PHILIPPINE BEER COMPANY TO BUILD AND MANAGE NEW TOLL ROAD IN MANILA

July 9, 2013 Pol Pinoy 1 Comment

Manila, Philippines – Southeast Asia’s largest publicly listed food, beverage and packaging company, San Miguel Corporation, is slated in January to start construction work on a Fifteen Billion Peso toll road that would connect Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport to existing expressways in the metropolis. The project , when completed, is expected to greatly ease traffic gridlock which is an everyday occurrence leading to and from the airport. It will also serve as a short cut to the gambling casinos along Manila Bay.

This project is part of President Noynoy Aquino Administration’s public-private partnership, where public projects such as these are funded wholly, or in part, by private corporations, with strings attached of course.

Established in 1890 as a brewery, San Miguel Corporation has some 17,000 employees in over 100 major facilities throughout the Asia-Pacific region. It carries many brand names in the Philippine food and beverage industry, including San Miguel Pale Pilsen, Ginebra San Miguel, Monterey, Magnolia, and Purefoods. San Miguel Beer is one of the largest selling beers and among the top ten selling beer brands in the world.

Return on Investment

As part of the signed agreement, San Miguel Corporation will invest P11 Billion in the project. The company’s return on investment will come when it starts collecting toll along the completed sky way. It wasn’t clear whether any portion of the toll fees will go to the government.

Almost Botched

Informed sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said that there was one major roadblock to the signing of the agreement. San Miguel Corporation wanted to sell its premiere product, San Miguel Beer, at the toll booths leading up to the expressway. Initially, the Aquino Administration objected to the idea because this would be in violation of the country’s DUI regulations. After weeks of negotiation, however, the Aquino Administration relented, on the condition that only San Miguel Lite Beer, not the regular beer, will be sold at the toll booths. The government also sought a concession from San Miguel Corporation which agreed to share 10% of all beer sales at the toll booths with the government.

Business

HOMELESS NEW YORKER MAKES $250 A DAY CUTTING BAGELS

July 9, 2013 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

New York, New York – Cut or uncut bagels, that is the question. An obscure New York sales tax regulation mandates that the sale of whole bagels isn’t subject to sales tax, but the tax applies to sliced or prepared bagels with cream cheese or other toppings. The state’s Department of Taxation and Finance also reminds business owners and consumers alike that “if the bagel is eaten in the store, even if it’s never been touched by a knife, it’s also taxed.

For Conrad Smith, a homeless New Yorker who is a veteran of the Vietnam War, this regulation has opened up a lucrative opportunity for him to earn an average of $250 a day. Smith has set up a makeshift “shop” just outside a popular bagel store on 42nd Street. He invested $50 dollars of his hard-earned cash to purchase a portable table and chair combo from IKEA, and a stainless bread knife from Crate & Barrel.

Seven days a week, Smith sets up shop and charges fifty cents for every bagel he cuts with his knife and another fifty cents for the use of his portable table and chair. Customers are glad to patronize Smith’s business, saying that they’d rather help a veteran than pay extra in sales tax to add to the state’s already fat coffers.

Although New York, like San Francisco, has a “sit and lie” ordinance, prohibiting homeless and other people from sitting on sidewalks, setting up a table and chair along the sidewalk does not violate the ordinance.

Smith told The Adobo Chronicles that he is saving up his earnings so that one day, he can establish his own bagel shop, and give another homeless veteran the opportunity to make a living cutting whole bagels.

Business

UPDATING: GOOGLE’S $5 GOOGLE GLASS!

July 7, 2013 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

San Jose, California -One of the major complaints about Google Glass, the Silicon Valley tech giant’s latest innovation scheduled to hit the market soon, is its prohibitive price. Pre-orders of Google Glass cost a whopping $1,500 each.

Related news item: Google’s Prescription Google Glass

In a stunning announcement at an innovator conference at the Google campus in Mountain View this weekend, Google founder and CEO Larry Page unveiled a $5 version of Google Glass which was immediately cheered by millions of Americans now living at below the poverty level.

Page was, however, tight-lipped on the features of this new product and how it compares with the $1,500 edition. “Consumers will just have to find out for themselves,” Page said.

Here’s a photo of the new product unveiled Saturday: