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WHEN Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) President Winston
Garcia walked —no, make that marched—into the gladiatorial arena
that was the auditorium of the Meralco Theatre for the shareholders
meeting, set to be the defining moment of the battle between him and
Meralco President Manalo Lopez, the current food crisis worked
wonderfully well in his favor.
With things somewhat tough on the food
front (a subject about which Garcia would be quite familiar having
once been of ample girth but now trimmed down to an admirable
‘fighting’ weight) the assembled baying mob . . . oops sorry . .
. shareholders . . . only subjected him to boos and catcalls instead
of the customary eggs and tomatoes—as was the globally televised
case with Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer when he faced European
shareholders in Madrid recently.
So while Garcia may have lost that particular
14-hour battle, the GSIS-Meralco war is far from over. And the
consensus on the corporate cocktail circuit is that the GSIS boss,
while coming across on the (largely owned by the Lopezes, as it
happens) electronic media as “not a likeable guy,” he was most
certainly fighting a good and tactically brilliant fight.
Why, one mighty corporate titan even told us
that if—God forbid—he was ever to get caught up in a bitter
corporate fight he would prefer to have someone like the cool and
calculating Garcia on his side rather than have him sniping from the
other side!
This is turning into a populist battle, and like
all such battles it comes down to public perception. And on that
front Garcia has a trump card that the Lopez side has failed to
match. Stepped forward please, the chic and fragrant GSIS
spokesperson Atty. Estrella Elamparo who, apart from Garcia, has
been the public GSIS face (and a very pretty one at that) in this
corporate fray.
Garcia has quickly grasped that if in the
Philippines you have to get a populist message across to the public,
engage an articulate, intelligent, stylish and elegant (though not
necessarily in that order) messenger and you are almost home and
dry. And let’s face it, Elamparo does cut quite an impressive
figure when placed alongside the tired talking heads on the opposing
side.
Though even she might be stretched to answer
why, if as Garcia claims Meralco has been badly managed for decades,
the GSIS has continued to invest in the utility giant. Or even why
Garcia is batting so fervently for the consumers when a mark down in
the price of electricity would adversely affect his shareholders who
have a sizeable stake in the company.
But all the boardroom tension is not without its
merciful moments of unscripted humor. And insider told us that when
at one stage it was suggested that the vote at the shareholders
meeting be cast in parliamentary style with cries “Aye” and
“Nay,” Garcia is said to have cast imploring glances all around
and pointed out that it would be grossly unfair as it was impossible
for him representing millions of shares to out-shout scores of
people with just one share each!
At this stage most politicians—acutely aware
that there is an election coming up in 2010 and the Lopez owned ABS-CBN
television network will play a pivotal role in the outcome—appear
to be hedging their bets on the issue.
So we have this scenario (as gathered from our
legislative sources) of lawmakers supposedly berating the Lopezes
behind closed committee doors, but then see them pontificating with
purposeful motherhood statements like “but, of course, we have to
look at the bigger picture,” when confronted by the TV cameras.
While everyone knows exactly where Garica and
his foot soldiers are coming from, the talk in informed café
society is that the role being played by some in the Meralco senior
management team is far from clear.
A talking point on this matter came up at the
shareholders meeting when the Lopezes exited the stage and went
behind closed doors to try to figure out the legal ramifications of
the Securities and Exchange Commission order challenging the proxies
gathered by the Lopez clan.
During that sojourn when Garcia was in expansive
mode on stage, some senior managers at Meralco appeared to be
ensuring that all flanks were covered (and their high paying jobs
and perks were intact just in case the battle went the other way?)
by engaging the GSIS boss in chummy social intercourse.
And should that come to pass and the Meralco
board changes hands, there is intriguing talk that the Lopezes might
well be subject to the biggest act of management betrayal since
Judas pulled off a similar caper at the Last Supper.
rjottings@yahoo.com
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