Good Corporate Governance

I passed by Ayala Avenue this morning and saw some words promoting good corporate governance posted by the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on the LED monitor of the Insular Life Building.  It's an interesting concept, and memories of my involvement in the capital markets came flooding back fast.  While working for the government during Tita Cory's presidency, I had to deal with representatives of the World Bank and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) on the issue of strengthening the Philippine capital market.  The issues were twofold--full disclosure and good corporate governance.  We were all in quick agreement; the meetings were over fast, and as an instant solution, we actually copied the rules and standards of the NYSE for the Securities Regulation Code and the PSE.  Homework finished!

As I look back, it's not just how the quarterly and annual reports are filled in and submitted to both the SEC and the PSE.  Sometime during the meetings at the Philippine Association of Publicly Held Companies (PAPCI), I came to realize that  good corporate governance just actually an iterative process of question and answer from stockholders who buy your stock--

       What have you done with my money?

       Were we profitable or not?

       How come we lost money?

       What in heavens name did you do?

       Why should I retain you?

       Maybe you should get fired!

       =$@*&^+%#!

To the boards of directors of listed companies, if you can answer those questions without batting an eyelash, then I would suppose that you are on the right track.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Good Corporate Governance in a nutshell!

Ely Ramos

As a consequence of opening the Roca butter crunch candies at Gwammy's place, the conversation inevitably segued to the oft-repeated story of the Ely Ramos chocolates.  Together with Fernando Poe, Sr., Ely Ramos was a matinee idol and LVN contract star in the late thirties.  He happened to gift my grandmother with a box of Whitman chocolate samplers sometime in late 1938.  My lola put the box atop a dining room shelf, waiting for an opportune moment to open it, like when the whole family was together for some celebration.

Ever the chocolate lover, Gwammy would look at the box daily, dreaming of the time that the box would be opened.  Gwammy would pester her mother to open the box, to which lola would reply (in Spanish) something like, "Not today, but perhaps during a special occasion."  Now this went on weekly for several months, and sometime in the middle of 1939, lola finally decided to open the box.

To their dismay, the chocolates were half-consumed by weevils and/or ants!  And despite how lola tried to locate and carve out edible portions, Gwammy and her siblings just lost their desire to eat the Whitman chocolates!  And since then, my grandfather decreed that the family should, "Eat while the eating is good!"  To this day, whenever we decide to open some chocolate goodies, we are reminded of this particular incident, and the wisdom that Ely Ramos brought upon the family.  To the chocolate lovers out there, note that Whitman's still sells the sampler in the same packaging today as in 1939!  I find the brand a bit too sweet for my taste though, but all in all, it's the memory that counts.

Giliw Ko (1939) with Fernando Poe, Sr.

Maynila (1946) with Tita Duran

Sumpaan (1948) with Norma Blancaflor

Roca Buttercrunch

The Roca Buttercrunch sometimes gets to be a conundrum--you either love em or you hate em!  Cousin Gene dropped off the box shown left in Gwammy's place and the clan gathered together over the weekend to unceremoniously open the box.  The original flavor developed by Brown and Haley (incorporated in 1914) was the Almond Roca, and this was a log-shaped chocolate candy with butter and chopped almonds.  It was packaged in a distinctive pink tin can and as such, was regularly exported around the world.  Today the candy has several different other flavors like peanuts, macadamia, cashew and coffee.  I remember the first time I tried this was when someone gifted Erica with a tin can back in the late seventies--I found the candy to be too gooey for my taste!  I didn't quite like the way my teeth kept sticking to each other while eating the candy, as this felt quite uncomfortable especially since my gums were sore from wearing retainers all night long.  It was a good thing that I later on learned to refrain from chewing the candy directly, and now that I can manage my bite, it seems that this is a good dessert to have around the house!

Carrier

Carrier is the world leader in air-conditioning and climate control systems.  Most engineering students learn that Willis Carrier studied the principles of heat exchange, humidity and thermodynamics and consequently invented air-conditioning in 1902.  This year, the brand celebrates its 50-year presence in the Philippines, and we have been fortunate to have been part of the brand's local history (maybe a few people can remember that in the 1990s, we made a television endorsement of their room air-conditioners, attesting to the robust engineering and noteworthy cooling power).  Vicky and I were at the Fort Tent this evening to celebrate this milestone with the group.

The Philippine partnership started in 1962, when the Jose Concepcion Sr,. was granted a license to manufacture and sell Carrier air-conditioners in the Philippines.  Today, the Concepcion family is in joint-venture partnership with United Technologies Corporation (the parent company of the Carrier Corporation) in what is known as the Concepcion-Carrier Air Conditioning Company.  Here's a toast to the group--congratulations for taking us through the spring, summer, and autumn of our lives, and here's more power for the next 50 years, as we look forward to the coming winter!  Three cheers to climate control--a showcase of human ingenuity!

Aji Ichiban

Monique has been a fan of Aji Ichiban for as long as I can remember.  This Japanese sounding snack food retailer is actually a HK based organization, and it's international reach (around 90 locations) is pretty wide considering that Chinese candy is pretty generic and has absolutely little name recall.  We dropped by their Makati store and Monique got her fave--choco rocks (mini chocolate candy color-coated to resemble river pebbles)--which was priced at P100 for 100 grams.  We just love it!

Choco rocks are in the middle row--earth colors on the left and bright primary colors on the right!

Snackers

This is absolutely a super treat for those chicheria lovers out there.  Cheese puffs simply called Snackers, which is actually in generic packaging.  It's absolutely delicious, super cheesy, with a long-lasting crunchiness!  Vicky has an office mate that sells this stuff and the giant pack is only P70!  It's not even labelled--no manufacturer or telephone number or address--but since it's so yummy, there's a big demand for this stuff!  The funny thing is that I don't even know where to get it, but if you somehow see the packaging at right, this is it, folks!

Commons

Located along Valero St. in Salcedo Village, this restaurant used to be known as Aposento a couple of years back, and after some remodeling (the new concept is quite hip and mod), the new owners decided to call the restaurant Commons.  The food is mainly Filipino and the restaurant is always full weekdays during lunch time, and I understand that at night, the loud music and TV programs almost turn the place into a sports bar.

We had a sumptuous seafood meal, starting with bangus sinigang, which was soured just right for my taste.  The prawns in crab fat was a cholesterol magnet, but we had so much fun with it that it didn't seem devilish at all.  The grilled squid came in hot and was pretty tasty; their mussels with sweet chili sauce made me think it was a Thai dish.  For our fish staples, we had crispy hito--really crunchy and seasoned just right--and in true Pampagueno fashion, this catfish came with a side dish of buro (fermented rice).  Still not contented, we also got and order of steamed fish fillet.  After drinks and dessert, our bill came to around P700 per head.