1997 Postscripts

December 1997

THE Philippine megalotto (6/45) jackpot on Christmas eve is a whopping P60 million. Not bad for a P10 bet for six numbers to be drawn from the numbers 1 to 45. The day before that megalotto, the smaller 6/42 Luzon lotto will also be drawn with a jackpot of some P52 million. [Read More ]
THE peso continues to fall, going through the P40 floor last week, but we don’t suggest your holding back the dollar remittance in anticipation of bigger profits. Unless you’re a big-time currency trader, a little fluctuation in the exchange rate will not mean much. [Read More ]
WITH due respect to Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon Jr., whose competence and patriotism are beyond question, the publication by The Manila Times of the draft security agreement with the United States is not, as he said, “a gross disservice to the national interest.” On the contrary, it is a laudable contribution to making sure the people are informed fully and our officials guided accordingly. [Read More ]
EVERYONE in Manila is now suddenly a political analyst. It seems everybody has a theory, if not a juicy inside story, on why Speaker Jose de Venecia was chosen by President Ramos as Lakas-NUCD standard bearer for the 1998 elections. [Read More ]
HOW would you feel if your president, hat in hand, calls on the richest man in the world who then receives the visiting chief of state in just his open-collar shirt, denim pants and Nike sneakers? [Read More ]

November 1997

THAT was a most unkind cut, ironically from one who was supposed to preach charity. Jaime Cardinal Sin was not only being sexist, but also inconsiderate, when he told Senator Gloria Macapagal Arroyo not to run for president because she was “only” a woman, aside from being allegedly too young (50 years). The Cardinal stopped short of pointing out that Gloria’s height (about five feet) was unpresidential. [ Read More ]

YES, it’s already Christmas in the Philippines. Ayala Avenue, the main street of the financial capital, is ablaze with wondrous lanterns and Yule decor. So are the hotels, department stores and even ongoing construction projects and humble hovels. [ Read More ]

UNKNOWN to most taxpayers, there are actually three houses of Congress: the Senate, the House of Representatives and the bicameral committee. We reporters covering the pre-martial law Congress used to call the third chamber the conference committee. Now they often refer to it as the “bicam.” [ Read More ]

THE Filipino banker who was reported in Dateline Chicago in the last issue as having bought the San Francisco-based Philippine News from businessman Alex Esclamado is Ed Espiritu, chairman of Westmont Bank in Manila. [ Read More ]

October 1997

HE who has less in life must have more in law, says one of the memorable affirmative declarations of the late President Ramon Magsaysay in the 50’s. Five presidents later, however, it seems that he who has less in life has even less in law. [Read More ]
SEN. Edgardo Angara, the Lakas presidential aspirant who languishes at the bottom of the list in popularity surveys, may want to take a longer route to Malacañang. [Read More ]
RUMOR, an informal ‑ yet powerful ‑ market force in the Philippines, is helping pull the peso down. Everybody is talking of a P40:$1 exchange rate around Christmas and the gossip is contributing to the rising demand for greenbacks. It is now P36 to the dollar, and still rising. [Read More ]
THIS isn’t an advertisement. I just want to pass along the information that the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the circulation leader among Philippine broadsheets, now has an Internet edition, which can be accessed at www.inquirer.net. [Read More ]

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