No more Pagcor vacancies!

AS IS customary when a new President is elected, new heads of various government departments and state-run agencies are appointed, and these appointees then proceed to vet potential sub-appointees to fill up positions for undersecretaries, deputies or board directorships in the case of governmentowned or -controlled corporations.

This early, all slots at a particular state entity has already been filled up, cementing its reputation as the most in-demand government appointive positions through the years.

We’re talking about Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. whose incoming five-person board is now, according to our sources, complete.

Of course, no less than incoming President Duterte had announced (along with his very first batch of Cabinet appointees) that the state gaming operator and regulator would be headed by former Arroyo-era Bureau of Immigrations chief Andrea Domingo who is, by all accounts, a capable administrator. He will replace Pagcor chair and CEO Cristino Naguiat Jr.

Last week, BIZ BUZZ learned that lawyer Alfredo Lim— no, not the former Manila mayor, but a lawyer who completed his studies at the new “in” school, San Beda—will become Pagcor president and COO, replacing Eugene Manalastas.

Then there are three other appointees completing the board, all of whom had already been named, according to our sources. The new Pagcor board members are businessman and Duterte campaign supporter Rene Concordia (a former ranking Pagcor official), Philippine Star columnist Carmen Pedrosa and the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office chief of the Arroyo administration, Gabriel Claudio.

Since the new Pagcor team is already complete two weeks before it actually take the agency’s reins, the gaming industry can be sure that the turnover will be seamless and that there will be practically no beginners’ hiccups (fingers crossed).

So for all those favor seekers whowere hoping to get appointed to the highly coveted agency, sorry guys, there are no more vacancies. You were too slow. Daxim L. Lucas

Site visits, on the sly

FILIPINO billionaire Andrew Tan likes to keep a low-profile, so much so that he does it even with his ownpeople.

Apparently, Tan likes to do site visits to his massive property holdings, held under Megaworld Corp. And it seems he occasionally does this unannounced.

We heard Tan has a habit of having his office privately organize such trips.

In fact, the tycoon flies commercial sometimes, though we’re certain he orders up some extra legroom.

The objective, naturally, is to allow Tan to get the real picture on the ground. His wealth and achievements are proof that such amindset works.

Take note, budding entrepreneurs and future tycoons out there. Miguel R. Camus

Luxury hotel rising

ANOTHER luxury hotel is rising near Luneta Park. No, it’s not exactly a new building, but a restoration of the iconic Army Navy Club, a historic Americanera edifice that was considered the place to be for American forces stationed in the Philippines in the early 1900s.

Costing nearly P3 billion, the expensive restoration and redevelopment work began in 2014 and is slated for completion next year.

Oceanville Hotel and Spa Corp., the company behind the ambitious project, spared no expense reviving the intricate details of the building designed by William Parsons, a renowned American architect credited with other similar iconic structures like the Manila Hotel, The Mansion House in Baguio, Philippine General Hospital and University Hall in UP Manila. Once completed, the restored

and re-purposed Army Navy Club will house a world-class heritage boutique-style hotel with fine dining, wellness, fitness and other facilities.

A team of master planners, engineers and restoration experts spent the last three years poring over intricate plans and archive photos of the building to hew closely to Parson’s original design. Beams and columns were retrofitted accordingly based on detailed engineering studies and the slabs are now made of reinforced concrete.

With five more restoration projects in the pipeline, Oceanville was recently cited by the House of Representatives. In a resolution, lawmakers urged the National Commission for Culture and the Arts to give due recognition to the restorer of the Army Navy Club under the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009. To encourage more companies like Oceanville to take the huge challenge, not to mention cost, of preserving and restoring the country’s historical structures, Congress thinks its time to give credit where it is due. And why not, indeed? Daxim L. Lucas

Clouds (of doubt) over solar industry

WHAT is it about the list of qualified projects for the second batch of Feed-in-Tariff rates for solar power (solar FIT-2) that the Department of Energy (DOE) is taking so long to release it? In the minds of solar power developers, at least, that is the burning question.

According to a number of energy stakeholders, the solar FIT-2 list should have been ready soon after the March 15, 2016 deadline set by the DOE for applicant-developers. Even before that date, solar power plants had been inaugurated and announced having started exporting to the grid one after another.

If the amount of solar power capacity checked had reached 500 megawatts, the DOE could have announced the end of the so-called race for solar FIT-2 and bared the list of top contenders.

However, there have been no updates or partial lists, no running total of who has been verified and who has not, and no clear explanation of the basis for qualification, and no list announced besides the ones that already qualified for the first wave of FIT incentives for solar.

Many are wondering what is making it so hard for the DOE to verify who came first and should be included in the list.

Some say it has something to do with a number of projects (not one, not two, but three, according to sources) that have made it to the

list, but may be questioned by other developers who had completed their respective projects earlier.

Supposedly, the FIT incentives are awarded on a first come, first served basis. It is a race. In theory, at least, whoever completes, tests, commissions, and operates a project first is supposed to get the incentives set by the DOE until the whole 500 MW of solar power installation had been filled or until March 15, 2016, whichever comes first.

With some 50 MW already awarded for the first batch of solar FIT, about 450MW remained to be filled.

Asked about announcing the solar FIT-2 list, DOE officials said it could not announce the qualified projects right away because many of those that might qualify were neck-and-neck in finishing up and getting verified in the days leading to the March 15 deadline. DOE officials also said it might take about 15 days of checking before the list of FIT-2 qualifiers could be announced.

So far, 69 working days later, there have been three revisions of the list and it is still not final, according to sources.

Solar power developers can only hope there will be clearer prospects of an announcement in the coming days. Riza T. Olchondra