It’s a measure of how frantic we are to find somebody, anybody, to finally pin down the Arroyo administration on corruption charges that a lot of people, and not just journalists, went on a wild chase from the airport to St. Luke’s Hospital in an effort to track Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” Bolante the moment he arrived Tuesday night.

The media coverage was obsessive and frenetic and began even before Bolante left the U.S., with reporters tailing him on the plane (he was allegedly “upgraded” to business class). He seems to have been expecting it, and had his script all planned out. He came out looking distressed and ill, a shadow of his former self, according to reports. He was on a wheelchair going through the airport, escorted by Department of Justice personnel. He went through immigration looking wan and just about ready to croak.

Representatives of the Senate sergeant-at-arms served the arrest warrant on him (for ignoring its summons to testify on the fertilizer-fund scam) without incident. His security detail had to shove aside an unruly throng of media people to get him to a waiting ambulance and the mad pursuit was on. Read the rest of this entry »

It must have been gratifying for the Lopezes to see GSIS head honcho Winston Garcia retreat with his tail between his legs.

Garcia, after all the sound and fury generated by the GSIS bid to take over Meralco, which led to all sorts of mischief and even dragged the judiciary down, sheepishly explained to the press that the government pension fund decided to sell out after all. The GSIS has entered into an agreement with San Miguel Coproration for the sale of the former’s 27% stake in Meralco for around P30 billion. SMC agreed to pay P90 per share for Meralco, more than double the utility company’s closing price of P44.50 at the start of the week.

Which is very odd indeed.

In a bear market, with stock prices tanking, why would SMC pay more than a 100% premium for a stake in Meralco ? Granted that it’s a block sale, but still, San Miguel could have gotten a better deal, and helped the stock market index rise, by buying over the counter. It would have given the market, and the economy as a whole, a boost at a time when it most needs it.

Many are skeptical, and see a political and financial motive behind the sudden sellout by the GSIS. Read the rest of this entry »

The Philippine Stock Exchange plunged 12.3% yesterday, the biggest one day loss in its recent history.

The unprecedented drop forced officials to temporarily stop trading, also a first for the PSE.

The “circuit breaker rule” was imposed after the main index fell by 10%. The trading floor imposes an automatic 15-minute halt to trading if the PSE index falls by at 10 percent. The rule is designed to calm down emotional selling. To no avail, as sellers dumped shares after the break in a frenzy of panic-selling. Read the rest of this entry »