MANILA // The former Philippine defence secretary, Gilbert 'Gibo' Teodoro, has no intention of quitting the presidential race despite persistent rumours that he is about to throw in the towel.
Mr Teodoro, the standard-bearer for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's ruling coalition, Lakas-Kampi Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD), resigned as chairman of the coalition last week along with a number of senior officials, triggering an avalanche of rumours that he was giving up the presidential race.
"Nothing can be further from the truth," his spokesman Mike Toledo said. "These rumours only strengthen our resolve to continue the fight. We have no intention of quitting the race."
He said Mr Teodoro's resignation had nothing to do with campaign finances and was seen as a necessary move to allow him to concentrate on the campaign.
Despite having the backing of a cash-rich party, Mr Teodoro's campaign has only managed to spend 60 million pesos (Dh4.9m) on political advertising since campaigning started in February. The sum is just half the 120 million spent by one of the presidential front runners, Manuel Villar.
Since opinion polls opened in February, Mr Teodoro, 45, has found himself trailing well behind the two main presidential contenders, Senator Benigno 'Noynoy' Aquino, son of the former president Corazon Aquino, and Mr Villar, a self-made billionaire senator.
Many political observers believe Mr Teodoro's biggest problem is that his principal endorser is Mrs Arroyo.
Since Mrs Arroyo came to power in 2001 following the ousting of the then president, Joseph Estrada, she and her family have been linked to numerous corruption scandals. Polls have consistenty shown her to be the most disliked president the country has had. Even the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos rates well above Mrs Arroyo.
The columnist Ana Marie Pamintuan, writing in The Philippine Star recently, said: "You see the competent, intelligent, articulate and youthful Gilbert Teodoro, and immediately you see behind him the shadow of GMA [Gloria Macapagal Arroyo] - everything that she and her merged political parties stand for, with all the scandals of the past nine years tumbling in. The question that then pops up is, do we want more of the same?"
Mr Teodoro, a Harvard-educated lawyer, was born into a wealthy, politically connected family. Mrs Aquino is his aunt, while the country's most powerful businessman, Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco, founder of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) party, is his uncle.
Mr Teodoro entered politics in 1998 and served three terms as congressman for the first district of Tarlac in Luzon. In 2003 he led a failed move to impeach the then Supreme Court chief justice, Hilario Davide. At the time he was accused of acting on behalf of his uncle, who had pending cases with the high court.
As a congressman, he consistently supported efforts to amend the constitution and voted against numerous attempts to impeach Mrs Arroyo, which paid off in 2007 when, at the age of 43, he was appointed the country's youngest ever defence secretary.
Edmund Tayao, a political science professor at the University of Santo Tomas, said: "Teodoro is probably the best candidate out of the nine running for president but he is seen by many ordinary Filipinos as being Mrs Arroyo's candidate.
"That perception may be changing following his resignation last week as chairman of Lakas-Kampi CMD. One of the major problems facing Teodoro has been the lack of funds. Many of his campaign people have asked: where is the money?
"It is no secret that many Lakas-Kampi CMD governor and local government candidates are jumping ship to Mr Villar's Nacionalista Party which does not help Teodoro," Professor Tayao said.
The defections to Mr Villar's camp has set the Philippine political rumour mill into overdrive in recent days, with unsubstantiated reports that Mrs Arroyo has abandoned Mr Teodoro and that her husband, Mike, is actively endorsing Mr Villar.
The Nacionalista Party said in a statement on Monday: "We have nothing to do with the first family. We have not sought their support nor asked for any favour regarding this election."
Three governors in the southern Philippines, including a provincial coalition chairman, have said they were switching their support to Mr Villar. The former governor Luis "Chavit" Singson, a key ally of Mrs Arroyo and a political kingpin in the northern Philippines, had also switched from Mr Teodoro to Mr Villar.
The Nacionalista Party explained the defections as "local officials scrambling to try to side with the perceived winner of these elections".
One Lakas-Kampi CMD insider, who did not want to be named, said: "A few high-profile defections are to be expected during an election. The coalition is supporting some 12,000 local and provincial candidates."
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
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LAST-16 EUROPA LEAGUE FIXTURES
Wednesday (Kick-offs UAE)
FC Copenhagen (0) v Istanbul Basaksehir (1) 8.55pm
Shakhtar Donetsk (2) v Wolfsburg (1) 8.55pm
Inter Milan v Getafe (one leg only) 11pm
Manchester United (5) v LASK (0) 11pm
Thursday
Bayer Leverkusen (3) v Rangers (1) 8.55pm
Sevilla v Roma (one leg only) 8.55pm
FC Basel (3) v Eintracht Frankfurt (0) 11pm
Wolves (1) Olympiakos (1) 11pm
