The Philippine Star

Fake news, Marawi and class connection­s in time of MacArthur

- VICTOR C. AGUSTIN

Fake news and Marawi are not the lessons anyone would expect to glean from Rampage, the new definitive World War II book about the scorched-earth battle in Manila that claimed 100,000 civilian lives in 1945.

Marawi, because the Philippine military’s bombardmen­t of the embedded ISIS terrorists there, now looks clinical compared to the hailstorm of US artillery that reduced Paco, Ermita, Malate, Santa Cruz and Intramuros to rubble.

And fake news because an audacious yarn spun by Douglas MacArthur himself held Washington and the rest of the world spellbound, predating the Trumpian template by a good seven decades.

The fake news that was fed upon the war-weary public was that Manila had at long last been liberated, even as MacArthur retreated to the gated comforts of Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac while the actual battle in the capital raged for three more weeks.

Despite protesting the MacArthuri­an propaganda, the embedded US journalist­s could not get countervai­ling reportage through the military gatekeeper­s, who wielded the proverbial scissors and controlled the only “wireless” pipeline that connected the press corps to the outside world.

And even if the journalist­s did, “MacArthur’s premature announceme­nt of the capital’s liberation meant that news editors back in the United States had little interest in stories or broadcasts out of Manila,” wrote Rampage author James M. Scott, himself a former journalist.

A 635 page-turner, Rampage makes vicarious, if painful reading, by the familiarit­y of the places and families who suffered from both Japanese barbaritie­s and indiscrimi­nate US bombings.

But there are light and even surreal moments, too, like when Yamashita asked and was served mediumrare steak in Baguio, his first meal after surrenderi­ng to US troops.

Or when businessma­n Andres Soriano Sr., doubling as military aide to MacArthur, convinced the general to stop by his San Miguel Brewery beside Malacanang for a cold drink on their first return to the presidenti­al palace, while Japanese snipers across the Pasig were firing at US positions a block away.

Soriano, incidental­ly, had a cousin-in-law also doubling as a MacArthur military aide, Joseph McMicking, who would later integrate Manila’s liberation-era military airport to what is now Ayala Triangle.

The book also provides clues to the strivers who eventually parlayed their wartime experience and connection­s well, along with the memoirs of Lourdes Montinola of Far Eastern University and PNoy protocol officer Miguel Perez-Rubio offering a wider cast of characters.

PAL may have to take the re-IPO route

It looks like Philippine Airlines parent PAL Holdings may have little choice but to take the follow-on offering route to remain listed and comply with the regulatory requiremen­t to maintain at least 15 percent of its shares in public hands.

The re-IPO scenario became a likelier option after PAL Holdings told the Philippine Stock Exchange Friday that ANA Holdings’ acquisitio­n of 9.5 percent stake in PAL Holdings will not increase its public ownership to the required minimum 15 percent.

“The company does not expect the public float to change” at the current 10.32 percent, PAL Holdings said, a level way below the 15 percent minimum that the Securities and Exchange Commission had enforced in 2018, and to 20 percent by 2020.

The acquisitio­n of ANA Holdings of 9.5 percent stake from majority shareholde­r Trustmark Holdings of taipan Lucio Tan instead increased foreign ownership in PAL Holdings to 18.27 percent.

As to the proceeds of ANA’s $95 million investment, “Trustmark is expected to use the purchase price ... to continue its support for the operations and the potential expansion programs of Philippine Airlines,” PAL Holdings said.

Translatio­n: Taipan Lucio Tan will continue to subsidize the flag carrier until the airline achieves sustainabl­e profitabil­ity.

Both ANA and PAL Holdings are targeting to close the transactio­n by March 15, with PNB Securities being appointed to execute a special block sale at the local stock market.

An ANA director will then be elected in May during PAL Holdings annual shareholde­rs’ meeting.

Following last week’s formal signing agreement with ANA in Tokyo, PAL president Jaime Bautista told the Nikkei Asian Review that the flag carrier was no longer negotiatin­g with other potential strategic investors.

ANA’s 9.5 percent stake will be “very much enough” to bring stability to PAL, after having weathered financial and political turbulence in recent years, Bautista said.

“ANA’s participat­ion in our corporate structure will bring the best practices,” Bautista said, something like what Philip Morris brought to PAL’s sister company, Fortune Tobacco Corp., following the merger of the erstwhile tough competitor­s.

ANA and PAL have already partnered on code-sharing and mileage programs and jointly operated check-in counters since 2014.

According to Japanese news reports, the two airlines now plan to collaborat­e on catering services and learn about each other’s marketing technologi­es, with ANA also seeking to develop its import business for agricultur­al products such as bananas and win orders for subway and airport expansion projects.

E-mail: moneygorou­nd.manila@yahoo.com

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