Monday bitching

HEADLINE: ARROYO URGES 4-PARTY SUMMIT FOR CLEAN MAY 2007 ELECTIONS (GMA News TV)

THE nerve of this woman! She should practice what she preaches first, noh? Ang kapal, grabeh!
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Anyway, what I really wanted to bitch about today is the really slackening customer relations management of most of our supposedly old reliable department stores and malls.

My first beef is with SM. Look, I love SM because of the many products they sell at reasonable prices. Often, I find the stuff I need, even in last-minute situations, in the department store or its various outlets like Watson's or the Home section.

I've already gotten over the fact that most of its sales staff and cashiers don't really have very high IQs, are inefficient and would rather chat among themselves instead of actually attending to their customers. But there are some very few jewels in the rough among them who make up for their inadequate grey matter by being courteous and polite.

What I absolutely hate, however, is buying stuff from SM using gift cards. Normally, I love getting gift cards because these are practical presents. The gift giver would rather want me to buy stuff I want instead of he or she making the mistake of giving me the wrong gift.

These ubiquitous gift cards are slowly replacing the gift cheques and come in several denominations like P500 or P1,000, and I supppose SM makes a lot of money from selling those to its customers. What sucks, however, is the fact that most of SM's cashiers are utterly clueless on what to do with them. I present the plastic and everything goes downhill from there. The cashier will stop and stare at the card, look around helplessly, swipe it at the POS terminal a few times pretending she knows what to do with it until help arrives. When she finally realizes she doesn't know what to do with it, she gets up from her chair or tells the bagger to get up and go, says "Sandali lang mam", then waits for a supervisor to come over and help her with it. In the meantime, a long line of customers has formed behind me, getting impatient as I am.

Now this happened to me unfailingly in the past two weeks alone. The cashiers are especially dumbfounded when the gift card amounts to P1,000. I don't understand why. It's the same card with only different loads. Parang pre-paid card yan 'ne.

This obviously isn't the fault of the cashiers. That's why they're operating those machines because they're not smarter to do something else, like be Tessie Sy's right hand. So these impossible situations can only be the fault of SM's training department or the supervisors themselves. Why issue these frigging gift cards without training the cashiers on what to do with them and give them all sorts of scenarios to operate in (e.g. what to do when there is a balance? And can customers use 2 cards at once?)

So let me warn all of you who are thinking of giving out gift cards as presents...don't buy them from SM. You might end up being sworn at by the recipient of your otherwise good heart.
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Rustan's is a good place to get your gift certificates, and I always love shopping there. I've been going there as far back as I can remember, usually either to their San Marcelino branch or the main branch in Makati (back when it used to be known as Makati commercial center), tagging along with my mother. I feel safe, clean, and calm when I shop there.

So I've had my own discount card, then a frequent shopper's card/discount card in one since way back. When I lost my wallet to a petty thief at the Glorietta activity center last November, however, I've had to basically rebuild my identity by getting replacement cards from government offices, banks and credit card companies and yes, even from SM, Rustan's, Healthy Options and the like.

What bugs me is that when I applied for a replacement for my FSP card, I was told that Rustan's is now issuing separate cards – one FSP and one discount card. But why? I asked. It's just how it is, I was told. Still, why? What folly this is as I would know have to carry around 2 different Rustan's cards in my wallet instead of just one. Not very customer-friendly. The old system worked very well. I don't know who among the new managers thought up of this new system. Is Rustan's going to make more money by issuing two different cards? Duh.
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My favorite customer relations horror story of all time, of course, is the Glorietta mall. Its security system obviously only protects customers against terrorists and not petty thieves.

People have been asking me whatever happened to my case at the Glorietta. (Just to refresh everyone's memory, please click here.) I usually tell them that after the initial flurry of email messages sent between me and Ayala Land's PR and some officer at Glorietta's management, NOTHING. NADA. ZILCH. Never got my stuff back, not that I actually expected that happen. They said there was a group of thieves arrested the evening of the incident, but none of my items were among the thieves' stuff.

I am just appalled by the mall's ssssllllllloooooooow response to the issue. Glorietta officers never thought of looking through their closed circuit camera tapes in the area (and Ayala execs claim they do have those CCDs in their mall) on the evening my bag was pilfered, until I asked them. Of course, they eventually got back to me one month after the fact, and asked me to view the tapes with them. By that time it was December already. And believe me, you wouldn't want to get caught in the middle of Makati during December.

I told Ayala Land's PR that I really don't know what going there to view the tapes would accomplish since they really never said what they were going to do in case I do identify the thieves. There was nothing concrete discussed about implementing better security measures. Expectedly, he never got back to me. He probably had more important Christmassy stuff to attend to than my complaint.

These days I try to avoid the Glorietta mall as much as possible and tell my friends and relatives, especially those coming in from abroad, not to shop there anymore. Surely this won't make a dent in Ayala's revenues enough for its management to beef up security and think of better ways to protect mall customers, but at least, my friends and relatives won't get victimized like me. If I need to meet people, I would rather do it somewhere else like Shangri-La Edsa Plaza, Rockwell Power Plant, Gateway in Cubao even. Better to be safe than sorry.

Living in dysfunctional families

ARTWORK Dysfunctional Family With Hope by Noelle Enright

Something Like Life
Jan. 26, 2007

TWO years ago, I had the opportunity to interview a rather famous Chinese-Filipino businesswoman who was trying to move on after the pain of going through a lengthy legal battle with her siblings. Reports regarding the traded lawsuits and padlocked factories and offices of this businesswoman and her siblings eventually spilled over to the pages of major newspapers and gossip columns. Apparently, when the family patriarch passed away, control over the family business was gradually handed over to this woman by her mother and her paternal aunts, much to the chagrin of her brother, the eldest male heir in the family. As you know, in most Chinese families, the eldest son usually inherits the right to take over the family business.

Thus, this woman and her brother fought, splitting the family down the middle, pitting three siblings against the other three. To put an end to the family squabble, which probably had hurt their mother the most, the business was taken apart. Each group of siblings took a piece of the family conglomerate, running these companies separately from the other group. It was a practical solution, which the businesswoman told me would probably have met the understanding and even approval of their late father. She told me it was the only way to keep the peace in the family. Despite the shame and humiliation of a public feud, she is still hopeful that her family would be mended, and she and her siblings will get along again.

It would be a bit simplistic to say that the fight was just for the control of billions of pesos in assets. That it was just about money. But as most people who’ve grown up in rich large families will tell you, such fights over finances usually can be traced back to one’s youth. All that bitterness and anger almost always originate from slights (imagined or otherwise), jealousies, insecurities and a desire to be acknowledged for one’s self-worth while growing up. In fact, this was exactly what was revealed when the feud of this businesswoman’s family became public. Issues that were better left in their childhood were brought up again, and each sibling behaved exactly the way they did in their youth.

But, really, who among us have grown up in perfect families? Many of us probably belong to dysfunctional families like that businesswoman’s, and have parents who probably have major hang-ups, or siblings with lots of insecurities.

And while growing up in such an emotionally charged family environment, we tend to compare ourselves with our classmates or friends, and always think their families are better than ours. But rich or poor—and I’ve had friends from both side of the fence—there is always something or someone that prevents them from having normal family relationships.

What is “normal” anyway? A father who earns enough to support his family, who comes home straight from the office to have dinner with the family? The same for the mother who rushes home to cook a meal for her hubby and kids, and is still able to do the household chores? And drug-free kids who are respectful, brilliant, hardworking at school and helpful at home? I have yet to meet a family who is all these.

Being in dysfunctional families, however, doesn’t mean all gloom and doom. Sometimes such families prepare us for the real world when we grow up, and help us deal with the challenges of dealing with different kinds of relationships. While some may be crippled by their own trials with, say, abusive parents or sanity-challenged siblings, and become adults bearing the same psychoses, most others go on to learn not to integrate their emotional handicaps, becoming better people because of their experiences within the family.

Of course, it is difficult to accomplish this separation of our family life from the world outside. What we are today is a product of how we conducted ourselves, survived even, within our families. We sometimes carry these feelings and behavior over even in different environments. Someone who has no respect for his father, a drunk perhaps, may see authority figures as fools as well. Such that in an office situation, he would be inclined to regard his boss with the kind of ridicule and disrespect he feels toward his father. Then there are those who are emotionally mature not to let such family inconveniences hinder their own relationships with other people.

Sometimes when we read about family feuds and lawsuits over inheritance among the influential and powerful, I kid my mother that our family is lucky because we’re not rich. My sister and I would have nothing to fight over when our folks eventually pass. (Knock on wood!) Seriously, being related by blood doesn’t mean a thing when your siblings have different values from yours. While the same DNA runs through your veins, you and your siblings—or even your parents—will have differing characters. Sometimes you wonder how you can be related at all to them when you are as different from them as night is to day. And you think there probably was some mix-up at the hospital and your real kuya is probably growing up in someone else’s family!

Of course, we can’t choose our own families. We are born into them and have to accept each family member, warts and all. (Or we don’t have to accept them, it’s our choice.) It can be a struggle to survive the clashes of different personalities with different beliefs or opinions, and grow up to become responsible mature adults. What helps us maybe are the friends and people we surround ourselves with, and the relationships we form with them. Besides, we tend to compensate for the lack of any normalcy in our families by moving toward friends who fill our need for balance and harmony. If we choose them appropriately, our friends — our real family - can help us become better people. And all the hurt and pain we grew up with cease to be a burden.

(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror.)

The bamboozle

"One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge — even to ourselves — that we've been so credulous."

- Carl Sagan
(1934-1996)
American astronomer, humanist

Picked up this quote from, of all things, a financial advice newsletter I subscribe to. But I think it's apropos to the political situation in our country, and our seeming lack of outrage over several events that have transpired in the course of the Presidentita GMA's term of office.

So the Presidentita hijacked the last elections. Then lied about calling Garci...who btw, is now running for political office?!?! Of course there was that infamous PI initiative, aka Charter Change, which the idiotic congressmen tried to force down our throats. Now several municipal mayors who had voiced their opposition to the initiative is being harrassed, shaken down, and threatened to be removed from office. And of course there was that fast-break midnight transfer of a convicted rapist, a US marine, from our municipal jail to the US embassy.

We boil and we broil over these events. And yet we continue to allow the Presidentita to remain in power. Why? What's happened to us?

Stephen Colbert and Bill O'Reilly face off...hilarious!

COLBERT ON THE FACTOR, Jan. 19, 2007



'PAPA BEAR' ON COLBERT REPORT, Jan. 19, 2007

Gay and loving it

WHEN YOU HAVE GAY FRIENDS WHO ARE A DELIGHT TO BE WITH – THE PERFECT SHOPPING COMPANION, RELATIONSHIP BRIDGE, CHISMIS BUDDIES – AND YOU REVEL IN THEIR AMUSING ANECDOTES, IT IS EASY TO FORGET THAT A NUMBER OF THEM HAVE LED VERY DIFFICULT LIVES.

Something Like Life
Jan. 19, 2007

WHAT do you do when you feel like you've been living a lie all these years? Or that you've been leading two different lives...a public persona for everyone to enjoy or for the sake of good relations with your family and friends whom you think will not understand you; and a private one which you personally delight in, making you breathe easier, but at the same time leaves you looking over your shoulder, scared of being found out by people you care about?

For many of my gay friends, "coming out" was not the proverbial walk in the park. In fact, a few of them still struggle to this day to actually reveal themselves, afraid of the social repercussions of their homosexuality. They are anxious that other people will think they are less intelligent, less sincere, even, dare I say it? "abnormal" because they are gay. They fear that people, even those who don't really matter to their existence, will not comprehend why they "chose" that way of life. As if being gay was really a matter of choice. It just isn't a lifestyle one can select, like slipping on a glittering pair of stiletto boots, or be discarded like a filthy old jersey sweatshirt.

My gay friends have always told me that they knew, one as early as three years old, that they were "different". As young boys they loved playing dress up in their mom's clothes, one liked cutting the hair of his sister's dollies. Another was so enamored with his mother's dancing, she being a divine ballerina in her heyday.

I've had friends who were army brats, and one was frequently beaten up by his dad, an army captain, whenever he was found out doing "female" things, like wearing a dress. This friend told me that he would just quietly cry in his room ("ala Nora Aunor in Sidhi") after the beatings. His mom did not even try to get between him and his dad to stop her husband�s violence. Neither did she try to comfort him in his tears.

And if it was bad at home, sometimes it was worse at school. Some of them studied in exclusive Catholic schools for men, where being gay in their day was almost equivalent to a public hanging. If not beaten up by bullies, there were frequent teasing and taunts. As I size up my gay buddies who grew up in such an oppressive environment, either of two things happened. Either they withdrew, some hitting the books like mad, and are now a delight to converse with on most subjects; or they adopted outrageous personalities, became outgoing and hysterically funny perhaps, to entertain their classmates as a way to escape their fists.

I have a friend who has gay brothers, and I know one famous gay personality whose father was also gay. (I don't know if he ever knew that his dad was gay, though his dad's sexual proclivities were quite known among his colleagues in their day.) This, of course, strongly suggests, and as some scientific studies may have already shown, that one can be genetically predisposed to homosexuality, as opposed to some psychologists' continuing belief that one is a product of one's environment. (For example: you grow up with a ballerina mom and her gay dancer friends, you will probably end up being gay yourself.)

While genetic scientists are still trying to find the "homosexual gene", they have already narrowed it down to a certain region or genetic sequence in the X chromosome. (The studies are focused on male homosexuality so far.) Some of the studies also support the theory that the gene markers are almost always passed on by mothers. Good grief! I can just hear mothers everywhere groan, "And yet another thing we're going to be blamed for!" Hang that, witch!

When you have gay friends who are a delight to be with – the perfect shopping companion, relationship bridge, chismis buddies – and you revel in their amusing anecdotes, it is easy to forget that a number of them have led very difficult lives. Some of them may have been scorned by their fathers and brothers, a handful perhaps doted on by their mothers and understanding siblings. In fact, I only have one gay friend whose father accepted him unconditionally, leaving him free to be his own person. It is a love my friend is only too willing to reciprocate, taking good care of his folks in their retirement now that he is financially well-off.

At an opposite end, one whose father and brothers have shunned him became engaged in destructive behavior, sinking into a drug-filled lifestyle, with a string of lovers maintained by a crack addiction. It is a pity that at his age, he is hard-pressed to keep a good job, and has a severe lack of confidence despite his intelligence, wit and a college degree.

OK, this isn't a time to blame mothers or fathers; however, family acceptance really does play a key role in the formation of an upright gay citizen. It is bad enough to feel different or unusual, but to have people you care about and look up to treating you like a freak, it can be devastating. While gays are now well accepted by most of society, some still want to keep their sexuality a secret from their families. Or if they have told their families the truth, the latter just can't deal with it.

A number of my gay friends have managed to shake off such feelings of abandonment, rising above their tragedies, and becoming successes in their fields. In their minds, they feel lucky as they know they are surrounded by friends who love them and understand them. Yet in their hearts, they still fervently pray to be accepted completely by their folks. No matter how successful one becomes, family approval is still a prize all of us, gay or straight, try to secure. But as one gay friend told me, he can't wait forever for his father to finally come around. And sometimes the best thing for one's psyche is to learn to just let go, and move on.

(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror.)

Holiday jewels of Northern Cebu

WITH all eyes focusing on the Asean Summit this week, no doubt its participants will be curious what the province has to offer aside from the danggit, the lechon, and spicy chicharon they've all probably heard about.

About 3,000 delegates are expected for the four-day high-level meet and greet, and most hotels and resorts have already gussied up since last year, eagerly anticipating the arrival of their very important international guests.

Cebu has always been one of my must-go places, especially for vacations. Despite its immense popularity among tourists, both local and foreign, it has yet to get crowded, as say, Boracay island.

Resorts are scattered all over the island province offering all levels of facilities, amenities, food, and recreation designed to fit every vacationer's budget.

While most tourists stay in the city hotels and the resorts on Mactan, there are still other jewels to be found to the north of this province which offer more than just the usual breathtaking sites.

(More at GMA News TV.)

The case for aging

As the average life span has lengthened with better health care, senior citizens continue to lead bustling lives, enjoying activities and even hobbies they perhaps never got the chance to pursue when they were younger.

Something Like Life
Jan. 12, 2007

WHO would’ve thought that the most controversial topic I would ever write about were my crow’s feet! (Something Like Life, January 5, 2007) Gee, and I thought the readers were more interested in my ruminations on illicit relationships, passionate kisses, and lustful longings across the office cubicle!

To this day, I’m still getting text messages and comments from friends swearing on their lover’s/husband’s mother’s second cousin’s dog’s grave that the anti-aging product they’ve been using has helped them keep looking youthful. One publicist has also been in touch trying to convince me to try the anti-wrinkle cream her client has been hawking.

My sister, for one, told me about this relatively inexpensive wrinkle correction cream from this ubiquitous personal products manufacturer. Her friends are raving about it and claiming it to be “better than Botox!” Now, they are the types that lap up all sorts of expensive new branded gunk on the market and have enough funds to actually get a face lift! So maybe this product is worth looking into.

One friend also talked about how a sixtyish corporate communications executive of a large beauty products maker still manages to look young just by using her company’s products. (That’s what the executive claims anyway.) I’ve met this lady and I actually thought she was only in her late 40s! Well, I’ve just bought that company’s wrinkle correction cream and I will definitely update you on whether it works or not.

Laugh lines aside, getting old really isn’t the end of the world, as more and more people are realizing.

Decades ago, when one reached the retirement age of 60, he was expected to enjoy only a few short years with his grandchildren, then probably die of a lingering illness, or—worse—be a bane to his children by becoming incontinent and demented.

These days, as the average life span has lengthened with better health care, senior citizens are still leading bustling lives, enjoying activities and even hobbies they perhaps never got the chance to pursue when they were younger.

I can look only to my mom and her amigas as examples of “silvergenarians” still leading very active lifestyles, wrinkles and all. I call them the “Ladies Who Lunch”—thank you, Barbra Streisand—because almost every month they get together and celebrate someone’s birthday by eating out. Of course a few weeks before their lunch date, they have little arguments among themselves which restaurant they should go to. My mom constantly complains about how her gangmates never seem to see eye-to-eye on where to go. A most cantankerous bunch of senior citizens if you can imagine, though in a funny old people sort of way. (Think Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon in Grumpy Old Men.)

My retort to my mom, of course, is the usual “Just go to a frigging fastfood center and let everyone choose what they want to eat.” Of course, she never pays any attention to any of my suggestions. (Hopefully, this is not a preview of how my own gang will behave as we thumb our way toward Golden Acres. Instead of arguing about which restaurant to go to celebrate someone’s birthday, perhaps we will be content with our regular “immoveable feasts” of sinigang na baka and binagoongan na baboy.)

Some of my mom’s friends are widows, have husbands who have left them, sickly, or just plain loony (again, in a loveable senior citizen sort of way). And yet they all seem to be enjoying themselves even as they approach their 80s. One goes ballroom dancing a lot and has had a young lover; another is going off to the North with her travel club of fellow seniors; one is still busy running her own company; while the others are quite content babysitting their grandchildren or waiting on their grown-up, married children to visit on weekends. If my mom isn’t out playing mahjong or shopping, she is at home fighting with me for the control of the TV remote. Damn those afternoon soap operas!

According to the National Statistics Office, the number of senior citizens in the country is expected to reach seven million by the year 2010, from the current 5.6 million. The same data also shows that 60 percent of our senior citizens are married, although females dominated the single (71 percent), widowed (76.5 percent) and divorced/separated (57.26 percent) groups. Which says a lot, I suppose, about how elderly women view their lot in life. They are definitely okay being solo. Most of them don’t want to remarry, and have things to do other than obsess about romance.

I particularly admire this one tita of mine who is the most dynamic and perhaps most liberated among my mom’s friends. She’s had a few lovers since her husband passed away decades ago. Asked why she wouldn’t marry her present boyfriend, a widower of her same age, she said she didn’t want to get stuck taking care of someone. What if he got sick? And of course, she wouldn’t be able to just take off to enjoy her own activities with someone watching over her shoulder. Heavens! I told my mom that my tita is more “progressive” than even most single women I know.

Thus, the elderly Filipina will have intimate relationships with men (younger or as old as her) but not necessarily with an eye to get hitched again.

Elsewhere, aging men and women are getting “with it.”

Just check out some local bazaars and you’ll pick up a few items made by this and that “lola” now making money from their cooking hobbies, suddenly free from the rigidities of a 9-to-5 career or from taking care of husbands.

A good friend’s husband also retired at 60 a few years ago, but is still consulting for his company and runs a few businesses on the side. He and his wife also travel more these days.

In Japan, where the elderly is about 19 percent of the total population, Yuichiro Mira climbed Mt. Everest in 2003 at the ripe old age of 70! He plans to do it again next year, at age 75.

Another Japanese, Motoko Nakano, 84, is now officially a guide on the “Silk Road” tours for her fellow elderly travelers, after having toured China about 10 times. A widow and former restaurant owner, she is a frequent traveler, often researching on the Internet to plan her itinerary.

So it is wrong to think that when one ages, one becomes inept and useless. More than the crow’s feet, laugh lines and occasional sore joints, aging is probably a chance at a new and challenging fun-filled lifestyle.

(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror.)

BORN TO BE A HOTELIER

In an exclusive interview, Accor Asia-Pacific managing director Michael Issenberg talks about his love for his job, Bruce Springsteen and when it is okay to walk away from a deal.

WHEN Michael Issenberg took over as managing director of Accor Asia-Pacific in 2003, the worldwide tourism market was in a flux. SARS had broken out in China and Hong Kong, the war against Iraq had commenced, then there were bombings in Bali and Jakarta, Indonesia. In 2004, just as the tourism industry began to recover, a tsunami struck major tourist destinations such as Thailand, where Accor lost 160 guests and about 50 hotel staff, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Last year, SARS had threatened to rear its ugly head again while most Asia-Pacific countries, including the Philippines, continued to be on heightened alert against threats of terrorism.

“You have to expect the unexpected,” says Issenberg, when asked what he learned from all these incidents. “We have spent a fair amount of time improving our crisis planning and making sure that procedures do not sit in a draw.”

Nevertheless, he says in an e-mail interview with BusinessMirror, “Asia- Pacific remains the most exciting part of the world for the hotel industry.”

Compared to these incidents, journalist killings, terrorist threats, and regular coup rumors seem to be miniscule although still factors to be considered for a tourist to decide whether to travel to the Philippines or elsewhere. Issenberg appears undeterred and believes “there is definitely a big future for Accor in the Philippines.”

In February last year, Issenberg himself flew in to deliver the good news to eager Filipino fans. The Accor hotel group, he says, will be unveiling its flagship hotel in the country this year—a refurbished and improved Philippine Plaza, to be renamed the Sofitel Philippine Plaza. Last March, the hotel opened its premier dining outlet, Spiral, which features an interactive dining concept featuring different cuisines from all corners of the globe.

Finding the right chemistry
Sofitel is the Accor group’s luxury five-star hotel brand and promises to lend the fine French flair of living to the Philippine Plaza, much loved for its breathtaking view of Manila Bay’s sunsets.

“Having the right partners is crucial to success. We believe that we have the right owner [Philippine Plaza Holdings Inc.] that is committed to the future of the hotel,” Issenberg says.

And Issenberg has been doing just that. He has been traveling all over Asia—most recently in China, Vietnam and India—trying to find the right chemistry with local partners to establish Accor’s brands. But it won’t be a numbers game to him, even as he tries to fill the shoes of his predecessor Jochen Dobel, who managed to add 80 hotels to the Accor group during his tenure.

“When I took over Asia, there was a fair amount of ‘me’ first attitude. My priority was to instill a team spirit across Asia similar to the Pacific,” he stresses.

Issenberg has played a pivotal role in the success of Accor’s hotel and tourism network across the Pacific region. He joined Accor in 1994 as regional general manager and within a year was promoted to chief executive officer of Accor’s hotel and tourism operations in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. He assumed the managing director position in the region in 1998.

In that time, the Accor hotel network in Australia and New Zealand increased from 40 to over 110 hotels. Issenberg has also been credited for his role in developing the hotel group’s interests in associated businesses in Australia including the Cairns Reef Casino, Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Summit Restaurant, Blue Line Cruises and Accor Premier Vacation Club. It was also during his tenure when the Base Backpacker Hostel brand in which Accor is a minority shareholder was established in New Zealand in 2003 and Australia in 2004.

Issenberg has certainly come a long way from Boston, Massachusetts, where he was born, the youngest of three children of Danny and Ann Issenberg. His father owned his business manufacturing juice products, while his mother was a stay-at-home mom which was typical in those days. Growing up, Issenberg worked “casually” in various hotels during the summer vacation as busboy, dishwasher, waiter, bartender, or cook, and as part-time work while he was attending school.

“However, for me, it was more than just earning some money. I fell in love with excitement of the industry.” He says he has been a hotelier since he was 16 “so it’s pretty hard to imagine another career.”

He eventually graduated with a degree in hotel administration in 1981 from Cornell University. Thereafter, he built a successful career that include executive officer positions in Westin Hotels and Resorts, Laventhol & Horwath and Horwath & Horwath Services Pty Ltd in San Francisco and Sydney. Prior to joining Accor Asia-Pacific, he spent five years as chief executive officer of hotels for Mirvac Ltd., one of Australia’s largest hotel companies.

Balancing home and career
The Issenberg family vacationing in Shanghai, from left, Jacob, Rachel, Michael, and Elizabeth. (Photo courtesy of Michael Issenberg)

It was there in Sydney, where the tall transplanted American met his wife Elizabeth, with whom he now has a 13-year-old boy Jacob, and 10-year-old girl Rachel.

“I came for work on a two-year assignment. I could not believe how much opportunity there was in Australia’s hotel industry…. I married a beautiful Australian woman, no doubt one of the biggest reasons why I remained in Australia,” Issenberg explains. Elizabeth, he says, stays home and “manages the family as I travel so often.”

But like many regional chief executives with a lot of countries to oversee, he says it has been quite difficult to balance his family and career. On occasion his work has had to take a backseat to his family.

“It is always a difficult balance…. I have missed many a company meeting for my family, but I cannot recall ever missing anything crucial. On the reverse, I have missed a few family events as well,” he confesses.

To relax, although he hastens to add that there is not nearly enough time for that as well, he loves to watch or participate in sports such as golf or go scuba diving.

“I love almost all sports. I enjoy the competitive nature.” He also listens to music, mostly rock and roll, and admits to being a “Bruce Springsteen fan at heart.” (Hmm…is that “Born in the USA” playing in the background?)

His favorite author is John Irving “because his stories are always unusual,” and says the last book he read was the latter’s latest novel, Until I Find You. How Issenberg was able to plod through the somewhat meandering tale of Jack Burns in search of his father over 820 pages and actually finish it, is a feat worthy of any sportsman!

Asked what his most defining trait is, Issenberg says, “I’m a very frank person. Ask me a question and you will get my honest answer.”

It was very evident in his e-mailed responses to BusinessMirror’s questionnaire, that he is very brief as well. Direct to the point.

Hands-on manager
As a manager, Issenberg says he is a hands-on type of guy. “I like to know what is going on in a fair amount of detail. However, once someone has earned my trust, that earns a lot of freedom.”

He describes Accor’s own management style as “people-focused,” which may be not different from other hospitality organizations, but insists “it is very different from companies in other industries.”

The best management tip he learned from his predecessor and other bosses? “Never be afraid to say no, even it means you have to walk away from a deal, a piece of business, or partnership that has not worked out.”

And so walk away Accor did in 1998, after experiencing some difficulties with its first Filipino partner, another hotel by the bay. Only to turn around and return in 2002, through Century Suites, a budget hotel in Quezon City. The latter was part of the Accor group’s acquisition of the Century Group that year.

With its management of Philippine Plaza, the Accor group is certainly back with a bang (very apropos for turbulent Manila), eager to establish its dominance in the Philippine hotel industry.

“Whilst we definitely believe there is an opportunity in the economy sector, we felt that it was important to reenter the market with a flagship property that made a statement,” says Issenberg.

Now that it has “the right property” to reestablish the Accor name in the market, it may not be too long to see more of its hotel brands in the country. Issenberg says, “We will now actively look for other opportunities to launch our Novotel, Mercure and Ibis hotel brands in the Philippines.”

(My interview with Michael Issenberg was published in the Perspective section of the BusinessMirror, Jan. 12, 2006.)

Aging, or ageless?

Unfortunately, there are realities we women have to face, one of which is that the world celebrates youth and its glowing tans, reed-thin dimensions and clear fresh faces. And most often, relationships are formed on first impressions.

Something Like Life
Jan. 5-6, 2007

TWO days before New Year’s Day I made a devastating discovery.

I was seated at my dresser putting on makeup for a trip to the mall when, to my horror, I saw tiny fine lines beginning to form around the outer corner of my eyes.

Eek! I screeched. Crow’s feet!

I couldn’t help but go overboard with the concealer and patted just a tad more than usual to try to erase the superfine indentations. They may not be visible to most people but as I scrutinized every inch of my face, the lines seemed to multiply and I started noticing a few crinkles forming on my forehead and—dear me!—laugh lines!

What a way to greet the New Year! Here I was feeling all chipper after having just survived Christmas, now looking like an old hag. Why couldn’t I look like one of the Witches of Eastwick instead?! Sexy, looking youthful, all spruced up and ready for Jack Nicholson’s taking!

I blended the concealer ever so gingerly to make sure all spots and lines were covered, or at least visibly minimized. As I swept the foundation all over my face, then applied the rest of my makeup, I calmed down a bit, secure in the vision of beauty that lay in the mirror before me. I was young again!

It was one of those times when I wished I were a man instead. Notice how crow’s feet, eyebags and a lined forehead make George Clooney even more handsome? Remember gorgeous George romping around the first two seasons of ER when he was thinner and in his early 30s? And now at 45, despite the rounder heavily lined face, he is the Sexiest Man Alive of 2006, according to People magazine.

I couldn’t help but think that this is one of Nature’s cruel jokes on women. I mean, women’s lives are already so much more difficult with pregnancy; do we have to look like crones as soon as the lines start crisscrossing our foreheads and our cheeks start sagging into jowls? On the other hand, as males grow older, graying hair makes them look distinguished fine gentlemen. Even wrinkles on their faces make them appear respectable.

I know it sounds silly for me to fret over a few hardly visible lines around my eyes. Haven’t I always said that 40 is the new 30? So I may feel young but my complexion appears to be having difficulty keeping up with me.

Unfortunately, there are realities we women have to face, one of which is that the world celebrates youth and its glowing tans, reed-thin dimensions and clear fresh faces. And that most often, relationships are formed on first impressions. Judgments are made on one’s appearances instead of one’s character. Have a male CEO choose between a clueless pretty young thing and a woman with a matronly appearance and demeanor, and you can bet whom he would choose to hire as his secretary—yes, despite the latter probably having better qualifications and experience for the job.

Once time starts marching across our faces, it’s time to book the Botox, ladies! Not that I would undergo those toxic injections myself. Besides, on a journalist’s salary I wouldn’t be able to afford them. Still, if I had enough funds, would I have Botox to freeze age in its tracks, albeit temporarily? Hmmm....

Of course, I have no one to blame but myself. In my youth, I worshipped the sun and used tanning oil on my face and entire body quite liberally. Being quite fair in complexion, I would have to sunbathe for two days under the noontime sun just to get a golden tan. Heck! No one talked about skin cancer and melanomas back then!

Once I reached 30, however, and all scientific studies talked about the horrific dangers of sun worship on the skin, I junked my annual summer sunbathing ritual. I went into overdrive trying to protect my face, especially after a therapist at a skin care center told me that my face was suffering from sun damage. The closeup photos of my complexion didn’t look too appealing—it was red and splotchy. I was now condemned to face a lifetime of moisturizers and inspecting the SPF on each sun block on every cosmetics counter.

So like many other women, I have joined the growing numbers in buying expensive facial products in a bid to keep wrinkles at bay. This is no easy task, mind you, as there are many brands which purport to be the best and the most effective antiaging, anti-wrinkle, line-correcting cream ever to arrive at a beauty counter. Just think of the millions of jars of this stuff that is sold by the minute everywhere in the world. The quest for the fountain of youth in a beauty jar is merciless. Women spend huge amounts of money every year in an almost desperate attempt to beef up their skin-care regimen.

Of course, you could say, “Why bother with all that gunk for our faces?” Can’t we just all relax and simply age gracefully like, say, Susan Sarandon or Katharine Hepburn who kept on working despite being afflicted with Parkinson’s disease. Kate was a real beauty, a diva even, right until she passed on.

Well, a popular facial soap brand last year began a campaign for real beauty...putting fat and old people on their print ads and billboards. The “ageless” ads showed a smiling woman with white hair and a creased face. Despite this, we know for a fact that cosmetologists and plastic surgeons will still be booked back-to-back this year in an endless round of treatments for women conscious of their crinkly crow’s feet, burgeoning puson, sagging bottoms and deepening laugh lines. And women’s magazines will not stop putting the same youthful anorexic-looking models on their covers.

The reality is, all women want to be young, thin and gorgeous despite their accomplishments, their fine character and the praise they have garnered for their success.

Despite studies that show none of these beauty creams come close to fulfilling all their youthful promises, we will still keep buying them in the hope that one would prove to be the real deal.

And if by any chance I win the lottery tomorrow, perhaps I too would make a beeline to the best dermatologist for a fixer-upper.

(My column, Something Like Life, appears every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror.)

Happy New Year!

To all my gay (and non-gay) friends, have a great 2007!

Here's a hilarious MTV from Michael V. to entertain you through the New Year celebrations. (I swear this guy is a frikking comic genius!)

Cleaning house

Something Like Life
Dec. 29-30, 2006

ONE of my favorite shows on cable TV is Clean House. It entertains me to no end seeing how couples or families with their messy homes have such gut-wrenching reactions to letting go of their stuff. Often the items the Clean House gang wants the homeowners to get rid of are nonproductive, nonessential and totally worthless products that only clutter up the home.

Of course, most of the featured homeowners beg and plead with the show’s host Niecy Nash to let them keep their stuff, perhaps out of sentimental reasons, with some even resorting to stealing back their belongings already tagged for the yard sale. Often Niecy has to bargain and negotiate with the homeowners, promising new bedroom sets or new office furniture just so they let go of their “precious” goods, which no longer have a place in their homes’ new aesthetic direction.

Every year or so, I try to Clean House myself by throwing out stuff from my cabinets or donating items that have been gathering dust in the attic to people who can use them. Last October, I finally threw out papers I had been hanging on to for almost 20 years—like old college class cards and projects, reading handouts, notebooks from when I was still a cub reporter, newspaper clippings and documents I had based my long-ago stories on.

There were also so many articles of clothing I’d been keeping all these years and if it weren’t for the Guimaras oil spill victims, they probably would still be tucked away from view in my closets. Like many women, I was hanging on to clothes I wore 10 pounds ago in the foolish hope that I’d still be able to wear them someday.

Of course some of them were not just from my “thin” period but shirts or dresses, bags and shoes I probably bought on impulse and, like most women, just kept them around without actually using any of them. So as Linda Coopersmith says, if you haven’t worn an item for three years, chances are you never will. So away with those size 8 dresses, pencil-slim pants and never-been-worn shirts and skirts! Begone, unused bags and boots! Hopefully, others less fortunate will find some use for you.

Cleaning out my cabinets is for me a way of letting go of the irrelevant things in my life. It seems that as I’ve gotten older, I long for the simple uncomplicated lifestyle and only want to keep the few items truly essential at this stage of my evolution.

It is the same way with relationships and the other nonmaterial aspects of our lives. When we are young, we spend our time “accumulating” people, some of who may turn out to be really good friends while the others, just brief encounters in our journey through life. But as we grow older and our tastes and lifestyles are refined, there is a need to purge and lighten our load. We need to discard the unnecessary baggage in our lives and surround ourselves with those people who have only enriched us with positive experiences.

Sometimes we still hang on to these relationships which no longer have any place in our structured lives… a spurned lover who keeps hanging around desperately trying the friendship route for a change; an abusive lover who keeps battering us physically and emotionally, diminishing our spirit; a relative who has latched on to us for financial support instead of trying to find work; even a friend who has only used us for the connections to the right people we offer.

Who among the people we know are really important and vital to our existence? How many of them have actually contributed to our growth as human beings, and how many of them are now just plainly toxic and have kept us from achieving our dreams?

With the New Year upon us, perhaps it’s time for us to clean house...not just physically but perhaps emotionally as well. Good healthy relationships are the only things actually worth keeping. Everything else is just plain clutter.

(My column, Something Like Life, appears every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror.)

Bus riders get gifts from Secret Santa

SPOKANE, Washington - A woman hopped aboard buses, greeted passengers with "Merry Christmas" and handed each an envelope containing a card and a $50 bill before stepping off and repeating the process on another bus.

She did it so quickly that descriptions of the woman varied among surprised Spokane Transit Authority passengers on several routes Thursday, The Spokesman-Review newspaper reported Friday.

"She kind of kept her head down. I don't remember ever seeing this lady before," said bus driver Max Clemons.

"I had a young man in the back of the bus. He looked like he was going to start crying. He said in broken English, 'She don't know how much this will mean to me at Christmas,'" Clemons said.

Read the rest of this heartwarming Christmas story at GMANews TV, Dec. 24, 2006.

Hey people!

A HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

WARM HUGS...

STELLA :-)

What's your favorite Christmas tradition?

Something Like Life
Dec. 22/23. 2006

IS it just me or can you smell it, too? I don’t know, but there’s just something superspecial in our carbon monoxide-laden air these days that gives me an extra high, with just a few days to go before Christmas. Sure, we’re all probably tapped out right now, having exceeded our Christmas budget again…or suffering a splitting headache from the vocal contortions of the blind woman with the mic outside the mall…and maybe a bit frazzled from managing the maze of pasilyos at the tiangge and shoppers meandering like they were walking under the moonlight in Luneta!

But gee…Merry Christmas! It’s a wonderful holiday that should be celebrated throughout the year (sans the traffic). Let’s take some time to reflect on the birth of the Christ Jesus who has made all our blessings possible. And for that, we should offer our grateful hearts to Him and share the bounties of the season with all. As my gift to you dear readers, here are some friends to share their thoughts on their favorite Christmas traditions. Happy Christmas to you everyone!

Mayor Jojo Binay, Makati City

When I was still in high school (I was living with an uncle’s family then), I was supposed to go out with my cousins and my barkada. May karnabal pa noon, at ’yon lang ang pinaka-happening ng mga panahon na ’yon. I really wanted to go but I begged off, saying I had lots of books to read. The truth was, I didn’t have any money. This experience encouraged me to establish a tradition of gift-giving, especially to indigents in our beloved city, and treat them with free entertainment during Christmas/New Year.

Gov. Say Tetangco, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

Besides family reunions, what’s my favorite Christmas tradition? Ah, it’s the golf circuit; I play with friends between Christmas and New Year. We’ve had one scorekeeper all these years, and only he knows how the tallies of wins and losses are made...but that has never seemed to bother any of us. We let him have his way, all in the spirit of friendship and camaraderie that fills the Christmas air.

Jimmy Bautista, president, Philippine Airlines

My favorite Christmas tradition is the Noche Buena, when after going to Mass all family members, from grandparents to grandchildren, dine and drink together and exchange gifts and pleasantries. When my parents were alive, we made it a point that my family and my sisters’ families spend Noche Buena in our parents’ home. It’s like our annual reunion and everybody, especially the kids, looks forward to it.

Lance Gokongwei, president, JG Summit Holdings Inc.

My favorite Christmas tradition is decorating the tree with my wife Jay, my daughter Hannah and my son Jacob. Basically, we use the same ornaments every year, but this year Hannah, who is four years old, added a Dora star on top of the tree. I love seeing my children’s faces light up as they watch the tree disappear under all the lights and colorful decoration.

Fritz Kahler, general manager, Alegre Beach Resort

Back home in Austria, our Christmases were mostly white, with a large freshly cut fir tree set up in our living room, beautifully decorated and lit by real beeswax candles, which altogether created that very special Christmas scent. My father then would walk through the house on Christmas Eve with pieces of hot coal from the fireplace on which he put some incense, which further enhanced the atmosphere. Christmas out here in the tropics is a bit different but we’ve kept some of the traditions. We always have a natural “Christmas tree” which could be a local bush or small tree “adapted” by my wife Cynthia and decorated with ornaments we’ve collected from the numerous countries we’ve lived in. We have real beeswax candles from back home which we light on Christmas Eve.

Macel Fernandez-Estavillo, legal counsel, Yuchengco Group of Companies

My dad would make wonderful paella that he’s famous for, my mom and aunt would make chicken salad and potato salad, and we’d eat at 12 midnight after our 10 pm Mass. When my sister Andion is in town (from Berlin), she’d sing Christmas carols during Mass (our family’s gift to Jesus). Now that it’s our first Christmas with our baby Javea, we’re hoping to start our own traditions, too. We got a trinket for the tree to celebrate Javea’s first Christmas, and hope to get one each year, so that when my husband, Karlo, and I are old, we’ll have a tree filled with trinkets for each year. We’re excited to be spending Javea’s first Christmas in Berlin with family, including Andion’s baby Jeffrey Jr., who is celebrating his second Christmas.

Nilo Cruz, managing director, HP Philippines

After Simbang Gabi on Christmas Eve, we’d stuff ourselves during Noche Buena with home-baked Chinese ham, pasta, fruits and French garlic bread, downing it all with either hot chocolate or freshly popped champagne. It’s gift-giving/opening until the wee hours. On Christmas Day, we visit relatives and friends, and in the evening we call those who are abroad. We also sponsor an orphan through our parish-church project during the holidays.

Ruby Gan, co-owner, Schu

We usually start our Christmas shopping when the school break starts. My sons Martin Francis and Raphael and I would scour the malls and shops armed with our lists. This is also the time when they would choose their Christmas cards for the rest of the family members. This time of the year, I tend to spoil my sons because I try to get everything on their lists. But hold your horses! These are not long lists—only about two to five items between the two boys, and they’re not really that expensive. On the 24th, after the 6 pm anticipated Misa de Gallo, we celebrate Christmas Eve with a nice dinner, usually at the Peninsula Manila, dressed in all our finery. Then at exactly midnight, we would open all our gifts!

Prandy Yulo, managing director, Hella Phils.

As a born-again Christian, I attend a Christian service normally before midnight of the 24th in our local church where we remember the birth of Jesus as told in Scripture and focus on the reason for the season, the coming of the Messiah. After congregational songs of worship and prayers, we proceed to the reading of Scripture. The highlight of the service is our pastor’s sermon on the significance of the season. My family would then spend some time after the service in fellowship with our churchmates, then go home to sleep.

Joey Bermudez, president, Chinatrust Commercial Bank Corp.

On Christmas Eve, we always hold a talent contest where we—my wife Ester, my kids Miggy, Anjo, Jeff, Gabby and Christine, and myself—perform individually with the househelp as our audience. The househelp also act as judges and they select the best performers. Of course, we give the househelp their Christmas gifts before they do their judging chores to ensure that they will be neutral. I have never won in any of these contests.

* * *

At no better time of the year can we give of our hearts to the less fortunate among us. I would like to enjoin all to remember the Guimaras oil-spill victims, whose futures are not as secure as most of us in this Holy Season. You may send your donations, either in cash or kind, to:

PROJECT SUNRISE (http://www.projectsunrise.org)
c/o Land Bank of the Philippines Guimaras Branch
Account Name: Provincial Government of Guimaras
Account No: 1922-1000-35
Bank Swift Code: TLBPPHMMAXXX

VISAYAN SEA SQUADRON
c/o Lette Teodosio
Cell-phone Nos.: +63919-225-3262, +63928-231-3193, +63915-7854-035
E-mail: cleanupoilspill@gmail.com

(My column, Something Like Life, appears every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. Photos from BusinessMirror.)

Personal Fortune: Back Onboard

PLUCKED FROM RETIREMENT, SEAIR CHIEF AVELINO ZAPANTA IS READY TO FLY AGAIN

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo
Special to BusinessMirror

MY favorite memory of Avelino L. Zapanta, recently appointed president and chief executive officer of Southeast Asian Airlines or Seair, took place in Guam. He was still Philippine Airlines (PAL) president then, dressed casually in shorts and a shirt, sneakers, and leaning on the side of our tourist bus, which had broken down while touring the island.

We were a gangly bunch of catty journalists on a familiarization tour as part of PAL’s reinstatement of its service to the island. Despite the heat and long time it took for us to get picked up by another bus, we were hardly irritated as “ALZ” went around, entertaining us with his stories, and gamely posing for photos with us.

It is exactly Zapanta’s personal touch, or people skills, that helped him implement massive cost-cutting measures meant to keep PAL afloat. It was a time when relations between labor and management were strained. Groaning under a weight of debt, which ballooned due to the Asian financial crisis in 1997, as well as a pilots’ strike, PAL briefly shut down in September 1998.

Appointed president in 1999, he oversaw the rehabilitation of the flag carrier, which finally broke even in March 2000 for the first time in six years. Zapanta retired in August 2004 confident that the airline was in better shape to carry out its refleeting and expansion.

In the two years he had been away from the limelight, Zapanta wrote a book on the airline industry, 100 Years of Philippine Aviation, and is currently working on another book on the same topic, this time with a global perspective, for publication hopefully by next year.

He has also been teaching airline management classes at the University of the Philippines Asian Institute of Tourism and the Philippine State College of Aeronautics three times a week, his students benefiting from his real-life experiences of working in the industry for 40 years. (He joined PAL in 1966, but worked also at Pacific East Asian Cargo for a time. “Seair is actually my third airline already,” he says.)

The respite gave him more time to spend with his wife of over 43 years, Nicole Lavides, his six grown-up children (Titus, Tugaris, John Rado, Avelino Jr., Ma. Salome, and Ma. Silvana), and his caboodle of 13 “beautiful, handsome, pretty, nice and sweet” grandchildren—which begs the question, why leave the comforts of retirement?

Over a hearty Japanese dinner, we had a freewheeling conversation with Zapanta, who discussed his return to where “the action” is, Seair’s expansion, several aviation issues, and on being—gasp!— a videoke king.

What made you return to the industry?

Of course, I thought the pace of life I’d create when I retired was something I would very much desire. And indeed it was a very easy way of life, out of the rat race and all, not knowing after two years, I kind of missed the action. Because at this age, in almost perfect health, and with the [airline] industry growing, multiplying in leaps and bounds, I was kind of attracted to go back. Fortunately here is Seair on the verge of expansion. And they were looking for an honest-to-goodness president for the airline and so somehow, a headhunter got to me, and I readily accepted it.

Did your family support your decision?

All the way! Perhaps they saw that I was kind of missing the action. Sila mismo naninibago na. They were used to my being out of the house all day ’til evening. Then after retirement, every day I was just at home writing. And then I would be with them at meal times.

Did you ask permission from PAL chairman Lucio Tan before accepting the job at Seair?

No, only from Jimmy [Bautista, PAL president], because I was a consultant of PAL until last month so I had to tell him. As a matter of fact, when I submitted my biodata to the headhunter, I told Jimmy: “There’s a likelihood I might be taken in by another local airline.” I needed to be back in action and obviously I cannot go back to PAL. He said, “Okay lang, pare, ayos lang.” Kumpare ko naman si Jimmy.

I can’t say for sure what Mr. Tan feels, but I think it’s okay. Our routes are different from one another. We don’t duplicate a single air service of Philippine Airlines today, but I cannot tell for the next month and the month after.

Whoa! PAL watch out? What particular experience are you going to bring from PAL that will be useful in Seair?

Everything. All my 38 years of experience. The experience I’ve had will be useful at this particular stage in Seair’s growth. The challenge is how I can help convert Seair into a major player in the industry.

I think it’s going to work out well because all I have to do is to work with Iren [Dornier, Seair founder] and Nikos [Gitsis, cofounder], and they’re both good and very nice guys. Wala akong problema.

What steps are you going to take to become a major market player?

We will be coming up with specific brand products that Seair will eventually market out there. Of course, the current operation is a very successful product brand…these are leisure air sectors that are being operated to the most exotic tourist destinations. We fly to Baler [Aurora]; Clark; Manila; Busuanga, Taytay, Puerto Princesa, El Nido, Cuyo islands—five points in Palawan—and Camiguin. I haven’t even been to some of those places! From Cebu, we fly to Cotobato City, Zamboanga City, then Tawi-Tawi and Jolo. We fly seasonally to Batanes, Sandakan [North Borneo] and Siargao.

Then we’re opening another product line—a partnership between Seair and Tiger Airways. It’s our low-cost operation and for this, we will be acquiring two Airbus 320s. Initially, we’re planning to operate it, from Clark, to Singapore, Macau, Cebu and Davao. Then we’re looking at other points in the region for eventual expansion: Inchon or Busan in Korea, Okinawa [Japan], Kaoshiung in Taiwan.

Can’t you offer these regional flights from Manila instead of Clark?

We are helping in the development and progress of the DMIA [Diosdado Macapagal International Airport]. Seair is the first and only Philippine carrier based in Clark, Pampanga. We are placing our bets on Clark. That will be the eventual gateway.

But that Clark gateway plan has been in the works since President Ramos’ time!

Events will catch up in Manila because there is no room for expansion there. An A380 cannot operate in Naia [Ninoy Aquino International Airport] because of its very limited facility. It’s already been established that when an A380 lands and takes off from Naia runway 0624, nobody can use the taxiway. If there’s an aircraft on the taxiway there’s going to be a wing tip collision! At the DMIA there is unlimited space because it used to be a military airbase. There are two parallel world-class runways there, which can be independently used.

When are you acquiring the A320s?

As early as February 2007. It’s a lease arrangement with Tiger Airways [a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines]. We chose Tiger as a product because the brand name is already established and has a high name recall. So marketing-wise it’s got all the advantage. Basically it’s an interlining arrangement, we feed traffic to one another. There will be an additional 18 pilots and 36 flight attendants earmarked for the A320.

How do you describe the tourism market now? Are the tourists more budget conscious?

No matter what you do, no matter what generation, the reality of market segmentation is there—meaning that there will be always those on the high-end and on the low-end. Those on the high-end, no matter how you bring your price, they would want to be identified as the best, the highest quality, and they’re willing to pay the price. The reality is always there. And of course, there are those who are price-conscious. And again that’s a reality.

So where is Seair positioning itself?

We have the high-end product through the Seair special domestic connections. We are coming up with the Tiger brand for the low-cost low fare, no-frills operation. We’re addressing the entire range of the market. Not a bad marketing strategy huh?

Of course they will help us in marketing our flights, and we will also use their distribution system, to enhance our sales.

Do you think Cebu Pacific’s Go Fares have unduly disrupted the pricing structure of the market? Some airlines say those low fares are unsustainable without any subsidies from Cebu Pac’s parent firm.

No, it has a positive effect as far as the industry is concerned. When Cebu Pacific started in 1994, Philippine Airlines was prepared for it of course. Ang totoo, tuwang-tuwa kami sa kanila. They were expanding the market because they were capturing the surface travelers from the ships and buses who were starting to fly on their low fares. So our philosophy then, “let them do their job,” because those markets they were creating will eventually develop an appetite for the higher service. And eventually they’ll be flying PAL, they’ll be flying the business class. Teka, why am I talking about PAL? I’m supposed to be talking about Seair!

Old habits die hard? So what’s the biggest challenge of the local airline industry?

The biggest challenge will still be the shortage of mission-critical skills because the availability of pilots and mechanics in relation to the number of aircraft that has been purchased by the airlines didn’t dovetail. Hundreds of aircraft have been added and yet no pilots and mechanics have been earmarked for those.

The low-cost carriers aggravated that problem because before, airlines would buy big aircraft so the demand for pilots were not that huge. Now smaller planes are being bought, and by the hundreds. So the requirements for pilots and mechanics have multiplied.

Some carriers are complaining that they are losing their pilots to the higher-paying foreign airlines. How are you going to deal with that issue?

I heard PAL has already increased its pilots’ salaries. We will go along with the industry trend, which is to calibrate all the salary levels, kasi ’di maiwasan ’yan. And of course, they will have to be made to appreciate the value of their own airline by fostering a well-knit close, almost family-like relationships. We will have constant dialogue.

Is Seair considering an employees’ stocks option plan as way to make them “appreciate” the airline?

That can also be considered, because part of the plan of the existing stockholders [Dornier, Gitsis and Tomas B. Lopez] is to expand the capital base of the airline for future expansion, so there will be more Filipino investors that will be attracted into the airline.

Are you considering an initial public offering to widen the Filipino ownership of the airline?

That’s always a possibility but we will have to be able to register attractive levels of returns for three consecutive years. So we will have to wait for that time. But we will work very hard in order to achieve that. [Revenues are projected to grow to P1 billion by yearend from P600 million in 2005.]

What’s your timetable to achieve this continued profitability?

Every year there will be gradual growth and development. The two A320s can virtually double the capacity of Seair. Remember, it’s a 180-seater aircraft against the 32-seater Dornier 328 and 19-seater LET-410 aircraft.

We will add more domestic routes. When we operate the A320 for the Manila-Cebu route, we will upgrade the Dornier 328 and introduce a linkage between Palawan and Iloilo. There is a high familial affinity between both provinces as many Ilonggos migrated to Palawan.

Seair has been operating for 11 years, since 1995. This year we will end up with a positive income.

Do you have any plans to change your turboprop fleet?

No. How can we change them when the domestic airports have not caught up with the march of technology and aviation? We have 13 aircraft—nine LET 410s, and four Dornier 328s. They are modern aircraft.

Some politicians in Pampanga are pushing open skies in Clark to supposedly bring in more tourists. Has your stand on a liberalized aviation policy changed from when you were at PAL?

The modern trend is to liberalize in order to really help improve our tourism even the economy. It cannot be denied that it’s been accepted globally that tourism is the biggest industry in the world today because of its multiplier effect. And those who have liberalized their skies have become successful, like Singapore, for example.

But if you have open skies, there must be reciprocity. We have to get the same benefits in return. Di naman makikinabang ang Seair doon kung i-open ang Philippines, then the same privilege is not available to us. Seair is on the verge of expansion, where are we going to fly?

So will you keep on teaching?

I intend to finish the semester [until April]. I have about 80 students. Perhaps I will just maintain one subject because I will lose a lot of time. But it looks like the attitude of Seair’s owners is for me to continue with my teaching because it helps in the promotion of the airline. So I’ll play it by ear.

How do you spend your leisure time?

I don’t have any except for that one hour of brisk walking and calisthenics every morning. I’ve lost 30 pounds—no more beer belly. Basically I take out my wife on Sundays, to church, then with some two or three young kids, we go to the mall, we eat or watch a movie.

Every now and then, we have parties on the third floor of our home in Taytay, about 20 minutes away from Makati when there’s no traffic. On the fourth floor is my gym. But on the third floor is where we get together especially when someone has a birthday. We have food, beer and sing on the videoke.

Really? What do you like to sing?

Madalas kong banatan simple lang, ’yung “A Certain Smile,” “Portrait of My Love,” “Perhaps Love”…. Every now and then, nagma-“My Way” din. Pag hawak ko na mikropono, nobody would dare take it away from me. Hahaha.

(Personal Fortune is a magazine published every Friday by the BusinessMirror. Photos by Nonie Reyes, BusinessMirror)

The 40 Richest Pinoys (Dang! I'm not on the list again!)

According to Forbes Asia

(Payungan kita, Pa.)

1. Henry Sy - $4.0 billion
2. Lucio Tan - $2.3 billion
3. Jaime Zobel de Ayala - $2.0 billion
4. Eduardo Cojuangco - $840 million
5. George Ty - $830 million
6. John Gokongwei - $700 million
7. Tony Tan Caktiong - $575 million
8. Andrew Tan - $480 million
9. Emilio Yap - $350 million
10. Oscar Lopez - $315 million
11. Enrique Razon Jr. - $285 million
12. Andrew Gotianun - $280 million
13. Enrique Aboitiz - $275 million
14. Alfonso Yuchengco - $225 million
15. Menardo Jimenez - $210 million
15. Gilberto Duavit Jr. - $210 million
17. Ramon del Rosario - $205 million
18. Felipe Gozon - $180 million
19. Beatrice Campos - $160 million
20. Luis J. L. Virata - $150 million
21. David M. Consunji - $145 million
22. Bienvenido Tantoco Sr. $140 million
23. Betty Ang - $115 million
24. Manuel Villar - $110 million
25. Mariano Tan - $100 million
26. Rolando and Rosalinda Hortaleza - $90 million
27. Oscar Hilado - $85 million
28. Vivian Que Azcona - $80 million
29. Manuel Zamora - $75 million
30. Magdaleno Albarracin - $73 million
31. Jesus Tambunting - $70 million
32. Frederick Dy - $65 million
33. Tomas Alcantara - $60 million
34. Lourdes Montinola - $50 million
35. Salvador Zamorra - $45 million
36. Antonio Roxas - $40 million
37. Wilfred Steven Uytengsu Sr. - $38 million
38. Philip T. Ang - $35 million
39. Marixi Prieto - $30 million
40. Manuel Pangilinan - $25 million

(Click here for the full story. Henry Sy photo from Forbes web site.

YULETIDE THOUGHTS

Something Like Life
Dec. 15, 2006

DESPITE the fact that Christmas carols have been playing in shopping malls since October, it only dawned on me that Christmas 2006 is just right around the corner when recently I saw a big red ball sitting in a bread basket next to the fruit basket in my mom’s dining room.

It was my dad’s quezo de bola, a staple in every Christmas as far back as I can remember. Sorry San Miguel, but no Magnolia cheese balls for my dad; this was a real Edam cheese ball from Holland. He has long given up on Marca Piña or Pato, which have lost their bite. Papa discovered years ago the nutty mature goodness of Dutch Master (try it!). And no Christmas is complete unless there are one or two red balls sitting in our dining room.

No sooner had the quezo de bola been purchased when the parol and the blinking colored lights were already up, the Baby Jesus with Mary and Joseph displayed prominently in the belen, and three Christmas trees in different sizes ensconced in their rightful place. Suddenly the living room throw pillows were all covered in red (my mom’s sofa is a bleah green but somehow the combination comes together this time of the year) and fat Christmas candles were all over the house. On the screen doors hung bountiful and colorful Yuletide wreaths.

Over the weekend I began downloading Christmas wallpapers for my iBook (http://www.wallpaperoriginals.com), trying out which would best fit my personality and mindful of where we live. (Um, nope, no snowy country cottage themes with smoke rising from the chimney for me. Maybe someone should come up with Filipino Christmas wallpapers.) I finally settled on a close-up of a Christmas tree with silver trimmings and red bows. It’s real pretty! I also downloaded MacLampsX (http://arcticmac.home.comcast.net/apps/maclampsx.html), which installs Christmas lights around the border of the computer screen. It’s fun because you can design the lights yourself and decide how to string ’em up on your desktop screen.

And before writing this column, I earnestly searched the Internet for web radio stations (http://www.web-radio.fm/christmas/) so I could add them to my playlist and stream Christmas music all day long. Yeah, I know. It’s over-the-top, cheesy even, but I just couldn’t help it. I’ve been bitten by the holiday bug!

By the way, the most hilarious Yuletide song I’ve heard by far is Elmo ’n’ Patsy’s “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.” Hahaha! Laugh your holiday hearts out at http://www.grapesoda.com.

* * *

I know many people think the holidays are stressful but I’ve learned to deal with it over the years. First of all, I shop early. All that Yuletide stress is often brought about by that almost desperate last-minute search for the perfect gifts for the special people in your life. And sometimes, for the not-so-special people whom you need to suck up to anyway, which makes the search for gifts even more stressful.

Malls and tiangges are jam-packed already this time of the month, no matter what day or time you go. Jostling, pushing and shoving can’t be avoided. (Be careful of the salisi gangs at the Ayala malls.) Parking is a hassle but if you don’t bring your car, you will be at the mercy of rude cabbies.

So next year, make your Christmas list early. And perhaps trim it a bit. These trying times, I don’t think anyone with an inch of sensitivity on his person really expects humongous presents. One newspaper columnist told me years ago that he didn’t mind receiving only Christmas cards. It was enough that people remembered him during the holidays. And shop slow so you can give each gift more thought. You don’t have to buy everything in one go.

Buy a few gifts every payday beginning October, which I think is a reasonable month to start shopping. It will be a little easier on your wallet as well, as your expenses will be spaced apart, giving you a little breathing space from payday to payday.

Be disciplined about your gift-giving. Set a fixed budget. You cannot go over this amount even if your son threatens to stop going to school unless you buy him the latest PlayStation console. Priority should always be your family and your closest and dearest friends. Do not include the cute guy you just met at the tennis court yesterday. Besides, he should be the one giving you a gift, no?

So you want to suck up to the boss, eh? I am truly ambivalent about this because I think the boss should be the one giving us a gift. Aba, our work makes his job so much easier! But if you truly feel the need to give him a gift, then go ahead. It need not be outrageously expensive, which some of us tend to do in our desire to upstage our colleagues at work. It should be simple, thoughtful and sincere. (Please be more creative naman than the Purpose Driven Life. My poor brother-in-law, for example, received three copies last year!)

But it’s really the little people at the office or at home who deserve our gifts. Take up a collection among your colleagues to buy something extra special for the manong janitor. Persuade your fellow homeowners’ association members to contribute to a common fund for the subdivision guards or gardener. The househelp we depend on to take care of us and the rest of our family members, toiling over heated stoves, handwashing the laundry and cleaning out our toilets daily, will also need an extra dose of, ahem, loving from us this season.

It’s all about sharing, folks!

(My column, Something Like Life, appears every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. Cartoons from www.reverendfun.com and from another web site I can no longer trace.)

Stick it to 'em, RC!

Renato "RC" Constantino, Jr. at the anniversary of People Power at Edsa, Feb. 24, 2006. (Photo from Red Constantino's blog)

HURRAY for RC Constantino for calling House leaders "serial rapists" to their collective selfish face! It may not have been the proper place and time to do so as it was a press conference, but it had to be said nonetheless. The truth hurts you asswipes!

It's time you administration congressmen start paying attention to what the public really wants. Con-Ass, my ass! Who said we wanted constitutional reforms? All we want is for government corruption to stop, a thriving economy, higher wages, and peace and order. Con-Ass, Cha-Cha, Con-Con or whatever scheme you want to use to amend the Constitution will not give us economic and political stability.

Mickey Mouse Ears and his colleagues should stop using the poor economy as an excuse to push Cha-Cha. You only have yourselves to blame with your screwing around with economic legislation, or at worse, sitting on them. The only reason you want to amend the Constitution is for you to perpetuate yourselves in power and for you, JDV, to finally get a shot at being the Malacañang resident.

Toward the end of his statement at the press conference today, Mickey Mouse Ears said all they wanted was to leave a bright future for the youth. Well the only way that can happen is for you to move over, JDV! You are the ass among your fellow cons in Congress. You and your ilk should have already been put out to pasture eons ago. It's time for the young people, to lead the country out of the frikking mess you and your fellow senile old coots in Congress and in the GMA administration put us in. Alis jan Mickey Mouse!

(Footnote: Whoa Vic Agustin! Now what was that business of throwing water at RC Constantino's face? Is that how a "kept man," as you like to call yourself, moving around in the circles of the alta de sociedad, is supposed to behave? I like you and your column, but man, that behavior was just outta line! Tsk, tsk, tsk.)

• More on the Con-ass/Cha-Cha/Con-Con debate from GMA News TV and Dong Puno.

Portrait of a gentleman banker

'Tio Paeng' (left) and 'Gov. Cutie' at a book launch last year. (Photo from BusinessMirror)

Something Like Life
Dec. 8, 2006

IT was a text message I had been dreading to receive. But exactly at 3:49 pm on November 30, I received the sad news that former Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor Rafael B. Buenaventura had left this earthly domain for his true home.

“Tio Paeng,” as all the banking reporters fondly called him, had been in and out of hospitals over the past few years. He had valiantly fought the attacks on his person and position while at the helm of the central bank, but his bout with cancer was his most difficult battle of all.

Those of us who had a special affection for him would often ask his successor, Gov. Amando “Say” Tetangco, for any updates on his health. (Ever the wit, Gov. Paeng bestowed on Say the title “Gov. Cutie,” after one of my pieces; he also reveled in his nickname “Tio Paeng,” despite its, ahem, lusty undertone.) For a while, we heard he was doing better and some of us crossed our fingers that he would maybe be well enough to make it to our friend Des’s wedding. Alas, it was not be, and his frail health prevented him from being with us at the joyous occasion.

To be frank, Gov and the senior banking reporters didn’t always have a sunny relationship. There were some personal issues in the past which had their roots when he was still president of PCIBank. Eventually, wounds would heal and the frosty relationship would thaw. To his credit, Gov tried to reach out to those hurt among us the most, and tried to repair the damage that had been done.

I had another personal brush with Gov’s humility back when I was an editor at Manila Standard. After a particularly scathing editorial I had penned on a banking fiasco, the outspoken governor uttered the immortal line, “No one reads Manila Standard anyway!” to the banking reporters. Of course, the telephone lines burned immediately as the mischievous bunch reported to me what the governor had said. He became an even more favorite target after that.

Of course, as the Gov only knows only too well, life is too short to hold any grudges against anybody. So, over a few glasses of red wine at the BSP’s annual bankers’ cocktails, we buried the hatchet, so to speak, without even nitpicking the issues between us.

Later, he would become one of the most avid fans of my former paper, not just because we had supported his stay at the central bank, but because we actually respected the independence of the institution, even when others did not. The Gov would never forget to show his eternal gratitude to those who had backed him in his quest to defend the institution he headed. He would text his thanks, or call personally to express his appreciation for the stories written.

And yet he knew how to draw the line between friendship and his professional responsibilities. It was a quality I admired in him as I practice this myself. There were times when he may have sacrificed relationships for what he called “the greater good.” Only his real friends understood and didn’t take him to task for these sacrifices, which he needed to do to make an objective decision on important banking issues.

Despite the rarefied air that he often breathed (he was a permanent fixture in society magazines), Gov. Paeng was very accessible. While still at PCIB, he was the only bank president who came to the phone and gave me, a new banking reporter then, the time of day, this even before meeting me in person. At the BSP, he virtually revolutionized business journalism by making announcements on interest-rate policy via text messaging.

No matter how late it was, or wherever in the world he may be, he would answer our questions via SMS. Sometimes, he would return calls himself on the way to a meeting or some engagement, often sacrificing short private moments to make sure he touched base with us. I remember my cellphone being filled with saved text messages from him, important quotes that I used for the pieces I would write. No issue was too tiny for him to respond to…even if it was only some chismis.

His management of monetary policies aside, it was probably the Gov’s lovelife which engendered the most discussion. His relationship to painter Marivic Rufino was ardently whispered about even though their long relationship was no secret. The women gossiped about it because, well, they were women, while the men did their thing, too, perhaps envious of Gov’s good fortune.

Call me a hopeless romantic, but I’ve always believed in second chances. And for someone like the Gov who was, ahem, no spring chicken, to be able to pledge his undying love to another person at that stage in his life was something wonderful. To be in your 60s and in love! Gov. Paeng was truly blessed.

There was no doubt that the Gov was enamored with his lady love. It showed in his glowing face, and in his relaxed demeanor. Even in his clothes. I bumped into the couple once while having dinner at L’Incontro and it amused me that, like teenagers, they were both dressed in red.

Gov. Paeng would often jokingly count the years, down to the days and seconds to his retirement. It was as if he couldn’t wait to finally step down and spend his remaining years just quietly at the side of Marivic.

I never got to see the Gov finally get his wish, as there was no formal turnover of his post to Say, a professional central banker. Gov was in the US by then dealing with his illness. When he finally made his first public appearance at a central bank affair, a book launch, he was already feeling the ravages of the disease. He had lost weight and his hair. But ever the dapper dresser, his head was capped stylishly by a beret. And as the photos from the affair show, he was obviously pleased for Say, who was just positively beaming beside him. Gov. Paeng respected talent, and he knew Say was the right man to inherit his job.

While most people will remember Gov for his illustrious banking career, I will always remember him as a kind, decent, witty and gentle man who to the end, still thought of others. He didn’t want flowers, only donations to the Philippine General Hospital’s institute for indigent cancer patients. In his passing, he wanted to give life to others.

( This is the correct version of my column, Something Like Life, which appears every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror.)