of businessman Lucio Tan, a last chance to appear before officials of the agency prior to being considered a witness in the cases against his estranged brother.
In a press conference, PCGG Commissioner Ricardo Abcede said Tanenglian should appear before PCGG officials if they are to consider his request for immunity from suit.
“We want to give him a chance to prove he is valuable and serious about testifying against his brother. This is the last chance,” Abcede said.
He added that granting immunity from suit to any witness is “an important thing. It’s not that easy.”
Abcede said they want to interview Tanenglian and gauge whether his testimony would be valuable to the government’s cases against Lucio Tan.
By Michelle Orosa, ABS-CBN News 12/12/2009 7:37 AM
MANILA, Philippines - The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) is giving Mariano Tanenglian, brother of tobacco magnate Lucio Tan, one week to appear in person before the commission before it considers a request for immunity.
If Tanenglian snubs PCGG's invitation--the 5th already--the PCGG is mulling to confer with an earlier recommendation of the Office of the Solicitor General to turn down his immunity request, which was based on his testimony against Tan.
PCCG Commissioner Ricardo Abcede said in a press conference Friday that it was Taneglian's "last chance" to prove that he has a valuable testimony to offer, which will help the state sequester his brother’s alleged ill-gotten wealth.
"It seems the prevailing situation is that Mr. Tangenglian will not provide solid information until he is given that he asks for, just as the state will not give him what he asks for until he has first made some valuable disclosures. It is precisely to break this otherwise understandable impasse that the PCGG wants to engage Mr. Tanenglian in an open discussion, in the hope that during the exchange an arrangement agreeable and beneficial to both the potential state witness and the state may be hammered out," said Abcede.
Abcede said the PCGG has already invited Tanenglian for discussion 4 times, this being the 5th. But Tanenglian has always sent his counsel to represent him instead.
"I have to wonder why he's not coming in person. Is it because of fear? He must have his reasons. But as a lawyer, I feel it would be best to see him in person and determine whether what he has to say is valuable, and determine his credibility," the commissioner remarked.
Tanenglian came forward early this year, agreeing to testify on allegations that his brother had acquired Allied Bank, Fortune Tobacco and Asia Brewery through close ties with then President Ferdinand Marcos and his family.
In exchange for his testimony, Tanenglian asked that he be given immunity from any charges.
The case against Tan’s alleged ill-gotten wealth has been pending resolution at the Sandiganbayan for more than 20 years.
But the Office of the Solicitor General also earlier decided, through drafts of material Tanenglian's counsel provided regarding the content of his testimony, that he was not providing any data that was not already available in public.
The OSG called on the PCGG to turn down his request for immunity.
Meanwhile, Abcede also denied that the tobacco magnate himself was being treated with "kid gloves" and that the case was intentionally being dragged in courts.
"The truth is all past administrations have battled it out with Lucio Tan but thus far, Mr. Tan has been victorious in retaining ownership and control over his companies. The Arroyo administration, through the OSG, is doing all it can to bring victory to the state, but in the end the courts have the final say," he concluded.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20091212-241554/PCGG_gives_Tan_brother_last_chance
By Alcuin PapaPhilippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: December 12, 2009
MANILA, Philippines – The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) is giving Mariano Tanenglian, brother of businessman Lucio Tan, a last chance to appear before officials of the agency prior to being considered a witness in the cases against his estranged brother.
In a press conference, PCGG Commissioner Ricardo Abcede said Tanenglian should appear before PCGG officials if they are to consider his request for immunity from suit.
“We want to give him a chance to prove he is valuable and serious about testifying against his brother. This is the last chance,” Abcede said.
He added that granting immunity from suit to any witness is “an important thing. It’s not that easy.”
Abcede said they want to interview Tanenglian and gauge whether his testimony would be valuable to the government’s cases against Lucio Tan.
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