Sandiganbayan awaits Marcos evidence in P51-B wealth case

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/11/23/10/sandiganbayan-awaits-marcos-evidence-p51-b-wealth-case

MANILA, Philippines – Late President Ferdinand Marcos’ widow and heirs have only 8 days left to present evidence to the Sandganbayan Fifth Division in connection with a P51-billion lawsuit filed by the government 23 years ago.

In a November 17 order, the anti-graft court declared that former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos and the estate of her husband have only until December 2 to submit documents or testimonies to counter evidence presented by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) in Civil Case No. 0005.

The PCGG is seeking forfeiture in favor of the state of a 60% stake in various companies owned by businessman Lucio Tan. The companies include Fortune Tobacco Corp., Asia Brewery Inc., Allied Banking Corp., Foremost Farms, Himmel Industries Inc., Grandspan Development Corp., Silangan Holdings Inc., Dominium Realty and Construction Corp. and Shareholdings Inc.

The Marcos family is also claiming the same assets, alleging that the former President was the real owner of the stakes and Tan was only his nominee.

The court, however, noted that neither the former first lady nor her 3 children have filed any pleading in connection with the submission of government evidence.

The December 2 deadline was an extension of an earlier deadline. The anti-graft court, during a hearing last October 27, set the presentation of evidence for the Marcoses and defendant Mariano Tanenglian on November 15, 18, 23 and 25.

In his counter-manifestation dated November 2 that was filed through lawyers Estelito Mendoza and Orlando Santiago, Tan had asked the Sandiganbayan to declare the Marcoses and Tanenglian in default, unless they are able to complete their presentation of evidence by November 25.

Tanenglian, an estranged brother of Tan, has a pending motion seeking the lifting of the deadline in his case. He is hoping that the PCGG and the Aquino administration would act favorably on his offer to testify for the government in exchange for immunity.

The PCGG and then-Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera previously rejected Tanenglian’s offer, noting that it is more than 2 decades late, and was only made after Tanenglian’s reported rift with his brother.

Devanadera also noted that Tanenglian held high positions in Tan’s companies and was named as one of the principal defendants in the case because of his alleged active collaboration with the Marcos couple during their heydays.

Taipan publicly cuts off ties with brother

Taipan publicly cuts off ties with brother
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=2010/november/22/news6.isx&d=2010/november/22

BUSINESSMAN Lucio Tan took out newspaper advertisements over the weekend to announce that his younger brother, Mariano Tanenglian, was no longer connected with any of the Tan companies.

The public notice was apparently triggered by Tanenglian writing to President Aquino and the Presidential Commission on Good Government offering to testify in the government’s ill-gotten-wealth case against the taipan in exchange for immunity from suit, hoping the new administration is more receptive to the idea than its predecessor.

In identical letters sent to Malacañang, the PCGG, and the Office of the Solicitor General, Tanenglian’s lawyers pressed their client’s offer of cooperation in the government’s 20-year-old case against Tan.

The PCGG had rejected Tanenglian’s offer in October 2009, saying his request for immunity was disadvantageous to the government, and that he should testify with no conditions.

The commission also said it might be too late for Tan’s brother to testify because the anti-graft court, the Sandiganbayan, had already decided to stop hearing testimony from government witnesses in the case.

Before that, then Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera had advised the PCGG to turn down Tanenglian’s proposal.

Tanenglian, a respondent in the same case, has had a public falling out with his brother, who is the chairman of Philippine Airlines and Fortune Tobacco.

Over the weekend, the Lucio Tan Group of Companies took out advertisements in several national dailies saying Tanenglian was not a director or officer of any of their companies.

In a motion filed before the Sandiganbayan, Tanenglian’s lawyers urged the anti-graft court to allow their client to testify in hearings scheduled up to December.

They also said they were waiting to hear from the Office of the Solicitor General under the Aquino administration if it also supported Devanadera’s recommendation to reject Tanenglian’s proposal.

The lawyers urged the anti-graft court to stop what they described as a collusion among the PCGG, the Office of the Solicitor General, and Tan.

Going-Ons

Lucio Tan spooks son’s entry into MRC Allied

THE paid advisories placed by taipan Lucio Tan distancing himself and his group of companies from the reported acquisition of the listed MRC Allied by his eldest son, Lucio "Bong" Tan Jr., have apparently had the desired effect.

According to the grapevine, MRC Allied chairman Mariano "Mimo" Osmeña and his fellow directors were now thinking of unwinding the transaction, especially since the young Tan has yet to fully pay the reported P600-million acquisition cost for the 87-percent stake.

Osmeña, a son of former Cebu Gov. Emilio "Lito" Osmeña, and the Chinoy directors of MRC Allied apparently did not want to antagonize the taipan with their continued association with his son, especially with the very public warning issued by one of the country’s wealthiest men.

If the same grapevine is to be believed, the only one left rooting for Tan Jr. was his friend, MRC Allied president Benjamin Bitanga.

Tan Jr. was apparently caught unaware by the MRC disclosure that it had acquired about 6,000 hectares in mining claims in Mindanao adjoining the Tampakan deposit, which is said to be the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposit in the Southeast Asia.

On top of the disclosure, Tan Jr. was also apparently caught unaware that Bitanga had been reinstated by the MRC Allied board as president from the more humble position of corporate information officer.

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Lucio Tan's brother asks to delay presentation of evidence
abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 11/18/2010 7:48 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Typan Lucio Tan's estranged brother, Mariano Tanenglian, has moved for the cancellation of the deadline set by the anti-graft court for his presentation of evidence in a 24-year-old ill-gotten wealth case.

In his 9-page motion filed last November 12, Tanenglian questioned the directive to present a rebuttal evidence before the Fifth Division of the Sandiganbayan.

Tanenglian cited the assurance by the court in the October 13, 2010 hearing that he would be given time to seek resolution of his application for immunity.

During the hearing last October 27, Tanenglian was ordered in open court to complete his presentation no later than November 25, 2010 as the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), represented by the Office of the Solicitor General, has been told to present rebuttal evidence starting December 1.

In the same motion, Tanenglian admitted that his previous application has been turned down by the PCGG and then Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera.

Likewise he said he received no reply to his letters of appeal to former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Tanenglian said he has also written to President Benigno Aquino III to review his immunity application.

In her opinion sent to the PCGG on July 13, 2009, Devanadera expressed wariness at Tanenglian’s "obscure motives" for his offer of cooperation with the government case against his own brother.

She noted that Tanenglian’s offer came 20 years after the filing of the case and only after his reported rift with Tan.

In addition, Devanadera noted that Tanenglian held high positions in Tan’s companies and was named as one of the principal defendants in Civil Case no. 0005 because of his alleged active collaboration with former President Ferdinand Marcos and former First Lady Imelda Marcos in amassing ill-gotten wealth at the expense of public interest.

The Sandiganbayan ordered the termination of government presentation in April 2009 after OSG lawyers repeatedly failed to present any of its supposed witness resulting in several cancellations of hearing dates.

PCGG is claiming that 60% of Tan’s holdings in his companies including Fortune Tobacco Corp., Asia Brewery Inc., Allied Banking Corp., Foremost Farms, Himmel Industries Inc., Grandspan Development Corp., Silangan Holdings Inc., Dominium Realty and Construction Corp. and Shareholdings Inc. in behalf of the State.

The Marcos family has also stake its claim on the same shareholdings claiming former President Marcos was the actual owner of the said assets and he only named Lucio Tan as his nominee.

However, like Tanenglian, the Marcos family has yet to present any evidence in support of its claim.

On the other hand, Tan took less than 30 minutes last August 24 to complete his own presentation, submitting in court several pre-marked documents that lawyer Estelito Mendoza said sufficiently proved that Tan acquired all of his businesses without using any public fund.

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PAL to pursue ‘anti-worker’ policies with people’s money
November 17, 2010 05:22:00
Philippine Daily Inquirer

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES’ plan to borrow P2.6 billion from government financial institutions such as the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) to finance its restructuring scheme is both appalling and alarming. It is appalling, as PAL has the audacity to seek help from the government in its effort to throw out 2,600 ground crew employees. It is disturbing that it is using the people’s own resources to fund its anti-people policies. Clearly, this is a classic case of niluluto tayo sa sarili nating mantika (frying ourselves in our own lard).

We warn DBP and LBP not to give in to the loan application of PAL. They must not be a party to this year’s massive retrenchment and in the further weakening of the workers’ right to security of tenure. The role of government financial institutions (GFIs) is to spur economic growth by financing job creation and small and medium enterprise endeavors in the urban and rural areas. When they lend money, which would only be used to retrench workers, they are contradicting their own principles and goals. They are financing unemployment. Worse, they are skewing efforts away from economic development.

The government is already in hot water over the labor department’s wrong decision approving the dismissal of thousands of regular workers. If the state banks approve PAL’s loan request, then it is also giving its consent to the obliteration of job security here in the Philippines.

Thus, we challenge the GFIs to immediately reject any loan application from PAL in order to fund its restructuring scheme with the end view of dismissing thousands of regular workers. They have no business acting as the union buster’s financier to its unfair labor practices. Instead, the state banks should prioritize the funding of small and medium enterprises as well as the financing of programs that will generate real jobs, including those in agriculture, which is the real core of economic development.

For our part, we will block all efforts from PAL to use the people’s money to finance anti-worker policies. We will be on our toes to ensure that no such deals push through. The people’s resources must not be part of any business plan that would place the workers and their families’ future in jeopardy.

-RISA HONTIVEROS,
spokesperson, Akbayan Party,
36-B Madasalin St. Sikatuna Village,
Quezon City

Brother against brother
http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstories/view/20101121-304543/Biz-Buzz-Glitzy-opening-salvo

THE FEUD between taipan Lucio Tan and Mariano Tanenglian was raised to new heights Sunday after the group of the airline and beer magnate took out an ad in this newspaper disavowing business ties with Kapitan’s estranged brother.

The ad-paid for by the Lucio Tan Group of Companies-told customers, clients "and all parties dealing with [it]" that Tanenglian "has ceased to be a director and/or officer" of some 22 firms under the group, including PAL, PNB, Asia Brewery and Fortune Tobacco.

"He has no authority to transact business and/or represent in any manner whatsoever any of the above-named companies," it added.

And lest anyone wonder what Tanenglian looks like, the ad also carried a picture of the taipan’s brother-wanted-poster style.

According to one source, the move was prompted by reports of Tanenglian’s return to the country from a self-imposed cooling off period (a.k.a. exile) abroad.

"The lawyers of the group just want to make sure there is no confusion on anyone’s part on his status," said another.

It now remains to be seen how Tanenglian will return the favor, given that he has already presented himself as a witness for the government’s case against Tan (with little success, so far).

The notice comes just a few weeks after Tan’s lawyers "clarified"-via a similar ad-the nature of the links (or the lack of them) between the group and the business of his son and namesake, Lucio Jr.-Daxim L. Lucas

PAL DOESN'T JUST UNDERSTAND JUSTICE, it doesn’t understand law.

In February 2009, Major Major Senior Officer(s) of Allied Bank ordered 6 Armed Guards to Threaten and Initimidate a Director of the bank who was also an EXECOM member, shareholder of the bank forcing this 70 year old Director to stop reporting for work.

This Major Major Officer DOES NOT understand justice nor understands the law.

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"PAL DOESN'T JUST UNDERSTAND JUSTICE, it doesn’t understand law."
Business sense
By Conrado de Quiros
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:42:00 11/16/2010

SONNY MELENCIO, chair of Partido ng Masang Pilipino, has a point when he suggests in a letter to the editor last Nov. 11 that it’s Cielo Villaluna’s scare tactic that’s scary. Villaluna said that unless PAL sacks 3,000 of its employees, PAL “will close down and 7,500 workers will be displaced without separation pay.” Even if PAL does close down, Melencio says, PAL will have to pay separation pay. That’s the law. PAL doesn’t just understand justice, it doesn’t understand law.

But of course it’s a scare tactic, one that Lucio Tan has employed often enough. It raises all sorts of questions. Not least whether Tan can really do business under competitive conditions. Among the taipans, he’s the one who seems to be able to thrive only with overarching government patronage, which is a charitable way of putting it, such as he did during Marcos’ time and Erap’s time. And for which he invests heavily in candidates. The other taipans seem able to operate pretty much under different leaders. Certainly Lance Gokongwei has not been hit with the same labor problems in Cebu Pacific as Tan has in PAL.

Why should PAL close down if he can’t lay off 3,000 workers? As insiders say, PAL has enough savings to keep them and put them to productive use. At the very least, there’s the justice aspect of it. Many of those workers have been with the company for decades. They even agreed to call a 10-year moratorium on collective bargaining during Erap’s time to help the company along-and also because they knew they weren’t just going against Tan, they were going against Erap. As all the unions supporting PALEA (that is phenomenally universal) point out, the company does not lack ways to cut costs short of sacking 3,000 workers.

At the very most it’s just bad business. How can you get the loyalty-which translates as enthusiasm, which translates as productivity-of your people by mounting a reign of insecurity, if not of terror?

But on a broader front, the problem really goes beyond Tan, though he is the extreme and a problem enough unto himself. The problem is the general attitude or instinct of capitalists in this country to think of themselves first particularly during hard times, or indeed to use those very hard times as an excuse to employ sweatshop methods of cost-cutting. Contractualization is chief of them, the practice of hiring workers without benefits, or without benefit of regularization. It is a vicious thing, reducing the workers to little more than chattel slaves.

The argument, or scare tactic, is that unless the capitalist employs these methods, he will perish, the workers will perish, the country will perish. Only the most ruthless exploitation of labor will allow everyone to live, which is all very nice except when you look at it from the worker’s point of view. Would any capitalist like to live under those conditions of utter uncertainty? Unfortunately for the worker, for the capitalist of this country all times are bad times, justifying mounting that permanent regime of insecurity, if not of terror.

The question of course is: Is there any other way to do it?

The answer isn’t just yes, it is a resounding yes.

Gawad Kalinga (GK), Tony Meloto’s social project that’s now a toast of the world, has just such an enterprise. It’s called Human Nature, a company that has a whole line of products, including hair care, face and lip care, body care, hand and foot care, and stuff for kids. All these are giving rivals like Body Shop a run for their money because they are world class while being way cheaper. The company surged pretty strongly this year because of its Citronella Bug Spray which came out while dengue was rioting. The company managed to meet only 25 percent of demand, government itself endorsing it as a safe and effective means to fight the epidemic.

Human Nature takes off from GK’s philosophy to serve the poor. Not to help the poor through charity or doles but to help the poor help themselves. The products are manufactured by GK villages, from ingredients grown by GK villages. The profits are plowed back to the GK villages. Most companies that tote a “social responsibility” tag give 1-2 percent to the poor. Human Nature gives back 30 percent to them, though the GK residents may no longer be called poor before very long by dint of their own effort. That is the reason the Human Nature products are world class and way cheap. That is also the reason the company is growing by leaps and bounds.

That GK is becoming a toast of the world is no exaggeration. Meloto himself was just been named a leading social innovator by Ernst & Young during its Entrepreneur of the Year Awards last month. Ernst & Young, one of the world’s largest professional services firms assisting business, is currently big on “social entrepreneurship,” a concept GK itself is helping give flesh and sinew to. It’s been a little fuzzy thus far. The award entitles him to sit in the councils of the Economic Summit in Davos and meet with people looking for projects to fund, like Bill Gates.

You can’t say GK/Human Nature can’t compare with PAL in scale, at least as far as potential goes. Give it time and that may be true only in the reverse: PAL won’t compare with GK/Human Nature in scale.

The point is simple. You can have capitalists who do not need to exploit labor to thrive. In fact, you can have capitalists-or entrepreneurs in the truest sense of the word-who need only to make the poor less poor, or no longer poor, to thrive. GK is setting the template for it. Its argument, or scare tactic, is that unless your workers profit along with you, you will perish, your workers will perish, the country will perish. It’s great business sense.

It makes great business, and it makes great sense.

Déjà vu at PAL

Déjà vu at PAL
By Solita Collas-Monsod
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:28:00 11/13/2010

A white elephant?

Déjà vu at PAL

DOES A company have the right to restructure its organization, weed out redundant employees, and contract out or "outsource" a business function that used to be performed in-house, to an external provider? Of course, was the universal reply from those I asked. So Philippine Airlines (PAL) has the right, according to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, and she and PAL have been fiercely defending their actions/decision respectively.

Does a company have the right to terminate all of its old (not necessarily in age but in terms of years of service) employees, and then hire them back, directly or indirectly, at entry-level wages and no seniority privileges? Of course not, was the universal reply. Lawyer Lorna Kapunan was one of those I asked, and she was emphatic about it. So PAL was wrong on this, according to its employees, because that is what it is doing.

How to reconcile these two seemingly opposite situations? Simple, say the employees. Certainly PAL will be "outsourcing" (Situation 1). But the outside company is really an inside company-owned, controlled or operated by Lucio Tan, his family, or his dummies. Smoke and mirrors and corporate veils are being used to disguise the situation, but the end result is the same: employees terminated will be rehired at lower wages, and zero seniority (Situation II).

How do the employees know that the firms that will undertake the previously in-house services are actually in-house firms? They point to Tan’s son, son-in-law, some PAL officials as officers/owners of the firms being considered. Plus the very fact that PAL is offering the soon-to-be-terminated employees first crack at employment with the new (outsourced) service provider-at lower rates, obviously, and as "contractuals"-looks to be a dead giveaway. The disguise is careless.

PAL claims that this "outsourcing" is necessary because it has been losing money-the reported figures are over $300 million or P13 billion for 2008 and 2009. But why did it lose money? Its president, Jimmy Bautista, has been quoted as attributing this to a combination of low demand, restrictions to its expansion to lucrative routes in the United States, and a bad hedging decision that led to the airline paying a lot of money for oil that got cheap.

The low demand part is easy: the global economic crisis was in full flow in 2008 and 2009, and travel was a natural victim-something like a 7-percent decrease in worldwide demand.

The restrictions part is a little more complicated: it involves the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the former having downgraded the Philippines in 2008 due to deficiencies in our Air Transportation Office (ATO), and the ICAO giving the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), ATO’s successor, a failing grade in its audit. All these wreaked havoc on PAL’s flight expansion plans in the United States, as well as its use of two brand-new Boeing 777 aircraft for US flights (not allowed).

And what was the bad hedging decision? This was sometime in 2008, when there was speculation that the price of oil would go through the roof (over $150 a barrel). PAL management bet that prices would go up, so it bought its oil forward, paying current prices against future deliveries. It lost the bet, i.e., prices went down instead of up, and PAL took a financial bath-rumors of the loss ranged from $150 million to more than $300 million.

The reader will notice that the reasons for PAL’s losses in 2008 and 2009, as reported by Bautista, had nothing to do with high labor costs. So why is labor bearing the brunt of the losses?

More to the point, how much is supposed to be the cost savings attached to the labor retrenchment? Again, from news reports, this will be something like $20 million-or all of 6.7 percent of PAL’s total losses.

In sum, PAL lost $300 million, through no fault of its labor. But it is using that as an excuse to take out labor (that just coincidentally comprises 70 percent of PAL Employees’ Association [Palea], the labor union, and most of its officers), even though the "outsourcing" scheme will reportedly reduce its losses by a mere 6.7 percent.

One cannot help conclude that this is nothing but a union-busting move. And yet Secretary Baldoz swallowed the PAL version hook, line and sinker.

The irony of it is that this whole sorry mess gives anyone with a long memory a sense of déjà vu. Twelve years ago, PAL did the very same thing-terminating pilots and flight crews-over 1,500 employees. PAL made the same claim: losses (arising from the Asian financial crisis). It then rehired a great number of them-but at entry level wages, loss of seniority (and for the pilots, a promise not to form a union). PAL sold off its profit centers to Tan-owned companies, terminating the PAL employees in the process, and then rehiring them at lower wages and no job security. And managed to swing a 10-year suspension of the CBA with Palea.

An excerpt from the 2008 Supreme Court decision ordering PAL to reinstate the 1,400 or so flight crew it had terminated, says it all: "It was unfair for PAL to have made such a move; it was capricious and arbitrary, considering that several thousand employees who had long been working for PAL had lost their jobs, only to be recalled but assigned to lower positions, and, worse, some as new hires, without due regard for their long years of service with the airline."

Perhaps Secretary Baldoz should be reminded that she is the secretary of labor, not of management. And that the LE in DOLE stands for "labor" and "employment," not for "labor exploitation."

Troubles and Truths

Fortune Tobacco employees also wary of possible layoffs

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Fortune Tobacco employees 'restive' over job prospects

abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 11/10/2010 10:34 PM Updated as of 11/11/2010 1:05 AM

MANILA, Philippines - The labor union of cigarette maker Fortune Tobacco has expressed anxiousness over potential job losses that ground and flight crew at Philippine Airlines also face following corporate reorganization.

Fortune Tobacco and Philippine Airlines are both controlled by Filipino-Chinese typan Lucio Tan.

"By closely watching the recent developments in PAL, FTLU (Fortune Tobacco Labor Union) members are getting restless over the 'general pattern' created with PAL's journey into the world of contractualization," former FTLU president Renato Magtubo said in a statement on Wednesday.

He was referring to the planned spin-off of PAL's three non-core businesses that would result in about 2,600 job losses, a move that the Labor Department recently allowed as part of "management's preprogative" to save costs.

Early this year, Fortune Tobacco formed a joint venture with multinational cigarette maker Philip Morris Philippines Inc. creating an entity that cornered about 90% of the Philippine cigarette market.

Before the joint venture, Fortune Tobacco was the market leader, cornering the middle and low-end segment of the market.

FTLU said their members are "getting restive" as Fortune Tobacco also "embarks on major reorganization, which threatens the job security of its more than 2,000 workers."

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3 big labor groups fighting PAL ruling

Cite ‘clear danger to labor rights’
By Philip Tubeza, Paolo Montecillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:03:00 11/11/2010
Filed Under: Air Transport, Labour dispute, Spin-offs, Justice & Rights, business process outsourcing (BPO)

MANILA, Philippines-Saying there was a "clear and present danger to labor rights," the country’s biggest labor groups have set aside their differences to ask President Benigno Aquino III to reverse the labor department’s ruling allowing the retrenchment of 2,600 workers of Philippine Airlines (PAL).

Various labor groups, numbering about 16-from the militant Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) to the moderate Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP)-have joined hands in protesting Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz’s decision allowing the retrenchment, Gerry Rivera, PAL Employees’ Association (PALEA) president, said Wednesday.

"We call on the government to take notice of this historic solidarity of the full spectrum of the labor movement to defend regular jobs and to fight labor contractualization," said Rivera, who is also the vice chair of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).

In a decision promulgated on Oct. 29, the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) gave PAL the green light to proceed with the layoff of 2,600 employees to pave the way for outsourcing services.

Baldoz said contracting out services and closing down PAL’s in-flight catering, airport services and call center reservation operations were lawful.

"It is not too late for Malacañang to intervene in the PAL labor row in the interest of safeguarding constitutionally mandated workers’ rights in the face of corporate restructuring," Rivera said.

Dangerous decision

At a gathering on Monday in Quezon City, leaders of the TUCP, KMU, PM and the Alliance of Progressive Labor and other labor groups agreed on a statement of solidarity with PALEA.

They also condemned the Baldoz ruling as a "clear and present danger to labor rights and may be the last nail on the coffin of job security."

"This decision is dangerous because it sets aside the PAL-PALEA collective bargaining agreement where it is clearly stated that contracting out the work of regular employees is prohibited," the unity statement said.

The statement also said that the Baldoz ruling "disregards our jurisprudence and laws and lays out the conditions for the retrenchment of workers even in companies that claim to be losing money."

Fight of all workers

The statement said the decision would open the door for widespread contractualization. "This could be the last nail on the coffin of job security in our country," it warned.

"That is why... this is not just a fight of PAL employees. It is also the fight of all Filipino workers. Employers, however big or small, would be emboldened to follow PAL (if Baldoz’s ruling is upheld)," it added.

As a result of the Baldoz ruling, regular employees will be removed and replaced by contractual workers who have lesser pay and benefits and have no job security and union protection, the labor groups said.

Survival

PAL said its plan to cut 2,600 jobs to reduce costs was necessary for the flag carrier’s survival in the competitive aviation industry.

Cebu groups back PAL union

By Carine M. Asutilla, ABS-CBN Cebu
Posted at 11/11/2010 5:25 PM Updated as of 11/11/2010 5:55 PM

MANILA, Philippines - More than 20 labor groups in the Visayas pledged their support to the ground crew employees of local carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL).

Representatives from different labor and militant groups met with the members of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) in Cebu to formally support the union, which is gearing up for a series of protest actions starting Friday.

Joe Tomongha of the Association of Progressive Labor (APL) said that PALEA was battling against contractualization, a problem that labor groups in Cebu share.

Ronald Sitoy of the Kilusan Para sa Pambansang Demokrasya said that their unity was a message to the government that contractualization should be scrapped. Sitoy said the government should treat workers fairly and give them what is due to them.

For his part, Dennis Darige of the Partido ng Manggagawa said they will launch their own protest actions in front of the regional office of Department of Labor and Employment in Cebu. Some 300 PALEA members will attend their rallies until November 30. He clarified though that there will be no work stoppage for PAL workers.

The officials of PALEA are all in Manila, calling for the House Labor Committee to investigate the ownership of the so-called third party service providers contracted by PAL to take over its airport services, in-flight catering and call center reservations.

PALEA is protesting PAL's planned outsourcing, which would require the laying off of some 2,600 workers.

The union filed a formal notice of strike at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board despite a recent P2.5 billion settlement offer by the PAL management to the affected employees.

This was PALEA’s second strike notice after the one filed in January.

The Lucio Tan-led airline has a separate labor issue with the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines, which cited discrimination as ground for considering a strike.

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Erap: Davide appointment as SC chief a favor for Lucio Tan

MARK DALAN MERUEÑAS, GMANews.TV
07/06/2010 10:55 PM

The appointment of Hilario Davide Jr. as chief justice in 1998 was done as a favor for business tycoon Lucio Tan, former President Joseph "Erap" Estrada bared in a radio interview Tuesday.

Estrada, who got more than 9 million votes in the May 10 presidential race despite his conviction for plunder, also assailed Davide’s recent appointment as head of an independent body that will investigate unresolved controversies in the Arroyo administration.

"Ang totoo, noong ako ay presidente inimbitahan ako ni Lucio Tan sa penthouse niya sa hotel niya. Sabi niya magdi-dinner lang kami. Inimbita lang ako. Pero pagpasok ko sa penthouse, nandoon na si Chief Justice Davide. Iyan (Tan) ang lumakad para ma-promote iyan at maging chief justice," said Estrada in a dzMM interview.

(When I was President Lucio Tan invited me to a dinner in his penthouse. There I saw Chief Justice Davide. It was Tan who worked to get Davide promoted to chief justice.)

Estrada did not say when and where the meeting took place.

He said he heeded Tan's request and appointed Davide.

GMANews.TV tried calling Davide for comment, but he was not answering his phone.

Davide, in 2002, was conferred the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service - a singular honor that is the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize. He was also recognized for his life of principled citizenship and his profound service to democracy and the rule of law.

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Philippine Billionaire Cries Foul Over Beer Bottles
Chinese Filipino business magnate Lucio Tan

Lucio Tan is accusing the food and beverage giant San Miguel of using dirty tactics to disrupt the operations of his Asia Brewery.

The Philippine’s second-richest person accuses San Miguel of collecting and storing hundreds of thousands of Asia Brewery’s empty bottles and crates to prevent them from being re-used.

Previously the two companies had an agreement to exchange one another’s bottles, but the deal was terminated after a few years. San Miguel’s staff continued to collect and store their competitor’s bottles and crates long after the deal had expired.

The trial court ruled in favor of Tan’s complaint awarding 130 million pesos ($3 million) in damages, but the decision was reversed on appeal. Now, Tan is taking his case back to the courts.

According to a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Asia Brewery says the appeals court "erred when it blindly accepted the hearsay and incredible testimonies of San Miguel’s witnesses as gospel truth.”

Besides Asia Brewery, Tan also owns the Philippines’s largest cigarette maker, Fortune Tobacco and a stake in Philippine Airlines. Forbes calculated his wealth at $2.1 billion in July. The biggest chunk of his fortune comes from Hong Kong-based Eton Properties, which is selling land in one of its township developments to Henry Sy’s SM Prime.

Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. is the chairman and CEO of San Miguel. Ranked as the 10th richest person in the Philippines, Cojuangco’s fortune was valued at $760 million in July.

http://blogs.forbes.com/robertolsen/2010/10/13/philippine-billionaire-cries-foul-over-beer-bottles/

Lucio's Sons

MRC Allied listing Tan, Jr.’s new shares

MRC Allied Industries, Inc. will list three billion in additional shares at the local bourse following the entry of Lucio K. Tan, Jr., the listed company said in a statement yesterday.

"[The company has] secured approval from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) to list an additional 3.12 billion common shares at a par value of P0.20," MRC Allied President Benjamin M. Bitanga said in the statement.

"The listing of these shares is the last of a series of moves that will allow the company to fully focus on resuming a growth agenda for MRC Allied," Mr. Bitanga said.

MRC Allied listed only 500 million shares when it went public in 1995.

Menlo Capital Corp., which bought the company’s bank debts worth P600 million in exchange for 80% or majority of MRC Allied last month, will subscribe to the new shares.

Investment house Menlo Capital is 50% owned by Lucio K. Tan, Jr., the son of tobacco and airline magnate Lucio C. Tan.

"Now all the tools are in place to fuel growth and we are now in a very good position to make acquisitions," Mr. Bitanga said.

The company wants to buy Filipino remittance and air freight service firm Johnny Air Cargo for P500 million to P800 million.

In March, MRC Allied inked a P1.4-billion investment deal with United Kingdom-based fund manager Global Emerging Markets Global Yield Fund Ltd.

Mr. Bitanga said the company was looking at acquiring companies that would generate profits immediately, shelving plans to go into power generation.

MRC Allied, a listed property developer, has a real estate project in Cebu worth P1.8 billion.

MRC Allied was incorporated on Nov. 20, 1990 as Makilala Rubber Corp. for the processing and export of baled natural rubber. In 1993, a group of investors acquired the company from Philtread Tire and Rubber Corp.

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(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Victor C. Agustin

IT WAS supposed to have been only Michael Tan, Lucio Tan's eldest son by his second wife, who had been scheduled to meet with the Inquirer Business staff, but for still unknown reasons, the taipan himself decided that he too would go, bringing with him his brother Harry and a number of the taipan's key lieutenants.

It was a pleasant surprise, considering that the taipan and the Inquirer have had difficult relations in the past; still, gracious hosts that they were, Inquirer president Alexandra Prieto-Romualdez even upgraded the modest Business staff lunch budget to Le Souffle catering

Taipan guilty of Economic Sabotage?

Taipan guilty of Economic Sabotage?

"I am certain PNoy [Aquino] understands the gravity of this PAL row. This appeal only serves as an urge to his Excellency to intervene and exhaust all means provided by the law to act and protect the PAL workers’ labor rights and job security. After all, these affected workers are also his boss," San Juan City Representative Joseph Victor Ejercito said.

Ejercito, one of the vice chairpersons of the committee, expressed disappointment over the decision of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, saying this may cause a stain on the President’s commitment to lead the people on the right path.

"If the laying off of workers be made final and executory, this may hugely affect the way people will perceive PNoy’s administration as the decision is purely anti-labor, anti-worker and most of all, anti-Filipino," he said.

Ejercito and Gabriela partylist Representative Emmi de Jesus said the President should not be afraid to confront business tycoon Lucio Tan, PAL’s owner, with his decisions on the workers’ fate.

"It is imperative that we put a stop to Lucio Tan’s economic sabotage by firing out industrious yet underpaid PAL workers and consistently evading tax obligations since the time of Ramos. It’s high time for PNoy to confront and remove the horns of abusive and exploitative big businessmen such as Lucio Tan," he said.

De Jesus, a member of the committee on labor, called on the employees of the airlines to work together and protect their ranks.

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Senate to LLDA: Order Tanduay to pay for Laguna 'fish kill'
10/28/2010 08:20 PM

The Senate committee on environment and natural resources Thursday asked the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) to order Tanduay Distillers Inc. to pay for the clean-up of the chemical spill which allegedly caused a fish kill in Laguna Lake.

"We asked [the LLDA] to order Tanduay Distillers to pay for the clean-up as part of penalties under the Clean Water Act [of 2004]," said Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, whose committee started its probe into the reported fish kill.

The LLDA on Wednesday ordered the company to temporarily shut down its plant, which burned on Oct. 14, discharging alcohol into the Cabuyao River - a stream that flows into Laguna Lake. The agency also ordered Tanduay Distillers to explain its side.

Republic Act 9275 or the Clean Water Act prohibits the discharge of any material that could pollute or impede the natural flow of bodies of water.

The LLDA is claiming that alcohol spillage killed the fish in the immediate area, affecting the livelihood of fishpen operators and small fisherfolk who operate in the lake.

"We welcome the Senate investigation," Wilson Young, president and COO of Tanduay Distillers, told GMANews.TV. "We will help them determine what happened there."

The alcohol flowed into the stream because of a fire, he said. "It was an accident."

On Oct. 21, the LLDA told reporters that it started an investigation after fisherfolk reported that the dead fish from the lake emitted an odor similar to that of alcoholic drinks.

"The pollution that occurred was so extreme that the river beside the Tanduay plant is completely dead," Zubiri said in an interview after the Senate hearing.

"What we have to determine now is if there was really a fish kill," Young said.

"Based on this we, want to find out how to avoid similar incidents in the future," he added.

Zubiri said that his committee has ordered the LLDA to conduct a full-blown investigation, and that an LLDA hearing will be held on Nov. 2 to assess the damage caused by the alcohol spill.

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400 Million additional expense for PAL

(Updated 3:14 p.m.) The plan to spin off its non-core services - an effort to restructure and streamline operations - will cost Philippine Airlines P2.5 billion, the flag carrier said Wednesday.

PAL president and CEO Jaime Bautista told reporter in a briefing that spinning off the airline’s in-flight catering, airport services, and call center reservations was originally estimated at P2 billion.

But last week’s ruling of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz "upped the figure by more than P400 million due to enhanced separation benefits and other modifications in the financial and non-cash awards," Bautista said.

In the Baldoz decision, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) recognized PAL management’s prerogative to restructure its operations.

"Given its recent losses and current financial position, PAL would be hard put to raise P2.5 billion but this is a bitter pill we have to swallow. PAL believes DOLE’s decision is ‘just, reasonable and humane,’" Bautista said.

"Since it has the force and effect of a law, we must respect the ruling," he added.

"By not contesting the DOLE secretary’s decision, especially the grant of additional benefits, PAL hopes to finally implement a long delayed corporate restructuring that aims to stabilize the airline’s finances and eventually lead to an expansion and improvement of services," he said.

"The spin off means PAL will sell its in-flight catering, airport services, and call center reservations which will lead to the early retirement of affected rank-and-file workers. They will all receive their respective separation pay and benefits that are much more than what the Labor Code provides," he explained.

"We deeply lament that PAL management decided to push through with the drastic spin-off measure, unmindful of how it will affect the lives of 3,000 workers and their families," Roberto Anduiza, president of the Flight Attendants and Stewards’ Association, said in a statement released Tuesday.

"FASAP is one with PALEA in its struggle to protect the job security of all PAL employees," Anduiza added.

PALEA earlier alleged that PAL had actually contracted out the jobs in non-core services.

Bautista on Wednesday stressed that third party service providers like PLDT e-Ventus for call center reservations is owned by PLDT, while Sky Kitchen for catering and Sky Logistics for airport services are owned by Cebu-based businessman Manny Osmeña. "These service providers are not owned by PAL chairman Lucio Tan or any of his family members," he said.

Problems Plague the Lucio Tan Camp

Naperwisyo ang mga pasahero ng Air Philippines Express na uuwi ng probinsiya para sa Undas. Nakansela kasi ang kanilang biyahe matapos magkulang ng piloto ang airline. Nagpa-Patrol, Apples Jalandoni. TV Patrol, Linggo, Oktubre 31, 2010.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/nation/10/31/10/air-philippines-lacks-pilots-cancels-flights

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Tanduay plant ordered shut down after fire

By Maricar Cinco
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 16:18:00 10/28/2010
Filed Under: Economy and Business and Finance, Industrial accident, Fire, Fishing Industry

SAN PEDRO, Laguna, Philippines -- Authorities have ordered the "temporary shutdown" of Tanduay Distillers Inc.’s plant in Cabuyao, Laguna, following reports that its water discharges had triggered a fish kill in Laguna de Bay. The plant actually burned down last October 15.

The Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) issued an ex-parte cease-and-desist order that was to have taken effect on Wednesday, saying "prima facie evidence exists that the waste water discharges from your distillery plant are of immediate threat to life, public health, safety, or welfare to animals or plant life, as it has indeed caused fish kill within the nearby Laguna de Bay."

"It’s actually two different orders. The cease-and-desist means the company should stop operations until the order is lifted, while the ex-parte means they have to present an explanation to us," said LLDA information officer Gerry Carandang in a telephone interview on Thursday.

He said a meeting was set between the lake authority and the company on November 2.

The fish kill in an area of the lake off Barangay Caingin, Sta. Rosa City, which is a neighbor to Cabuyao, occurred three days after a big fire razed Tanduay’s distillery in Barangay Sala on October 15.

The LLDA’s initial investigation found that "the fish kill incident is being attributed to the water discharges with alcoholic odor traced from the manhole of Tanduay Distillers Inc. plant… towards the outfall leading to Cabuyao river and down to the Laguna de Bay."

"We are still uncertain if the discharge was done on purpose or not," Carandang said, but the lake authority has also required the company to clean and rehabilitate the whole stretch of the lake tributary from Barangay Sala to the lake.

He said LLDA field personnel, who were supposed to conduct an inspection, were denied entry to the company’s premises on October 19.

On October 22, the investigators, although allowed to enter the compound, were not allowed to inspect the plant as it was "cordoned off" by the Bureau of Fire.

The Cabuyao Bureau of Fire has yet to conclude its investigation into the fire.

"At stake here are the company’s clearance (to operate) and discharge permit (issued by the LLDA)," Carandang said.

Tanduay Distillers Inc., located inside the compound of its sister company, the Asia Brewery Inc., has a permit that expires in 2012.

The Inquirer tried to seek comment from the company, but administrative staff Jona del Valle said no one in authority was available for an interview, since the liquor plant stopped its operations when the fire broke out.

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Tanduay warehouses in Laguna catch fire

abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 10/15/2010 2:41 AM Updated as of 10/15/2010 5:57 PM

MANILA, Philippines - An alcoholic beverage maker’s 2 warehouses in Laguna province caught fire on Thursday night, authorities said.

The fire at the Tanduay Distillers warehouses in Cabuyao town started at 7:00 p.m. and was still raging as of posting, according to an ABS-CBN News crew deployed to the scene.

The warehouses are located inside a compound owned by Asia Brewery Inc., owned by Filipino-Chinese tycoon Lucio Tan.

There was no report of injuries.

The blaze began at a warehouse compounding area where alcohol used to produce beverages is stored, according to Cabuyao Fire Department officer Antonio Sobijanan.

The fire later spread, affecting another warehouse where processed beverages are stored.

Authorities said the blaze has been confined to a specific area and will no longer spread to other buildings in the compound.

Firefighters, however, are having a hard time putting out the blaze because of the tanks of alcohol inside 1 warehouse that caught fire.

At least 30 firetrucks responded at the scene. Firefighters used a flame retardant chemical to try to put out the blaze.

Arson investigators have yet to determine how the fire started. - with a report from Dominic Almelor, ABS-CBN News

Air Philippines lacks pilots, cancels flights - ABS CBN

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Sino? Sino? Who?

Is a PNB Director who has been barred from meddling with PNB affairs due to possible involvement in fabricating Maid cases against a Taipan's brother.

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Business with ‘balae’
October 18, 2010

IT is apparently not only taipan Lucio Tan and his eldest son Lucio "Bong" Tan Jr. whose relations are strained within the billionaire clan.

According to the grapevine, even the taipan’s balae and longtime business ally PBCom chairman Enrique Luy had been jolted by the taipan’s alleged threat to foreclose on Luy’s sprawling copra and real estate empire that finally impelled Luy to seek court rehabilitation and protection from creditors all the way in Zamboanga City.

But even before the petition for rehabilitation, Tan’s Philippine National Bank had already begun foreclosing on a number of real estate properties owned by Luy’s ICEC Land Corp. and Kimmee Realty.

According to the grapevine, the real estate mortgages were actually "accommodation loans" extended to the Luys that had long gone past due.

As to the Zamboanga court action, Regional Trial Court Judge Gregorio de la Peña III only issued the mandatory stay order against Luy’s creditors, and has not yet granted the prayed-for rehabilitation program as reported in this space on Monday.

In addition to Tan’s PNB and Allied Bank, Banco de Oro, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Development Bank of the Philippines, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Chinabank, EastWest, Unionbank, Robinsons Savings, Asia United and Sterling Bank also have exposures on Luy’s empire for a combined P8.1-billion liabilities, as against claimed Luy assets worth P9.79 billion.

Both PNB and Allied Bank have yet to file their respective comments on the Luy petitition, but if both Tan banks oppose the corporate rehabilitation plan, then business finally prevailed over family ties.

http://cocktales.ph/

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The three brokerage firms of the Luy family have been spared from taipan Lucio Tan’s foreclosure moves on his balae’s copra and real estate empire.

The brokerage firms apparently have two positive advantages: They are run as separate financial republics and, within the Tan-Luy clans, US-educated broker Edwin Luy, unlike his more famous father-inlaw, is known as having come from the RAM (Right-Away-Ma’am) school.