Titas de Bacolod: 2017

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Rogue Metrobank VP Not A Real Lopez - Lopezes of Bacolod and Iloilo

Over the usual Sunday Ilonggo family lunches in Bacolod, Iloilo, and the villages in Makati, the topic for the day was the rogue trader VP of Metrobank who was arrested last July 18 and charged for defrauding Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank) in a scandal that sent the lender’s shares tumbling on Friday. Negrense fashion, the question was, "Sin-o ina sya ya nga Lopez?" (Which Lopez branch or clan is she from?).

Oh we know how it usually is. Mere acquaintance is accelerated into friendship (or enmity) based on the family you hail from. So the Lopezes in the villages were quick to reply that the person in the spotlight is not really the Lopez but as we call it, "tapik". Madam VP is a Lopez by affinity.

That being said, many netizens are wondering why an executive earning 250k per month could not be content with what she was getting. For us in Bacolod and Iloilo, suffice it to say that she was living up to being a Lopez.

As of the latest news, the "tapik" has kept mum on who else may be involved in defrauding Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank).

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Sunday, July 23, 2017

Ego and Greed : Metrobank Incident Exemplifies How The Filipina's Moral Fiber Has Eroded

Blog, Manila

When the news broke out in the press last week about the Metrobank executive who was arrested and charged for defrauding Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank) in a scandal that sent the lender’s shares tumbling on Friday, there was a mix of reactions among the public. Some were alarmed, while others were already desensitized given the string of incidents in the banking sector beginning with the RCBC money laundering scandal last year and the two latest glitches with BPI and BDO. For those who knew about it before the news hit the press, the coffee shop talk left most of the Titas shaking their heads in despondence.

When I first heard of it, my mind was brought back to 1992 when the spectacular collapse of Barings Bank, the United Kingdom's oldest merchant bank, was brought about by the rogue trader, Nick Leeson, because of his fraudulent, unauthorized speculative trading for which he was sentenced to prison. During that time, the headline of TIME Magazine stated "EGO and GREED : The inside story of a 28-year old trader who blew a billion dollars, broke a bank and stunned the world".

It is not quite difficult to explain how a 28-year old single, male, expat in Singapore, in the days following the popularity of Michael Douglas' performance in the movie, "Wall Street", as Gordon Gekko could get entangled in the collapse of Barings. Ego and Greed in operation is obvious.

What is a bit disturbing is how Ego and Greed has creeped into the moral fiber of the Filipina. Liken it to fiendish and frenzied cancer cells which attack what's healthy in one's body, Ego and Greed no longer know any gender. It also knows no race.

For a while back, we have preserved the Filipinas image as a God-fearing, selfless, caring, and motherly person who would uphold what's right and cascade such values to the next generation. Sadly, the news about individuals such as Janet Napoles, a businesswoman who is believed to have masterminded the Priority Development Assistance Fund Scam, and the former Jupiter St-Makati branch manager of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) linked to the $81-million Bangladeshi bank heist in 2016 is a big blow to obliterate that image.

In the case of the the 54-year-old Metrobank executive, Marivic Lopez, reported to own the Menage chain of salons, it is somewhat unthinkable how one could not be satisfied with a 250k monthly salary plus merely a year's run until retirement.

Here in Bacolod (and in Iloilo), the talk over this Sunday's lunch will surely be, "Sin-o ina sya ya nga Lopez?" (Which Lopez branch or clan is she from?).

As of the latest news, Ms. Lopez has kept mum on who else may be involved in defrauding Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank).

Such a sad day when Ego and Greed take over.

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Follow me on Twitter @TitasdeBacolod

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Saturday, April 1, 2017

Saturday, April 01, 2017

Jeepney Transformation : Bacolod City Will Soon Have Hummers for Jeepneys

Bacolod, Negros

Hummer Jeepney : A new kind of Jeepney

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines - In line with the move to phase out old and environmentally-unfriendly jeepneys, a new kind of jeepney will roll out in Bacolod City.

Known for its world famous MassKara Festival and delectable chicken inasal, Bacolod, the City of Smiles will be known for another first - the use of Hummers as public transport.

The Filipino Jeepney has for many years been a symbol of Filipino ingenuity being the most popular means of public transportation in the country.

Originally made from U.S. military jeeps left over from World War II and improvised and refitted through Filipino resourcefulness, the jeepney will take on a new shape this year when ingenuity meets the legendary decadence of Negros Island.

Bacolod City will be the first city in the Philippines to see the rollout of the new generation of jeepneys using GM Hummers as its platform. The project is spearheaded by a visionary from Bacolod who requests to be made anonymous at this time.

The visionary sugar farmer relates, "There is really nothing new about this except the new platform using Hummers. Jeepneys are here to stay. The "Humjeep" project is faithful to the original intentions of the of the jeepney, and that is to convert a military transport vehicle into a form of public conveyance". He adds, "My close friends who know this project tell me I'm nuts, but I tell them that you're the ones who don't know what legacy is all about. Years from now, tourists in the Philippines will go to Bacolod just to ride one of the five Hummer jeepneys I'll be deploying".

"Love it or hate it, the Jeepney will never go away. All that's needed is a new platform for which the Hummer is perfect. The fact that the Hummer was also a military vehicle adds to the novelty".

A look at the current "Humjeep" hidden in a Negros gamefarm shows that it has been modified by eliminating the rear side doors and creating a single rear door which is typical of regular jeepneys.

The Bacolod-based visionary adds, "For the additional Humjeeps, we will be sourcing two more from Port Irene and we are eyeing to buy Piolo Pascual's H3 and Angel Locsin's H2."

Soon, riding a jeepney will really be more fun in Bacolod.