Gov’t to sell only half of Mile Long property
“And we can build this dream together Standing strong forever Nothing's gonna stop us now And if this world runs out of lovers We'll still have each other Nothing's gonna stop us Nothing's gonna stop us now ooh ohh”
This song recorded in 1986 by the American rock band Starship, co-written by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren, surged to the top in the Billboard Hot 100 in April, 1987, is the signature song of MayBank Philippines, Inc.
With the smile on his face as he hums the tune, newly appointed MayBank President and Chief Executive Officer Choong Wai Hong says, “Nothing gonna stop us now.” It exemplifies the mission and vision of the financial institution for the medium term he will be steering within the next three years.
It expresses Maybank’s commitment to the Philippines which for him is teeming with business opportunities on all fronts – retail, consumer loans, corporate lendings, insurance as well bancassurance, deposit taking, online banking, credit cards, wealth management, and taking the role of a conduit/arranger for regional businesses interested to invest in the country.
Providing a glimpse of the bank's plans, Mr. Wai Hong discloses May Bank is definitely embracing financial technology (fintech), will rationalize existing networks, including establishing additional branches to reach out the unbank segment.
Banks and other financial institutions are transforming their services several notches higher with the dawning of fintech, specifically the artificial intelligence (AI) that most analysts and seasoned bankers say is the new direction. AI redefines the business landscape. It makes sense to go virtual banking, cheaper
The national government plans to sell half of its Mile Long property in Makati by middle of this year, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.
In a recent interview with reporters at the DOF headquarters, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the Duterte administration would sell only half of the 6.2-hectare Mile Long asset by mid-2018.
According to Dominguez, the DOF is now assessing the valuation for the property, which had been leased by the government to the Prieto and Rufino families’ Sunvar Realty Development Corp.
“They were supposed to give us a plan by March,” Dominguez said referring to the valuation.
The DOF earlier planned to get three price assessments for the property coming from two external assessors and the finance department’s own valuation.
“Essentially this is what I want to do, I want to divide that into three or four lots, probably, sell two and keep two. I just want to wait for the price to go up,” he added.
Dominguez believes that once the development under the new owners starts, property prices in the area would rise, than the old reliable brick and mortar. There’s a huge advantage, providing ease and comfort to tech savvy, specifically the millennials. This, though, is rather a bit of an ardous balancing act. I am not much of a tech savvy and belong to the old school segment of the populace that prefers personal relationship. The pragmatic banker acknowledges the setback, saying this where consumer education is a fundamental part of May Bank’s mission and advocacy.
Be that as it may, the institution has unveiled its mobile banking app “Maybank2U PH” that allows a customer to perform transactions using cellular phone anytime, anywhere. Vincent Dexter Go, virtual banking head, passionately explains there are safety nets adopted to make prevent hacking, if not make it more difficult – touch identification, transaction authorization code to be sent to the customer’s registered mobile number before any financial transaction can commence, and automatic logout after five minutes of idle session.
For the bank, there’s no stepping back. “It’s very much an essential key in our business. It will allow us to move much faster,” says Mr. Wai Hong. Amidst the challenging times, he is “optimistic” on the business opportunities here. “The upside is quite strong. Philippines is an exciting place.”
As I wind-up our conversation, like the last song syndrome, I could virtually hear Mr. Wai Hong, who swears loves the karaoke, belt these lines: “Whatever it takes to I will stay here with you Take it to the good times See it through the bad times Whatever it takes is what I'm gonna do.”
Before I end, allow me to greet everyone Kung Hei Fat Choi.
Talk back to me at sionil731@gmail.com which will be favorable to the government.
“But I told the President already I don’t plan to sell the whole thing, I’ll sell a portion of it. I explained to him why… once the development starts there, the prices will go up, so why shouldn’t we benefit from it. Anyway, we don’t need the cash,” Dominguez said.
In September last year, Dominguez III said that President Rodrigo R. Duterte ordered him to sell the government’s Mile Long property.
Duterte said in August last year that he planned to use the proceeds of the property sale to build more houses for government troops.
Sunvar Realty earlier said it would vacate the Mile Long property upon the order of a local court.
Authorities earlier accused the company of squatting on government property and owing the government R1.6 billion exclusive of interest.
The President, in his remarks, said the company must “pay your taxes and return all the properties to the people.”
Earlier, Duterte accused the company of illegally occupying the government property without due payment to the government.