Lopez Group patriarch goes on cash-out mode, disposes P265M shares

Lopez Group patriarch Oscar Lopez has been quietly unloading his personal shareholdings from the listed Lopez companies just like his younger brother, former Ambassador Manuel Lopez.

According to regulatory disclosures, the elder Lopez, within the span of one month, disposed about P265 million worth of First Oscar Lopez Philippine Holdings shares. He is the chairman emeritus and chief strategic officer of the power generation and distribution empire.

Lopez, 87, disposed of 5.2 million First Philippine Holdings shares since last year, leaving him with a little over 4.7 million shares worth about P300 million still in his name. Out of that 4.7 million, over 1.6 million shares are listed as being indirectly held by his wife, Maria Consuelo “Connie” Rufino.

Philippine Airlines is relaunching the direct, nonstop service between Manila and Toronto on Dec. 16, making the 7,143 nautical mile-flight the 10th longest flight in the world, according to aviation records.

PAL will dislodge the current 10th placer, the 7,083-mile Dubai-Houston flight operated by Emirates, according to flight statistics from the UK-based OAG air travel intelligence company.

The longest scheduled passenger flight is currently being operated by Qatar Airways with its nonstop service between Doha and Auckland, covering 7,843 nautical miles. That flight crosses 10 time zones and takes around 17 hours and 15 minutes.

PAL’s Boeing 777-300ER, on the other hand, will take 14 hours and 40 minutes to reach Toronto's Pearson airport and, flying against the headwinds, another 18 hours and 15 minutes on the return flight.

The flag carrier's return flight from Toronto easily eclipses the 17-hour, 20-minute return leg of the longest flight operated by titleholder Qatar.

Like PAL, Qatar also uses a Boeing 777 for the range-busting route.

The direct Manila-to-Toronto service was first introduced by PAL in late 2012, with the three times a week flight halted after the Yuletide rush for insufficient passenger demand.

First-term Makati Mayor Abby Binay is proving to be an efficient tax collector.

As of October, the Makati city government already surpassed its entire 2017 revenue target collection of P15.5 billion, thanks to about P727 million in delinquent realty tax payments.

According to a city hall announcement, real property Binay tax collections by the third quarter reached P5.4 billion, more than double this year's target, a testament to the still red-hot real estate market in the country's premiere city.

To keep up with the momentum, Binay has ordered a repeat of a tried-and-proven tactic, the publication of the list of the remaining delinquent taxpayers.

The list will be published by your favorite newspapers early next month, with the publication to be repeated twice throughout the holiday season.

The last time it was done by then acting mayor Kid Peña, the disclosure drew so much outcry from the Alist names in the list that the city government stopped the second and third installments of the newspaper ads.

Do not be surprised if one of these days you see Mercedes-Benz distributor Felix Ang being driven around in a gleaming Jaguar, and alternating with a Range Rover, instead.

Ang's Auto Nation Group has summoned a select group of motoring journalists this noon to “witness the announcement we've all been waiting for.”

E-mail: moneygoround.manila@yahoo.com