Despite having sparked Edsa 2 that saved the business elite from the brink of an Estrada-era economic disaster, Luis "Chavit" Singson is apparently still not good enough to be accepted by the Manila Polo Club.
"Yes, he is still being blackballed by the club," Chavit's younger brother, Bonito, said when asked about the status of the application of the controversial Ilocos Sur kingpin to gain membership in the country's premiere country club.
Bonito declined to add more details, saying he was unaware if Chavit was still keeping the club share that he had acquired amid the continuing rejection.
According to club records, no less than Ayala heir Inigo Zobel and former club president Antonio Garcia sponsored Chavit when he first applied for membership in the Ayala-developed country club in 2008.
In contrast, the husband of fugitive businesswoman Janet Napoles, Jaime, coasted along and was readily welcomed into the club when he applied in 2009, despite the Napoleses already having been linked to the Kevlar helmet and pork barrel-funded fertilizer scam that had hounded the GMA administration.
At that time, the Napoleses had just literally moved up the rarefied neighborhood, having purchased the 3,557-square-meter South Forbes property of Babyland store chain owner Teresa Rodriguez-Alba, among a number of choice real-estate acquisitions.
Chavit, meanwhile, has had to rely on his business partner, textile magnate and long-time club member Ramon Lee, to accompany him as guest in the few times that Chavit had to use the club facilities, according to eyewitnesses.
Per Manila Polo Club rules, ownership of a club share, now hovering at P14 million, does not automatically confer membership.
"A credit, court and background investigation is standard for all applicants," according to the club. Each applicant has to undergo an interview with the membership committee before the latter submits to the board of directors the names of the approved applicants for a second vetting.
Chavit, according to the grapevine, did not even make it past the membership committee.
Another club member who had recently been feasted upon by netizens, Century Properties' Robbie Antonio, has lately been keeping away from the club grounds and from his favorite game, tennis, according to club regulars who miss his black Maserati and his coterie of personal trainers and masseurs.
But that, as they say, is another story.
Romualdez strengthens Benguet hold
Their family's ownership in Benguet Corp. may still be sequestered, but that is no deterrent for Benguet president Benjamin Philip Romualdez to move forward and strengthen the Romualdez hold within the pioneering mining company.
According to Benguet Corp., Romualdez plans to enlarge the family's 38.42-percent ownership in the mining company by, first, acquiring the remaining 18 million unissued treasury shares. The minority shareholders GSIS, SSS and taipan Alfonso Yuchengco are happy to go along with the plan and have their respective stakes diluted, Benguet itself hinted.
The second stage of the Romualdez game plan is through "additional subscriptions (that) will follow after the company has increased its authorized capital stock," Benguet Corp. said, adding that the company's articles of incorporation "do not provide for pre-emptive rights."
The planned acquisition will again be made through RYM Business Management Corp., which holds office in the same Universal Re-Building in Makati where the Benguet headquarters are.
RYM Business Management was in the news just last month when it acquired from the Metro Pacific Group the listed but moribund Prime Media Holdings subsidiary for a possible backdoor listing venture.
Peninsula encounters pricing headwinds
The Peninsula Manila reported that its occupancy rate for the first half of the year went down to 72 percent from 75 percent from the same period in 2012 on the back of the luxury hotel raising its average daily room rate by 4.6 percent amid the opening of Ayala's Fairmont.
A room night in the Pen in the first half of 2013 cost an average of HK$1,239, compared to $1,184 a year ago.
The same trend was observed in the Peninsula Bangkok, which saw its occupancy rate for the period sliding to 58 percent from 64 percent amid a heftier 30 percent increase in room rate to HK$1,692 a night from HK$1,297.
"Total revenue (for the Manila Pen) was on par with the same period last year despite the significant growth in the number of hotel rooms in the city," said the Pen's parent, The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels Ltd.
Money-go-round
• The ownership mystery of the P1-billion house in South Forbes has deepened, with real estate broker Housing Interactive taking down the listing from its website after the story came out in this space.
• Stockbroker Conrado "Dino" Bate has recently disposed of a 600-sqm lot in Dasmarinas Village for an amount that he could comfortably retire on. The going price in Dasma ranges anywhere from P200,000 (vacant lot) to P220,000 sqm (lot with a two-decade-old house).
Heard through the grapevine
Janet Napoles did not push through with her planned purchase of two units at the Discovery Primea, forfeiting the P1-million deposit she had made for the adjoining units on the 53rd floor.
The family in any case already owns a third unit within the same condo, under the name of a real estate company controlled by a Napoles son.
The latest asking price for the smallest, 382-sqm unit in Primea? P80 million cash.
