CEBU CITY — About 700 workers of two furniture exporters and a Japanese electronics manufacturer in Mactan have sued their employees for illegal dismissal.
Members of the newly formed union of Mandaue-based furniture exporter Giardini del Sole Manufacturing and Trading Corp. have been picketing outside its factory since Monday and have threatened to file a notice of strike. As of 4 p.m. yesterday, a preventive mediation meeting was being held between the workers and management at the National Conciliation and Mediation Board here.
AS it seeks more funding for projects that will prime the economy and create jobs amid the crisis, the government is set to renew talks with China for the financing of some projects lined up earlier for Chinese official development assistance (ODA) loans, but which were later shelved in the heat of the national broadband network (NBN) controversy.
Trade Secretary Peter Favila said some $1.2 billion of the $2-billion facility that China offered to the Philippines remains unallocated.
The Philippines plans to sell a benchmark-sized, dollar-bond issue maturing in 2019 as early as during New York trading time on Wednesday, a source close to the deal said.
The offering will be managed by HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) (0005.HK: Quote, Profile, Research), Credit-Suisse (CSGN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) and Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research).
“A benchmark-sized offering for a name like this could typically mean around $1 billion,” the source said, adding the price guidance had yet to be decided.
Henry Sy, Sr. runs the Philippines’ largest retailer, but he operates his SM Group almost as if it were a family-owned corner greengrocery. Each week, the 80-year-old (estimated net worth: $1.2 billion), sporting his trademark Hawaiian shirt, gathers his six children at the company’s warehouse-style offices near Manila’s waterfront, where they oversee nearly every aspect of the business, from property deals to labor negotiations. On Saturdays, family members fan out to make firsthand inspections of their SM malls, department stores and supermarkets. On Sundays, Sy insists that the family meet yet again, either at his $2 million luxury log cabin in the lush hills outside Manila or the family home in the swish Forbes Park district of the capital. Though he is one of the Philippines’ richest men, Sy sometimes spends Sunday mornings shopping in Manila’s seaside market for fresh fish for the family’s lunch, which he cooks himself. His specialty: fish soup with noodles.
