WHEN GMA CALLS

The Philippine Star
07/25/08

When GMA calls, it looks like things happen quick and fast. Lately, these presidential calls have given the distraught general public something to smile about.

One such call made was to Al Cusi, MIAA general manager, who was given the marching order to open the NAIA-3 terminal that has been lying in waste all these years.

The opening of the terminal had been stymied twice, and threats of contempt charges and possible court injunctions have been the stuff that has kept both NAIA retained counsels and in-house lawyers busy.

Emboldened by the President’s call to action, Al Cusi and his team silently worked the past days to iron out all operational and technical details to enable the terminal to finally open and service a growing number of plane passengers. (Ever since the latest Sulpicio Line tragedy, word is that the numbers of domestic airline passengers have drastically increased while those traveling via sea have dropped.)

Visibly lacking sleep but ecstatic, Cusi was on hand early dawn last Tuesday, July 22, to personally welcome the first batch of Cebu Pacific passengers that passed through the newly opened terminal’s departure gates. He was also at the head of a welcoming group of pretty ladies with roses that met the first batch of arrivals of the Cebu Pacific flight from Tuguegarao.

Cebu Pacific coup

Judging from the positive nods and reactions of the first batch of passengers, Cebu Pacific scored a coup of sorts by giving its customers a first taste of the spacious and new surroundings of NAIA-3, definitely a far cry from the dilapidated condition of the old domestic terminal which Cebu Pacific was using up to last Monday. To top it all, according to Al Cusi, there is no additional cost to Cebu Pacific by transferring the passenger service to the new terminal. Indeed, a smart move by Lance Gokongwei.

By the way, the terminal fee to be paid by passengers using NAIA-3 is the same as the terminal fee being paid at the old dilapidated domestic terminal. I hope, Al, this is not just for a short promotional period.

Shell, Petron, et al capitulate

In another demonstration of the influencing power of the President’s call, the oil companies capitulated after shocking the consumers with a P3.00 per liter price increase last week, the single biggest increase in diesel pump price for a long, long time, if not, in history.

The next day after the price hike announcement, after reportedly receiving a call from GMA, Shell and Petron immediately implemented a partial roll back of diesel prices, bringing down the total price hike up by just P1.50 per liter.

Ed Chua, Shell’s country manager, was widely quoted by media as saying, “Based on pure cost, we’re still below landed cost. For diesel, we still have under-recoveries and we have to price based on market.” This sentiment was echoed by executives of Petron and other oil companies in justifying the hefty diesel price increase that jolted the consuming public.

But all of these were muted as the Palace information machinery triumphantly announced that the President has convinced the oil companies to reduce the diesel price for the benefit of the consuming public, particularly those using public transport.

Back to oil politics?

This latest development in the oil industry is disturbing to some quarters in the private sector. A lot of effort was expended in the past years to de-couple oil pricing from the clutches of politics. In pushing for the deregulation of the industry, the oil companies then claimed that strictly market forces will dictate pump prices and that competition will ensure margins and profitability will remain at reasonable levels.

However, during the last few years as crude prices zoomed up to new highs, the oil companies also earned record profits. And this didn’t help in assuaging the consuming public that the oil companies were not engaged in price gouging.

The initial P3.00 per liter price increase shocker, which was quickly followed by the roll back by Shell and Petron the next day, put to question the credibility of the price setting activities of these oil companies. The suspicion that the oil companies are not just passing on cost increases, as they claimed, but also milking the public for more profit became stronger.

Senator Roxas echoed this view as he was quoted as saying, “Apparently, oil prices can be adjusted according to Malacanang intervention. So why not earlier? How much more can it be lowered?”

Succeeding price adjustments will now be subject to more doubt and people will be expecting for another call from GMA or whoever in the government who has the leverage to influence the oil companies to moderate their profit greed.

Such is the danger of bringing politics back to oil pricing.

Hail to Ed Lacson, PCCI president

A bit late, but I extend my congratulations to Edgardo G. Lacson, the newly installed president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI). A self-made shipping magnate, Ed’s basic philosophy of attending to basics is reflected in the two-year program he has outlined for his term.

During his inaugural press con, Lacson stated, "What you will notice in our two-year agenda is that we are going back to the basics. Food, energy, infrastructure, education -- these are fundamental to our everyday living. In the past, in our effort to move ahead and forward, some of these essentials may have been overlooked or somehow neglected.”

Ed is a member of our small group of golfers, the Royal Rumble Golf Club, where he is the undisputed head for organizing food festival events after a long day at the golf course. But we have been missing him lately as his new position demands more of his time. The Royal Rumble’s loss is PCCI’s gain. Good luck, Ed. Don’t forget us when you need some golf buddies to cheer you up.

Visit www.CollegiateChampionsLeague.net

In response to various readers’ enquiries about the details of the biggest collegiate basketball event of the year, the Philippine Collegiate Championship games, please visit www.CollegiateChampionsLeague.net, the official web site of the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL), and get to know all the information about the different collegiate leagues nationwide, results of their games, current ranking of teams in Metro-Manila and other regions, etc.

Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, SalcedoVillage, 1227 MakatiCity. Or e-mail me at reydgamboa@yahoo.com. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.