Under the topic, “Swiss trip is the reason” (Jan. 12, 2007), I mentioned about the info I got that in Davos, Switzerland, where Gloria Arroyo will be going on Jan. 25 for the World Economic Forum, she will be a guest in a dinner to be hosted by Maurice Amon, chairman of SIPCA.
SIPCA is Swiss firm whose inks are used in 90 percent of the world’s bank notes.
Anna asked if I had any info about Romela Bengzon going to Davos at the same time that Arroyo would be there. Bengzon is formerly a member of the Consultative Commission that drafted a Constitution shifting to parliamentary system and cancelling the May 2007, and is into consultancy business.
Anna asked because as she said,”I got wind of the news that Bengzon is technically involved in the supply of French printing paper to the Philippine Central Bank. French company is doing business with the Swiss ink suppliers.”
I asked former Foreign Secretary Roberto R. Romulo, who will be going with Arroyo to Davos, and he said Bengzon is not with Arroyo’s party, official or otherwise.
Romulo said the members of Arroyo’s party to Davos are Central bank Governor Amando Tetangco, Jr., Trade Secretary Peter Favila, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo, and himself, presidential adviser on international competitiveness until Feb. 1, 2007.
Romulo did not comment on why Finance Secretary Gary Teves was not part of GMA’s Davos entourage.
Romulo said he is a member of WEF, an independent international organization that aims to “improve the state of the world”, as a founding member of the Business Advisory Council of APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation). Participants to the WEF come from business, politics, academe, media, and civil society.
Participation fee for WEF forum is 48,000 Swiss francs (P1.8 million).
Arroyo will be speaking in a plenary session on Asean. Other speakers on that session are Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
In the dinner on Jan. 26 to be hosted by Amon for Arroyo, the guests include Michael Porter, professor, Bishop William Lawrence University and Harvard Business School; Mr. And Mrs. E. Nerville Isdell, chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company; Mr. and Mrs. Ronald S. McEacherm, president Asia region of Pepsico International;Yoshihiro Morita, deputy governor and managing director of Japan bank for International Cooperation; Amr A. Al Dabbagh, governor, Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority; David Dougherty, president and COO, Convergys Corporation; Kakutaro Kitashiro, chairman, IBM Japan; John Lipsky, first deputy managing director, International Monetary Fund;
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman and CEO, Nestlé S.A; Tom Clough, member of the executive committee, Holcim Ltd.; Andronico Luksig Craig, vice chairman, Banco de Chile;Mr. And Mrs. Jim Goodnight, founder and CEO, SAS; Kiyoshu sato, president and chief operating officer, Tokyo Electron Ltd.; Sir Martin Sorrell, group chief executive, WPP Plc; martin Sullivan, president and CEO, AIG; Stephen Zuellig, president, Zuellig Group; Jeroen Van der Veer, CEO, Royal Dutch Shell PLC; Stephen Roach, chief economist and director, Global Economic Analysis, Morgan Stanley; Kevan Watt, chairman Merrill Lynch International; and Caio Koch-Weser, vice chairman, Deutsche Bank AG.
A post related to the above topic in Uniffors by a certain Papa Zang, brought to our attention by Tongue:
I noticed in the comments that many mistake former foreign secretary Roberto R. Romulo with the current foreign secretary , Alberto Romulo. They are cousins.
Roberto Romulo, known to as “Bobby” or RRR, is the better of the two Romulos,in my opinion.
One wonders if these excesses are made knowing that this might be the last year for the cheats, liars and thieves in the rodent infested den beside the stinky river. They will live it up before their exit.
Ellen,
What’s their relations with CPR? Sorry, but I don’t know these people as a matter of fact.
The “..WEF, an independent international organization that aims to “improve the state of the world”.” It’s FUNNY that GLORIA will take part in a prestigious organization when she has NOT SUCCEEDED & is UNABLE TO IMPROVE THE STATE OF HER COUNTRY ! The fee for participating in the WEF forum of “48,000 Swiss francs” isn’t peanuts to a poor country like ours. Worse, this will only benefit BABY APE GLORIA & NOT the Philippines. To begin w/, Baby Ape Gloria is the least liked leader in Philippine history.Maybe “hated leader” is a more apt term ! It’s just ridiculous how she can even represent teh Filipino people who hates her !
Reading the big-wig guests who will be “In the dinner on Jan. 26 to be hosted by Amon for Arroyo..” Baby Ape Gloria actually thinks that by mingling w/ these big-wigs she would be able to uplift her stature. She fails to understand that when you smell bad, you smell bad. In GLORIA’s case, putting on perfume doesn’t do the trick.
All these are for her personal image, nothing else. The best she had done was marry a Tuason (Mike Arroyo). That’s her only crowning glory.
Going over the list, I’m not surprised the CEO of Coca-Cola is attending, after all, his recent group has taken over Coke in the Philippines from San Miguel. The Coca-Cola group has to make sure that the taxes on concentrates are not raised.
Roberto Romulo is the son of Carlos P. Romulo.
Alberto, the spineless and clueless foreign secretary now, is the nephew of CPR.
Yes, Chabeli, 48,000 Swiss francs is equivalent to P1.8 million at P39.1 to one Swiss franc.
I can just imagine the cost of this Swiss trip to the Filipino taxpayers.
Baka lahat ng entourage ni Tiyanak ay mag-oopen ng bank account sa Switzerland! Kung maka-gastos sila ng pera ng bayan, parang walang bukas. Let them enjoy. Di ba iyong presong ready for execution eh pinapakain ng lahat ng masasarap. Ganoon na rin sa mga ungas na ito. Their days are numbered so let them have fun! When they find themselves sa ilalim ng gulong, para na silang napitpit na luya! I can’t wait for that day!
Baka si Hot Papa sinabihan si Hot Mama na huwag sumama sa entourage. This trip is not for honeymooners! Business trip kuno lang ito.
Chabelli, are you sure the best decision the Tiyanak made was to marry a Tuason? I beg to disagree with you this time. It looks more like another blunder to me. Look at all the blunders he had caused her! They are peas in a pod!
Kawawa ang papalit kay Pandak kung sakali. In fact, it was what actually happened to Marcos. He inherited a lot of Dadong’s debt when he succeeded in removing him. Labas tuloy niya, under the mercy of Uncle Sam!
All these depreciation of the dollar to the peso is BS. Walang viable industry ang Pilipinas. Human trafficking lang kaya how can the Bansot claims that the peso is stronger than the dollar. Iyon ngang yen namin hindi bumababa sa dollar because it would be disastrous to Japanese exports.
Kawawa iyong mga OFWs na pinakakayod niya para masalba ang rehime niya. Hindi sila nakikinabang. Kailangan pa nila ngayong doblehin ang padala nila at todo kayod sila para magkasya ang padala nila.
PATALSIKIN NA, NOW NA!
Chabeli,
Re: “The best she had done was marry a Tuason (Mike Arroyo). That’s her only crowning glory.”
Boy Montelibano said that too.
Every President who succeeded another in the past always blamed the other for the country’s problems. This time, siguro wala nang may lakas ng loob na pumalit kay Arroyo because it might take 100 years to solve some of the problems so serious enough that even a miracle won’t work.
Yuko,
“Kawawa ang papalit kay Pandak kung sakali. In fact, it was what actually happened to Marcos. He inherited a lot of Dadong’s debt when he succeeded in removing him. Labas tuloy niya, under the mercy of Uncle Sam! ”
A couple of months after Erap came to power, he announced that the AFP Modernization Plans had absolutely NO FUNDS. I asked, How on earth is that possible?
FVR sold lots of AFP assets to finance the goddamn Modernization Plans… Erap swore, there was not A BEAN! Strange, stranger and strangest things had happened in the AFP so Erap could be right!
And the one who will replace frigging moral midget is gonna find himeself/herself in a hole because the fatsos (Arroyo & Macapagal tandem of crooks) will have CLEANED UP State coffers, after all they are so good at clearing up ops… (as they’ve done recently in Iloilo!)
Ellen,
RE: “Anna asked because as she said,”I got wind of the news that Bengzon is technically involved in the supply of French printing paper to the Philippine Central Bank. French company is doing business with the Swiss ink suppliers.””
Bengzon may deny this (if ever) but I’d rather believe my contacts in France who have all the reasons for being happy about having such an ‘excellent’ conduit… Heh!
Maraming nanakaw iyan si FVR. The Roppongi BOT agreement in fact meant a lot of money for whoever negotiated for it on his behalf.
They cannot trick anybody here on who actually made money then. Madaling makita as a matter of fact, because there are documents furnished authorities here as the land is on Japanese soil and has to be registered still with the Land Registration Offic here.
Pinagbibintangan pa in fact si Erap who just happened to be elected at the time the construction of the new building on the Roppong property was finished. That was why it was opened for service during his time but Estrada has nothing to do with the bidding, and other rackets in the development of the Roppongi property.
Now the greedy couple are determined to have the other properties sold to finance their expensive taste daw!!! there are four properties still to be squandered by these crooks!!!
Fortunately, Anna, negotiators for the Japan-Philippine peace treaty on the Japanese side had made sure to provide the Filipino people the opportunity to sue anyone who engages in any fraudulent act or attempt to defraud the Filipinos about the properties given to the Philippines as reparations payments including the property sequestered and bought with reparations money from the Laurels that is now the ambassador’s residence located in one of Tokyo’s most expensive area being next door to the Imperial Palace and the Yasukuni Shrine. Manloloko pa ang mga ungas na made-depreciate daw ang prices ng mga properties the Philippines own kaya gusto nilang ibenta.
Puedeng idemanda ang mga magnanakaw, and there are a lot many Japanese lawyers willing to take this case on behalf of the Filipino people to court free of charge as a matter of fact.
PATALSIKIN NA, NOW NA!
Parasabayan,
What I meant to say about GLORIA marrying a Tuason & it being “..her only crowning glory”, is that it was her marriage to Tuason that she was able to find a base, w/c is the Elite. GLORIA could not have entered into the world of the Elite just by Macapagal-the Macapagals were not really appealing to the elite. From what I see, it is the upper military-who are funded by the elite-that is keeping GLORIA in power. I did not mean that marrying a Tuason was such a WOW, however, you are correct that “It looks more like another blunder..Look at all the blunders he had caused her!..” As it turned out, Mike Arroyo turned out to be a LIABILITY due to his greed.
Speaking of Mike Arroyo’s greed, in today’s issue of the Inquirer I read in the front page about the PCGG approving the release of the 1.9B Pesos of San Miguel dividends. However, the use of the funds are still unclear. Most, if not all, of the directors in Cocobank are Mike Arroyo’s men. An exaperated Director “whispered” to me that the funds will be used supposedly to rehabilitate 6 oil mills owned by Cocobank-of course, this is the official line. The unofficial story is that these oil mills are deliberatly being run-down so that new machineries, all of w/c will be over-priced, can be bought w/o public bidding. The Cocobank Director told me that he notices that this seems to always happen before elections-as a matter of fact, this same scenario happened before the 2004 elections. What is interesting here is that the son of PCGG Commissioner Narciso Nario works for one of the oil mills.
Jeez, in my opinion, Mike Arroyo & his men are preparing for the upcoming elections in WHATEVER way possible. Parang type nila “the more illegal the better”.
Chabeli:
Yumaman lang naman ang marami sa Pilipinas dahil marunong silang mag-landgrab. I understand from the interviews we did with members of SAKDAL that the uprisings in the 20’s and 30’s were actually against these landgrabbers who became landowners.
The Chinoys like the Cojuangcos flourished because they knew how to flatter the Americans, who were not in fact keen on implementing a real land reform with a lot many lands still owned in fact by the Catholic friars!
Then, when the Americans granted the Philippines its independence the reign of government was handed over to these landgrabbers who have become more like the warlords in Afghanistan with their own private armies culled from the Philippine Military and paid with public funds that came from the reparations payments paid by the US and Japan since these landlords would not even pay their dues!
Daming kabulastugan as a matter of fact like the kaingin system that was introduced after the Philippines became independent, but a lot many kaingeros would not even know that they need to have the lands they cleared up registered. Resulta tuloy katakot-takot na landgrabbing even now!
Paano ba ang landgrabbing? Ang pagkaintindi ko sa land grab iyon kukunin mo ang lupa. Samakatuwid kailangan gamitin ang kamay. Kamay na bakal o Hand of Steel?
artsee, puede rin gamitim yong manga galamay, halimbawa kong ika ay isang pulitiko marami galamas yan, kaya mas malawak ang ma la “landgrab” nang mama. kung tayong ordinaryong tao lamang ( ikaw ma-ari hindi ordinaryo) pag sariling kamay lang, ang madampot natin as alikabok lamang.
With so many attendees at the dinner to be hosted by Amos for Glueria, the hideous woman will be feeling significant again. Sino kaya ang nag-lobby para magkaroon ng ganito karaming pala ang reyna engkantada at magkano? O, nasa listahan pala ang chairman ng Merrill Lynch International!
Nabasa na kasi ni Hot Papa dito sa blog na pinag-uusapan natin si Hot Mama kaya hindi na siya pinasama sa Davos R&R.
“Nabasa na kasi ni Hot Papa ” Hahahahahah!
What I know is that, comments in this blog reached some of the members of the Davos delegation.
“comments in this blog reached some of the members of the Davos delegation.”
Hah! Excellent Ellen, just excellent!
OK, dakdak pa tayo at marami tayong tinatamaan na mga balat kalabaw!
Anna, that’s the reason why RRR called me up to clarify that Romela Bengzon is not part of GMA’s very exclusive party.
sana buhay pa si general carlos p romulo upang naigabay niya ang nabulag na prinsipyo nitong si RRR at pamangkin niyang si alberto. sayang na mga supling ng isang magiting na angkan!
when I joined this blog, there were only 28 readers..The monitor on top is now 152..I am pretty sure this blog has reached no boundaries..Maam Ellen, you’re the man!!
Chi,
OK dakdak pa tayo at marami tayong tinatamaan na balat kalabaw..
salam alaykum
Apoy, this blog averages 7,000 visits a day (a low of 4,000 and a high of 10,000 +) from some 1,300 visitors. Daily. Yes, from all over the world (34 countries) as far as Kiribati.
Thank you all very much.
This blog indeed is burning according to Kabayang Apoy. Credit should go first to Ka Ellen as well as to all of the readers who despite the heated debates are able to maintain their composure. As the saying goes, ang pikon talo at manatili ang matibay.
Maybe, next time the Romulos have a picture-taking, we won’t see the wife wearing her mink coat again. Very offensive iyan sa mga environmentalist as a matter of fact! She should listen to the warnings in this blog.
You bet, we know too much, and we surely learn from experience! And we are not impressed by any show of wealth as a matter of fact, regardless of whether or not we also have millions of foreign reserves in foreign banks! 😛
HUWAG MATAKOT SA MGA KURAKOT! PATALSIKIN NA, NOW NA!
I should add, we know too much, and that’s the benefit of sharing information, not pretending to be all knowing like some planted magulo here!
Worst are those who act more like the fish vendor’s wife than the he-men now seeming to be near extinction even in that outfit called “AFP” with all those generals who pick their noses in public! Yikes!
Bilib ako kay Ellen, she’s a professional journalist. She can maintain her sense of fairness even if she’s one of those being persecuted by this evil woman Pidal. She knows who is and who is not, fair is fair.
On my part, Yuko, there’s always the temptation to get angry at whoever is attached, in person or even in name only, to this Great Switik. I will be a very bad lawyer or columnist. Buti na lang at iba ang aking propesyon.
And yes, that mink coat, fake or not, is not a good sign for environmentalists like me. I follow recycling rules, and my car is hybrid. I love wildlives so I’m always sad when I see women wearing fur coats, especially when real.
Who is Maurice Amon? And why is GMA attending a dinner hosted by him? We heard that Maurice Amon and Swiss-based SICPA of which he is a Chairman have been trying to sell a “track and trace” technology to the ROP Dept. of Finance and the BIR worth US$250M that will be used to collect uncollected taxes from cigarettes and alcohol.
That’s interesting, Francis.
Welcome to this blog.
I can confirm, through reliable sources, that Maurice Amon and SICPA director Hans Schwab have made presentations to DOF and BIR regarding their SICPATRACE system that is supposed to monitor cigarette manufacturing to ensure the taxes being paid are accurate. Laudable, at first glance, except that their technology does not exist – there is no operating program not even a prototype anywhere so they will basically use the Philippines as testing ground for this unproven technology while collecting millions of dollars in licensing fees – and you can make your assumptions on who will partake of the proceeds. It does seem unseemly that the President of the Philippines is having dinner with contractors who stand to make a fortune from projects that will eventually end up on her desk.
expatriot,
extraordinary! why am I not surprised.
i’m going to ask a former colleague to find out more about SICPATRACE system.
Expatriot, thank you for the tip. I’ll follow this up.
Ahh, kaya sobrang sama ang feel ko iyan sa dinner ni Amon in honor of Glueria. It’s sooo off! Nakaka-turn off ang mga taong ito!
Chi,
relaks ka lang. Pera pera lang yan..Di tayo kasali..
apoy,
heheheh! problem is that gloria is gonna waste taxpayers’ money in davos.
in effect, because she’s gonna be spending taxpapeyers’ money, kasali ang taong bayan sa paglalakwatcha niya pati na ang mga bogus contracts, MOAs, MOUs that she will sign.