When the Associated Press (AP) reported on the conflict of interest hobbling Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas for championing liquefied natural gas (LNG) and pushing to make his province the hub of LNG terminals and power-generating plants while his companies owned properties that have been bought or leased by these terminals and power plants, it was incumbent upon him to justify how these deals did not run afoul of ethics rules.
Known to be religious and a member of the Opus Dei, Mandanas could only mutter that some subsidiaries of his Abacus Consolidated Resources and Holdings, Inc., now known as AbaCore Capital Holdings (ABA) might have sold or leased land to those terminals or power plants. ABA is a big landowner in Batangas. Mandanas has a 30% in the company, from which he stepped down as CEO in 2016 and his wife, the late Regina Ongsiako Reyes, took over.
Mandanas had staunchly promoted LNG projects in Batangas and ABA also launched its own LNG project, contrary to his claim that his company does not have any involvement in energy projects in the province. ABA owns the largest share in a real estate firm that soared in value as energy companies moved in. The ABA affiliate, along with three Chinese firms, agreed to build the complex, which includes a power plant, in the fishing village of Simlong, Batangas City. Aboitiz Power Corp., Meralco Power Gen Corp., and San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp. also joined hands to launch the Philippines’ first integrated LNG facility in Batangas, valued at $3.3 billion.
AP also claimed that Regina Reyes told ABA shareholders in 2019 that the policies pursued by Mandanas would boost ABA’s business. Mandanas and the late Bataan Gov. Enrique “Tet” Garcia also fought to raise the internal revenue share of local government units (LGUs) and won their case before the Supreme Court (SC), thus increasing LGU funds to finance local projects starting in 2022. Mandanas was Batangas governor from 1995 to 2004 and was elected again to the same post in 2016, his term limited to 2025. meaning that he will have to seek another position next year. He also served as Batangas representatives fort for the second district from 2004 to 2013.
The Batangas governor started his career at Carlos J. Valdes & Co., served as executive assistant to the president of the defunct Far East Bank and Trust Co. (FEBTC) and became president of Fereit Realty Development Corp. in 1972, when he was just 28. He also served as director for Alpa Asia Hotels & Resorts, Inc., United States Capital Corp., Philippines-China Development Corp., Oriental Pacific Equities (Hong Kong), Manila Taiwan Development Corp., Apex Mining and Exploration and Rural Bank of Batangas. From 1987 to 1995, he was chairperson and president of the following corporations: Omnivest; Hedge Issues Management; Abacus Consolidated Holdings; Suricon Resources Corp., and; HIM Management Corp.
Yet, he earned his spurs in property development when he was appointed as the first general manager of the now-defunct Human Settlements Development Corp. in 1978. He admitted that the late Betty Bantug Benitez, wife of Jolly Benitez, was responsible for his recruitment. Mandanas has profited from holding on ABA properties in Batangas. San Miguel Corp., one of the country’s biggest power providers, affirmed in an email to the AP that its LNG projects there “led to a substantial increase in local property values.” They rose more than 13-fold, it said. Mandanas was in Beijing during a deal signing in 2019 that involved an ABA subsidiary in which he now holds at least 30% stake.
The ABA affiliate and three Chinese firms agreed to build a $3 billion LNG complex, including a power plant, in the fishing village of Simlong in Batangas. Official documents showed that in December 2018, four properties including the land in Simlong, where the power hub will be built, were valued at $6.2 million. Shortly after that deal was struck, they were revalued at more than $30.6 million. Bulk of ABA’s income has come from land revaluations in recent years, AP noted. Gerry Arances, who heads the Center for Energy, Ecology and Development (CEED), a nonprofit, said natural gas was not the path the country should have chosen. “There’s only one reason” it became the Philippines’ energy priority. “That is greed and self-interest.”
Well, wealth can’t save you from death. Life, as the late investor Charlie Munger said, “is more than being shrewd in wealth accumulation. As a wealthy US businessman who gave away his money told his colleagues: A death robe doesn’t have pockets. Just as you came into the world naked, then shall you be naked when you leave. But then, as one astute observer noted, bureaucrat capitalists are deaf to the doctrines of their faith. “Parang imbudo, hindi napupuno.” Ethics has little meaning when the chance to acquire wealth presents itself, even during Opus Dei meetings and in the face of the parlous destiny of one’s constituents.
