Biz Buzz: Early Christmas

After a couple of years’ worth of delays, a large residential condominium project of Federal Land Inc. is finally back on track.

We’re talking about the P5billion development of the Ty

family- owned firm that was temporarily derailed two years ago by a legal challenge over the ownership of the 7,000- square meter property on which the four- tower complex was being built.

The building of the succeeding three towers was delayed after another would- be owner emerged from the woodwork to lay claim on the land along Binondo’s Muelle de la Industria, along the Pasig River.

To recall, Federal Land acquired the property from Philippine National Bank, which had foreclosed the land and then auctioned it off.

Once the firm started to develop it, along came a lady by the name of Dolores Moli

na, who claimed to own the property and presented land titles to back up her claim.

The two parties went to court and Federal Land was able to prove that Molina’s titles were fake, thanks to the experts at the Land Registration Authority who testified that there were inconsistencies found when they compared Molina’s titles with those in their records.

The claimant’s efforts to have the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) stop Federal Land from building the project was also thrown out by the agency.

But two years after Molina’s death in 2013, another claimant over the property emerged, this time a firm named Solar Resources, saying it had a joint- venture deal with the late Molina and that her rights to the property had since been transferred to it.

This new claimant approached the HLURB to ask the agency to stop Federal Land, which it did, resulting in a protracted legal battle in the courts.

Word on the street, however, is that the courts have finally ruled in favor of the Tys and Federal Land.

As a result, the long delayed project is back in full swing.

In fact, the company is now marketing its units aggressively, including on social media, as well as increasing its marketing staff as a prelude to ramped up sales.

That’s an early Christmas gift for the Ty brothers,

Arthur and Alfred ( the latter being the one in charge of Federal Land, along with its president Pascual Garcia), who have labored long and hard to win this case. — DAXIM L. LUCAS

TierOne player

TierOne Communications might be busy putting the finishing touches to its third telco bid with politician Luis Chavit Singson.

Still, it recently found the time to seal an agreement with Davao’s Southern Philippines Medical Center ( SPMC) to provide connectivity to thousands of hospitals, clinics and health care facilities.

Specifically, TierOne chair Jonathon Bentley- Stevens and SPMC chief Dr. Leopoldo

Vega also agreed to expand SPMC’s telemedicine program, which includes teleradiology that pertains to digital imaging such as X- ray, CT Scan, MRI, ultrasound and mammogram transmitted through high speed networks.

Harnessing technology is useful for those without access to top quality medical professionals.

Patients can be hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away and still have lifesaving consultations.

“The treatment occurs locally without financial burden of travel to the patient, and telemedicine is paid by PhilHealth. More difficult cases can be diagnosed remotely and the patient given prescribed medicine, stabilized and relocated only if necessary,” said Bing Kimpo, TierOne director for business development.

TierOne is now connecting its first two health care facilities.

It has committed to doing the same with the first 500 hospitals/ clinics to SPMC within 2019.

The remaining 4,500 facilities will happen within the next four years. — MIGUEL R. CAMUS

Interested player

Less than a day after Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel

Piñol promoted the planting of sorghum in the country— a crop that can be used as an alternative to corn in making poultry and livestock feeds— a Thailand- based company has already expressed its interest to buy the crop in the Philippines.

Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Co. Ltd. ( CPF), considered as one of the world’s largest conglomerates, met with the secretary last month to draw up an agreement that would enable the company to buy sorghum from indigenous communities in the country.

The Department of Agriculture’s plan is to encourage residents of ancestral domains to plant the crop as a means to alleviate them from poverty through a partnership with Saad, or Special Area for Agricultural Development.

“Even before the first sorghum seeds could be planted by the tribes ... a huge multinational poultry and livestock corporation has already pledged to buy the production of the IP ( indigenous people) communities,” Piñol said.

CPF is huge indeed. Its agro- food arm alone operates in more than 20 countries worldwide. It has also expanded its business to retail, telco and media, e- commerce, property development, plastics, automotive, finance, insurance and pharmaceutical.

Since the program has yet to materialize, both parties have not revealed how big of an investment they are talking about. But it’s interesting to note that last year, CPF planned to invest $ 2 billion in the Philippines over the next five years in an integrated livestock facility. — KARL R. OCAMPO

Eyes open

The military takeover at the Bureau of Customs ( BOC) drew a lot of flak as well as questions. But it seems the Department of Trade and Industry ( DTI) might be able to sleep better with soldiers around.

An industry source told Bizbuzz that DTI has been seeing a lot of delay in inspections of certain imported goods that required inspection, among them cement, steel and household appliances.

Some people at the BOC, according to the source, don’t seem to care about the delay.

When shipments arrive in the afternoon, for example, the inspection gets postponed for another day.

As the source says, there is a prevailing “bukas na ‘ yan” culture.

In comparison to the P11-billion “shabu” ( crystal meth) that slipped past BOC, this seems a very minor violation.

Nevertheless, the process might move faster with military personnel around.

The reason for this is simple. People behave better when they think they’re being watched.

“But we have to be careful that the military won’t give instructions, will not touch documents [ and] will not process applications,” the source said.

Of course, this assumes that the people who watch over BOC don’t turn a blind eye from time to time. — ROY STEPHEN C. CANIVEL INQ

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