Man who ‘threatened’ Neri over port deal
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. - Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines -- With his fierce advocacy for the liberalization of Manila’s lucrative but monopolistic port services, Romulo Neri has allegedly earned the ire of Enrique Razon, chair and president of International Container Terminal Services Inc.(ICTSI).
Neri named the powerful businessman as the one who threatened him against allowing a rival to get into Manila’s port business.
Neri told Wednesday’s Senate hearing on the controversial National Broadband Network (NBN) deal that he had come “face to face” with Razon at a party held at the Forbes Park residence of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.’s mother-in-law.
“During that party, he accosted me, in effect telling me, ‘You will allow Harbour Centre to operate over my dead body,’” Neri told Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., quoting Razon.
Pimentel earlier asked Neri if he had incurred the ire of businessmen in the arrastre business, and if Razon was among these businessmen.
But Neri denied receiving a text message supposedly sent to an aide of his and read aloud by Pimentel: “If your boss mentions my name, I will personally break every bone in his body.”
He also denied being threatened against his appearance at the Senate hearing.
Harbour Centre, owned by Reghis Romero II of RII Builders, operates a port terminal at the former Smokey Mountain.
It has not been able to get a license to handle the much bigger 20-foot containers currently limited to ICTSI at the Manila International Container Terminal and Asian Terminal Inc. at the South Harbor.
“I was for letting Harbour Centre enter the port container business in Manila because [it is controlled] by only two. I was going for competition; I thought allowing Harbour Centre to compete would bring down container costs, which are [among] the highest at $1,300 per [20-foot equivalent unit],” Neri said.
The ICTSI media relations office declined a request from the Philippine Daily Inquirer for a phone interview with or a statement from Razon.
From NEDA to CHEd
Razon, 47, is widely believed to be behind Neri’s recent transfer from the National Economic and Development Authority to the Commission on Higher Education, purportedly because of Neri’s pro-liberalization, free-competition stance.
But Neri said he was not aware of this.
When asked by Pimentel whether he was afraid for his life, Neri said: “I’ve maintained my stand despite the threats.”
He said he had pushed not only for the liberalization of the arrastre port services but also for the opening up of the airline, telecommunications, ports and shipping industries.
“These are the subjects of regulatory capture, where regulatory agencies may be dictated [to] by some powerful business groups,” he said.
Since receiving the purported threat from Razon, Neri said he had not seen the ICTSI chief.
Close to FG
Razon, who is reportedly very close to First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, served as the treasurer and major financier of the administration’s Team Unity in the May elections.
Razon’s name was also mentioned by Jose “Joey” de Venecia III of Amsterdam Holdings Inc. (AHI), who first testified last week at the Senate inquiry into the NBN deal.
De Venecia Wednesday said that when he divested his shares at Multimedia Telephony Inc. in 2003, these were “bought by Anscor (A. Soriano Corp.) and Ricky Razon, Fritz Server and Nono Ibazeta.”
He further claimed that the group subsequently signed a vendor and financing deal with ZTE Corp., the Chinese firm to which AHI lost out to in the broadband project.
Razon, a graduate of De La Salle University, is a member of the American Management Association, Management Association of the Philippines, Pacific Basin Economic Council, and World Economic Forum.
He is a known friend of ousted President Joseph Estrada, who was recently convicted of plunder. He chaired the Erap Cup in 2000 and was the source of a P10-million contribution to Estrada’s Muslim Youth Foundation.
In 2003, Razon was appointed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as a member of the Public-Private Sector Task Force on the Reconstruction and Development of Iraq.
ICTSI, which also operates abroad, is the Philippines’ largest corporation engaged in handling container and bulk cargo.
Its known total consolidated assets as of December 2006 is P19.1 billion. Last month, it reported a six-month net income of P1.045 billion this year.
ICTSI has port terminals in Manila, Subic, Batangas and General Santos City. It also operates ports in Japan, Indonesia, Poland, Brazil, Syria and Madagascar.
In March this year, it disclosed that it had won another port contract abroad, this time in Ecuador.
In September 2005, the Philippine Ports Authority approved ICTSI’s petition for a 25-year extension of its contract to operate at the Port of Manila. With reports from Riza Olchondra; Eliza Victoria, Inquirer Research
MANILA, Philippines -- With his fierce advocacy for the liberalization of Manila’s lucrative but monopolistic port services, Romulo Neri has allegedly earned the ire of Enrique Razon, chair and president of International Container Terminal Services Inc.(ICTSI).
Neri named the powerful businessman as the one who threatened him against allowing a rival to get into Manila’s port business.
Neri told Wednesday’s Senate hearing on the controversial National Broadband Network (NBN) deal that he had come “face to face” with Razon at a party held at the Forbes Park residence of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.’s mother-in-law.
“During that party, he accosted me, in effect telling me, ‘You will allow Harbour Centre to operate over my dead body,’” Neri told Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., quoting Razon.
Pimentel earlier asked Neri if he had incurred the ire of businessmen in the arrastre business, and if Razon was among these businessmen.
But Neri denied receiving a text message supposedly sent to an aide of his and read aloud by Pimentel: “If your boss mentions my name, I will personally break every bone in his body.”
He also denied being threatened against his appearance at the Senate hearing.
Harbour Centre, owned by Reghis Romero II of RII Builders, operates a port terminal at the former Smokey Mountain.
It has not been able to get a license to handle the much bigger 20-foot containers currently limited to ICTSI at the Manila International Container Terminal and Asian Terminal Inc. at the South Harbor.
“I was for letting Harbour Centre enter the port container business in Manila because [it is controlled] by only two. I was going for competition; I thought allowing Harbour Centre to compete would bring down container costs, which are [among] the highest at $1,300 per [20-foot equivalent unit],” Neri said.
The ICTSI media relations office declined a request from the Philippine Daily Inquirer for a phone interview with or a statement from Razon.
From NEDA to CHEd
Razon, 47, is widely believed to be behind Neri’s recent transfer from the National Economic and Development Authority to the Commission on Higher Education, purportedly because of Neri’s pro-liberalization, free-competition stance.
But Neri said he was not aware of this.
When asked by Pimentel whether he was afraid for his life, Neri said: “I’ve maintained my stand despite the threats.”
He said he had pushed not only for the liberalization of the arrastre port services but also for the opening up of the airline, telecommunications, ports and shipping industries.
“These are the subjects of regulatory capture, where regulatory agencies may be dictated [to] by some powerful business groups,” he said.
Since receiving the purported threat from Razon, Neri said he had not seen the ICTSI chief.
Close to FG
Razon, who is reportedly very close to First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, served as the treasurer and major financier of the administration’s Team Unity in the May elections.
Razon’s name was also mentioned by Jose “Joey” de Venecia III of Amsterdam Holdings Inc. (AHI), who first testified last week at the Senate inquiry into the NBN deal.
De Venecia Wednesday said that when he divested his shares at Multimedia Telephony Inc. in 2003, these were “bought by Anscor (A. Soriano Corp.) and Ricky Razon, Fritz Server and Nono Ibazeta.”
He further claimed that the group subsequently signed a vendor and financing deal with ZTE Corp., the Chinese firm to which AHI lost out to in the broadband project.
Razon, a graduate of De La Salle University, is a member of the American Management Association, Management Association of the Philippines, Pacific Basin Economic Council, and World Economic Forum.
He is a known friend of ousted President Joseph Estrada, who was recently convicted of plunder. He chaired the Erap Cup in 2000 and was the source of a P10-million contribution to Estrada’s Muslim Youth Foundation.
In 2003, Razon was appointed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as a member of the Public-Private Sector Task Force on the Reconstruction and Development of Iraq.
ICTSI, which also operates abroad, is the Philippines’ largest corporation engaged in handling container and bulk cargo.
Its known total consolidated assets as of December 2006 is P19.1 billion. Last month, it reported a six-month net income of P1.045 billion this year.
ICTSI has port terminals in Manila, Subic, Batangas and General Santos City. It also operates ports in Japan, Indonesia, Poland, Brazil, Syria and Madagascar.
In March this year, it disclosed that it had won another port contract abroad, this time in Ecuador.
In September 2005, the Philippine Ports Authority approved ICTSI’s petition for a 25-year extension of its contract to operate at the Port of Manila. With reports from Riza Olchondra; Eliza Victoria, Inquirer Research
Labels: ICTSI, razon, subic port
posted by OlongapoCity Zambales at
3:40 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home