Good Chismis (Philippine Gossip)
I’ve mentioned Henry Sy(see) of SM fame a few times before in this column. The Inquirer had a little snippet of gossip that I sincerely hope is true:
MALL magnate Henry Sy Sr. is quietly going into power generation with a 150-megawatt geothermal plant in Pasil, Kalinga-Apayao, in partnership with an Australian group.
The Sy-Aussie venture plans to increase the power plant capacity to 1,500 megawatts, to be funded by a public listing on the London Stock Exchange, no less.
This is great news to me on several fronts.
- One of the reasons the Philippines lags in world economy is a lack of raw and manufactured materials with a global market. If there is one single commodity the Philippines has, in spades, it’s energy from geothermal and solar. Japan can tunnel deeper under the streets of Tokyo or add yet another story atop their department store/railroad stations … but they can’t make megawatts.
- The Philippine economy current struggles due to the costs of crude oil-based energy. Open a steam line from underneath Pinatubo and send the oil tankers back to Bush’s Saudi friends.
- I don’t subscribe at ALL to much of the current “junk” science that floats around about Global Warming and the supposed causes. However, I have been a pilot for 40 years and I have seen the would-wide visibility average drop, significantly. No fossil fuel, no pollution
- Launching on the London exchange gives the Sy companies a much higher chance of getting the funding and support they really need. They could launch on the Manila Exchange, but then Henry is a poor immigrant boy from China and doesn’t know the secret handshakes of the “ruling families” who still, by the way, think that sugar cane and land slavery is the Philippines’ future.
- He could launch on the New York stock exchange, but then he’d have to contend with a “broke” country (seen the dollar to peso rates lately? Seen the dollar to Euro rates lately? and a ruling class of bankers who feel that if it ain’t Dubya-promoted oil it ain’t energy.
More on this as it happens, I’ll be following developments closely.
Related posts:
- There’s Gold In Them There Philippines
- Who Are The Real Filipinos — Part 6
- Philippine Forex — Will the Dollar Stay Strong?
- More on Philippine “Soft Landings”
- Alternatives To The High Cost Of Energy — Part 4
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