BANKARD STOCKHOLDERS OKAY BUYOUT BY RCBC. Stockholders of credit card firm Bankard Inc. approved yesterday the sale of almost all its assets to its parent company, the Yunhengco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC). Bankard said its stockholders approved the sale of all its assets less certain liabilities to RCBC. At the same time, Bankard announced the increase in its authorized capital stock to two billion shares from 600 million shares. Pstar pB4 (related PDI pB2, Bworld pS2/1)

 DEBIT CARDS: ALTERNATIVE TO QUEUEING AT ATM. The holiday season is usually the time when demand for cash peaks each year, resulting in long queues at the ATM. Consumers in line run the risk of cash running out especially during these three to four day holidays. Unknown to most consumers, however, there is a much more convenient yet underutilized alternative: the debit card. The debit card is a card that can be used to access a bank account through point-of-sale (POS), Internet and ATM channels using electronic payment gateways like Visa or Mastercard. PDI pB4

BDO PRESIDENT TAKES OVER EPCI TOP POST. The Equitable PCI Bank (EPCI) board has appointed Banco de Oro Universal Bank (BDO) President Nestor V. Tan as bank president. The merger of two banks will result in combined assets of P613 billion. The merged entity, to be called Banco de Oro-Equitable PCI, will also become the second largest bank by deposits, with combined deposits worth P435 billion. Bworld pS2/1 (related Mbulletin pB1)
  

 
BSP PREPAYS $220M IMF DEBT. The Philippines will prepay its remaining obligations to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this week, facilitating its exit from the lender’s nearly five-decade tutelage. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said the prepayment will serve as a watershed event in its relationship with the IMF. Malaya pB9 (related Pstar pB1, PDI pB1, Mtimes pB1, Bworld pS1/1, Bmirror pA1)

 STOCKS, PESO CONTINUE TO CLIMB. The peso yesterday surged to a high of 49.10:$1, gaining 9.5 centavos from Wednesday’s finish of 49.195 to the dollar. This was attributed to strong dollar inflows from foreign investors gobbling up local stocks and the record-high remittances from overseas Filipino workers. PDI pB1

 PESO POISED TO CROSS KEY THRESHOLD ON STRONG REMIITANCES. The peso and Philippine share prices were close to crossing key psychological thresholds on Thursday on continued strong inflows of overseas Filipino worker remittances and with investors buying stocks in anticipation of better returns ahead. The peso was poised to strengthen, if not for heavy intervention by the Bangko Sentral, which lapped up dollars to boost its inventory. Mtimes pB1

 RP DOLLAR BONDS HOVER AT RECORD PEAK. Bonds from the Philippines, Asia’s most active sovereign debt issuer outside Japan, hovered at record levels yesterday after topping returns in the region for 2006. On average, prices in the broad market were steady with investors looking to the resumption of new issues and return of market participants from the holiday season. Bworld pS2/1

BDO : FRUIT OF 30 YRS IN BANKING by Emeterio SD. Perez. Businessman Henry Sy Sr. nurtured the growth of Banco de Oro from the time SM Group of Companies, which he and his family control, bought what was then Acme Savings Bank in 1976, and renamed it to Banco de Oro Savings and Mortgage Bank. It took BDO, then a savings bank, 20 years before it could join the big league – in 1996 – the year when it became a universal bank. Bmirror pG6

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY by Alivin Capino. This year we saw two faces of big corporations exercising corporate social responsibility. The experiences of these two corporations would probably end up as case studies in management and public relations on how and how not to deal with disasters. The first case is that of Petron and the celebrated sinking of the tanker Solar I off the coast of Guimaras. The tanker was carrying bunker fuel oil owned by Petron. It is surprising that Petron, one of the country’s largest corporations, was apparently not prepared to handle the public relations/public affairs aspect of the disaster. Contrast Petron’s reaction to the Guimaras oil spill to the way ABS-CBN handled the “Wowowee” stampede where 71 people died and scores were injured. The handling of ABS-CBN of the Ultra stampede tragedy is a perfect example of corporate social responsibility. We can only wish that other corporations involved in similar situations would do the same. Manila Standard Today pA4

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