Even Noli knows

It seems as if his adoption by Bacolod City has been lucky for taipan Lucio Tan. First the Sandiganbayan ruled that four of his companies that had been sequestered by the government should be returned to him. The companies, his blockbusters, included Allied Bank, Fortune Tobacco, Foremost Farms and Shareholdings Inc. Then, a few days later, he also landed among the world's top billionaires in the annual listing of Forbes Magazine.

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Although three Filipinos were included among the 793 people worldwide who own more than a billion dollars, Lucio Tan led the others, at Number 451, with his $1.78 billion, followed by Henry Sy at number 512 with $1.58, and Jaime Zobel at number 606 with his $1.3 billion. Still on top of all the 793 is the legendary Bill Gates, whose $50 billion nobody could beat yet. Me, I have the consolation, not of being anywhere near those people in income, but of, at least, having met in person Billionaire Number One. This was when I joined the APEC team covering then President Fidel Ramos to Vancouver, and his itinerary included a visit to Bill(ionaire) Gates at his compound in Redmond, Washington.

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Well, I didn't get to exchange pleasantries with Bill, but he did stand near FVR while I was talking to the latter, so that should qualify as, at least, seeing the legend himself from distance of less than two feet. And he looked like his pictures, a very simple - one might even say shy - person, very simply attired, and smiling most of the time. He seemed to have hit it off with FVR who spoke his lingo, and I recall, he promised to give RP lots of computers and help in funding studies for Pinoys. His office, too, was very simply furnished, in fact, I noted that some telephone cords (cellphones were not in vogue yet) were frayed. But I remember everything about Redmond clearly, because that was where I first saw the most beautiful sight of "Autumn Leaves" falling in glorious red and gold on the ground.

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By the way, the Gates offices consisted of several buildings in a compound almost like a university town. We saw few of his staff, but were given ID cards that we kept as souvenirs. Anyway, I am glad that he continues to make money because he also shares it with charities and foundations all over the world, funding research and studies to make things better for humanity. If only all rich people were like Bill Gates. Which reminds me of the recent news about poor patients who had relied on the first gentleman for their medical treatment or surgeries, but who are now worried because he has been reported to have stopped his charitable projects. The reason given is that he is disgusted because he is still being criticized even when he is being generous. Maybe he should just listen to the grateful voices, and ignore the criticism. He will get more indulgences that way. I don't know if Bill Gates gets criticized, too?

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I was astounded when I saw the headline of a national daily saying that Vice President Noli de Castro is asking President Arroyo to clear the air on the Garci case. What? Did they brainwash him in Kuwait? Before he left, he was all supportive of his teammate in the last election. Now he wants her to "come clean". Does this mean he thinks she hadn't done so in that case, despite her "I am sorry" speech? Be careful, Mr. Kabayan, those might be considered seditious words. Since you used to be with media, you could be suspect, too, you know.

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But even VP de Castro must know by now that it is really the Hello Garci event that started all this, and will continue simmering until there is closure. Which means that all the allegations surrounding the Garci conversation and the tapes must be clarified and fully explained and cleared before the public. Otherwise, it will be brought up over and over, ad infinitum, and we won't have peace in the land. Maybe the president will listen to Noli.

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All media yesterday was agog over the mysterious death of former Yugoslavia president Milosevic who was found lifeless in his cell at the United Nations Tribunal in The Hague. Milosevic had been detained because of charges involving war crimes where he is said to have ordered or condoned killings that had even been classified as genocide. Thousands of Bosnians were allegedly killed and 66 counts of such crimes had been filed against him. Imagine, a former president also ending up in jail. But, compared to him, and what he has done, one might say that our deposed and detained Erap is an angel!*

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