ABS-CBN - Friday, August 28
MANILA - The recent Forbes Asia magazine’s accounting of the wealth of the Philippines’ 40 richest people just might be an indication of economic recovery.
Published last August 25, Forbes Rich List showed that the total networth of the country's wealthiest has reached $16.4 billion, higher than last year's $14.2 billion.
Nine of the top 10 and 25 of all 40 in the list posted higher wealth compared to the previous list available last October 2008.
Forbes attributed this to signs of recovery as various industries benefited from continuously growing money sent home by Filipinos working abroad and healthy consumer confidence that kept Filipinos spending.
It also cited the 52% uptick in the Philippine Stock Exchange composite index since the beginning of the year and 67% increase since bottoming out in October 2008.
Share values are still 26% off the 2007 peak, but Forbes said the current levels are “enough to begin to turn around the fortunes of the country’s richest.”
Forbes based the networth calculation on share prices of companies listed in the stock market and an estimation of the worth of privately held assets if they were listed. The figures also included the share of the individuals in their family’s fortunes.
Share prices and exchange rates were based on prevailing rates as of August 14.
Mall power
Retail mogul Henry Sy again topped the list. His wealth increased by $700 million more since Forbes’ last list in October 2008.
His current $3.8 billion networth was attributed to the appreciation of the share prices of his main holding family, SM Investments, which appreciated by 28% since October. SM Investments has stakes in banking, insurance, property, and malls.
The Sy family has the widest network of retail outlets—from malls to hypermarkets—nationwide. Four of his over 100 malls in the Philippines and China are included in the world’s biggest malls.
The wealth culled from the retail business has propelled a new entrant, Marian Rosario Fong, into the Top 40 list.
Fong, who grabbed the last spot, was a former partner of Sy's supermarkets and still has a 1% stake in SM Investments, Forbes noted.
These accounted for her networth of $38 million, which Forbes said is still higher than the $30 million networth of the person who held that last spot in October. The networth of the last on the Philippine list again made the Philippines the easiest to make in all 14 countries in Asia that Forbes tracks for its Rich List.
Meantime, tycoon Lucio Tan (#2) and Ayala conglomerate’s chairman emeritus Jaime Zobel de Ayala (#3) took the next slots.
Both used to clinch the top spot.
Tan, who is of Chinese descent, has interests in tobacco, beer, and banking. He is also in highly regulated industries, including aviation. Philippine Airlines, where he has a controlling stake, has been having financial troubles as it faces tougher competition and after hedging fuel supply when prices reached record highs last year.
On the other hand, Zobel de Ayala, who is of Spanish descent, has left the day to day management of his family’s interests in property, retail, banking, telecommunications, and water to his children. He is now an art advocate and is into photography.
Business and politics
A notable member of the top 10 is Sen. Manuel Villar (#9) who is a May 2010 presidential aspirant. He has interests in real estate, which includes listed home developer Vista Land and Lifescapes.
Villar and his wife, Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar, have been topping the list of richest solon with a P1.05 billion combined networth as of 2008.
However, Forbes calculate his current wealth at $530 million or about P25 billion.
Richer than Villar are two more politically connected individuals: Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. ($660 million, #7) and Enrique Razon Jr. ($620 million, #8).
Razon is into the ports business through International Container Terminal Services Inc. He emerged into prominence due to his closeness with First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, a golf buddy. Razon also helped in a recent campaign of senatorial aspirants who are allies of President Gloria Arroyo.
The closeness of the Arroyo couple and Razon is apparent as the latter would even include official visits to countries like Brazil and Syria, which have little trade or migrant labor relationship with the Philippines. Razon recently started operating ports in these countries.
Razon also won a concession for the power transmission business, a recently privatized monopoly. Roberto Coyuito Jr. ($290 million, #18), who was recently part of the consortium behind the transmission business, also made it to the Forbes list.
Razon and Coyuito’s consortium was previously dragged to court by nickel businessman Salvador Zamora II for allegedly being favored by the state agency overseeing the bid. Zamora and his partners eventually lost the bid.
Zamora’s $20 million fortune last year put him at the 32nd slot. This year, Forbes lumped his wealth with that of his brother, Manuel Zamora.
The Zamora brothers’ combined $110 million networth pushed them to the 27th slot.
Marcos’ allies
Cojuangco was an ally of former President Ferdinand Marcos who allowed Cojuanco to monopolize commodity businesses in the Philippines, including coconut. About 20% of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corporation, which he controls, is still under litigation for allegations of ill-gotten wealth.
Cojuangco made a bid for the presidency in 1992 but lost. He has since focused on regaining and growing San Miguel, and has become a kingmaker of sorts. He is currently chairman of the political party Nationalist People’s Coalition.
Another Marcos ally that made it to the top 40 is Benjamin Romualdez ($70 million, #30), younger brother of Imelda Marcos. Romualdez is still battling various sequestration cases, but his sons are well-entrenched in politics and business: Benjamin heads a high-profile mining industry federation and Martin is a Lower House member as representative of hometown Leyte.
Martin Romualdez was recently dragged into a scandal for allegedly picking a $20,000 dinner tab for President Arroyo and her entourage in a recent official visit to Washington. The dinner cost became hot topic amid increasing hunger rates and widening national budget gap.
One notch richer than Benjamin Romualdez is President Arroyo’s trusted ally Tomas Alcantara ($75 million, #29). Forbes considered his interests in mining, power, property, energy, and agriculture, all housed under Alcantara Group. Alcantara is said to have migrated to Canada.
Forbes also noted David Consunji (#17) as one of the big gainers. The stock price of his construction firm, DMCI, has doubled, propelling his networth by $300 million. This figure is $200 million more that his networth last year.
DMCI’s mining related assets may have not grown as much due to declining mineral prices, but it had been clinching deals left and right. It has already expanded into water and tollroad businesses, where it sealed partnerships with the likes of San Miguel Corporation and other Manlia’s biggest conglomerates.
Poorer and missing
Nine of the Top 40 are poorer than a year ago. This includes married couple Rolando and Rosalinda Hortaleza who founded personal care products company Splash.
The couple’s combined networth of $39 million was considerably lower than their $90 million last year. Forbes attributed this to the weak performance of Splash, best known for skin whitening products. Share price of Splash dropped by more than 50% since last October.
The Hortalezas slipped to the 39th spot this year from 27th last year.
Noticeably absent in the list this year is Manuel Pangilinan. He previously held the 37th slot in 2007 with a $35 million personal fortune and the 39th in 2008 with $39 million.
He is considered one of the highest paid executives in the country and the only professional who had been included in the Forbes list.
Pangilinan runs the leading telecommunications firm in the country, Philippine Long Distance Company where he represents the interests of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Holdings Inc. The latter is controlled by the Salim family of Indonesia.
Up to 80% of First Pacific’s investments are in the Philippines, essentially proving how much the Salims trust Pangilinan. Aside from telecommunications, Pangilinan has since clinched deals involving the juiciest businesses in the Philippines. Through another First Pacific unit, Pangilinan has added health services, property, water distribution, power distribution, tollroads, mining, media, and more to the business portfolio.--by Lala Rimando, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak
