Tag: journalism

[2008] The inside story: How San Miguel worked its way into Meralco’s board

NOTE: This was a story I wrote piecing together the inner workings of a business deal announced to a shocked Manila business community in 2008. From various interviews, I learned how Ramon Ang’s weekend visit to Cebu to charm Winston Garcia of state pension fund GSIS resulted in last minute changes on who the Lopez…
The INQUIRER story

This Inquirer story is about leadership and the messy business of letting go.
Francis Lim’s new role as SEC chair has been a long time coming

Francis Lim’s appointment as SEC chair has been a long time coming, with many twists, turns, and bends in between. Back in 2011, Lim has already been considered for this post. But President Aquino chose another: Teresita Herbosa, Lim’s colleague at ACCRA law firm.
Multimedia research assistant: Is this you?

JOB OPENING! I’m doing a biography project about an Asian tycoon. I need a research assistant who can handle and organize multimedia content.
Um, Yasay as next foreign secretary?

I have an uneasy feeling about Yasay’s appointment as our chief diplomat. It seems none of his past experiences, including those I’ve interviewed him on as a business journalist, equipped him to handle foreign policy, especially with issues as sensitive as the sea dispute with China.
Struggling not to hate my Blackberry

My Blackberry has been driving me nuts since I first held it in June 2011. It feels old, it’s clunky, unintuitive, and lacks battery power. It’s a smartphone that does not make me smart.
Breeding ground

A source from the financial sector once told me about his concept of the Philippines as a “Farm Economy.” No, he wasn’t talking about agriculture. He was talking about nurses and maids.
In the company of Bill Clinton

I would like to claim I was in the same room with him, or walked the same red carpet as he did. But of course, that would be no less than a dream. Reality is, I was included by Toby Webb, founding editor of Ethical Corporation, in their 15 Best of the Best list of…
Intimidation

It was an interview that lasted for more than four hours—10am to 2:15pm, to be exact. The first hour was spent with the former general and the talkative lawyer basically taking over. The reason for their presence was obvious: to intimidate us.