Back in the saddle
It’s here! Well, not Dito Telecommunity’s service but that of someone who can provide the company with valuable industry experience.
We’re talking about Ernesto “Eric” Alberto, PLDT Inc.’s former No. 2 executive.
Alberto is set to join the board of Dito CME Holdings Corp. as an independent director during its annual meeting on July 28.
Those who have been following this space would know that Alberto left PLDT in July last year due to, uhm, internal disagreements. His last post at the telco giant was that of chief revenue officer, a position second only to chair and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan.
With his noncompete restriction having expired last July 1, this is Alberto’s comeback story of sorts in the telco sector. But this time around, he settled for a nonexecutive role.
Alberto told Bizbuzz his main role as a director was to “provide guidance as regards vetting appropriate business strategies, adherence to good governance standards and risk identification and management.”
That’s a mouthful but let’s just say Alberto brings his almost 20 years of industry experience to the telco startup. It helps that Dennis Ang Uy, the Davao-based businessman who owns Dito together with China Telecom, is a personal friend.
Alberto’s entry does boost Dito’s profile when considering the industry exposure of its senior managers and even directors. Apart from him, there appears no other official with deep telco experience. Not even Uy, who sits as the company’s chair and CEO.
According to Alberto, he’s fine providing guidance as far as profit goals and governance are concerned.
“The next phase of this fast transforming industry needs to be run by energetic new blood,” he said.
Let’s not discount the fact that Alberto’s presence might lure other officials with relevant background in telecoms.
In any case, there is no rush at the moment with Dito pushing back previously announced targets once again.
Only game in town There aren’t a lot of leisure options for well-heeled businessmen and their families (or friends) nowadays, no thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, and many saw the summer months come and go without once having gone to the beaches.
But for a fortunate few— OK, maybe not so few—there is one beach and island resort that is open. That is, if one had the foresight to invest in a membership early on.
We’re talking about Alphaland Corp.’s Balesin Island Club, owned by Roberto
Ongpin, which has been accepting member-guests to its shores on Luzon’s eastern seaboard since the middle of last month (after a brief miscommunication that resulted in the businessman gleefully telling his members that the club would reopen on June 12 instead of June 16, the correct date).
According to Ongpin in one of his missives to the club’s members, authorities have permitted Balesin to reopen at 50-percent capacity. That means 182 villas are now open for use, for the maximum of 200 guests permitted on the island at any single time. That may sound like a lot, but at a maximum of four guests per villa spread out over the 500-hectare island, maintaining physical distancing isn’t a problem.
The island also has over seven kilometers of beaches, so again, maintaining the prescribed one- or two-meter distance between people is no problem at all.
And what have the staff been up two during the almost four-month lockdown?
“We have almost finished resurfacing all of our main roads on the island,” Ongpin said. “No more potholes! The villas have been updated and repainted. We have replaced a lot of furniture, thrown out defective décor and replaced many beds.”
The management also constructed six salt beds, and have been producing 50 kilos of “Balesin sea salt” every week.
They have also cleared 20 hectares of previously cogon land for 2,500 fruit trees, including avocado, guyabano, rambutan, ponkan, satsuma, dalandan, mangosteen and many types of lemon trees.
“We have also started a honey bee operation,” Ongpin said. “The Balesin honey has a very unique, not-so-sweet taste. The bees love the flora on the island, particularly the coconut trees.”
They have also planted 10,000 pineapple plants, which will be ready for harvesting by Christmas.
Of course, members just can’t hop on a plane to the island anytime. Before they do that, they have to run a gamut of tests to make sure they’re free of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), including a rapid test at the Alphaland hangar before the flight or as early as 24 hours prior at the Aegle Wellness Center in The City Club, Makati City.
Of course, it goes without saying that keeping the island COVID-19-FREE is key to its continued operation. For now, everyone will just have to bear with the strict and somewhat time-consuming safety protocols, if they want to enjoy what is possibly the only resort open in the country today.