Some interesting Pinoy facts and trivia

PB Com Tower, Makati
- 93rd tallest building in the world
- A 55-storey building constructed year 2000, with 88 feet in height
- Prior to its construction, Philam Life Tower in Paseo held the Philippine record. When I started working for PS as an agent, our office was at the 12th and 14th floor!

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
- Ranked 45th in Forbes’ Most Powerful Women in the world

Davao City
- The residents of Davao City claim they live in the world ' s largest city. They are talking about the land size of the city that covers 2,212 square kilometers. Most of these areas, however, are distributed as forests, coconut groves and rice fields. In comparison, New York , the largest city in the United States , has an area of only 787 square kilometers while the whole of Metro Manila covers only 636 square kilometers.

Asian Institute of Management
- The Makati-based Asian Institute of Management (AIM) is richly considered as one of the top business schools in Asia . In the year 2001, it received the Beyond Grey Pinstripes Award for having MBA programs that integrate social, environmental and sustainability topics into business training. The award is a joint project of The Aspen Institute Initiative for Social Innovation through Business (Aspen ISIB) and World Resources Institute.

Pinoy Planetoid
- The minor planet Biyo, which has a diameter of four to nine kilometers and was formerly called planet 13241, was named after Dr. Josette Biyo, a teacher at the Philippine Science High School in Iloilo City who won the International Excellence in Teaching Award during the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) held in Louisville , Kentucky in 2002. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory in the United States game the name.

Henry Sy and Jaime Zobel de Ayala
- Tied at the 349th spot of world’s billionaires according to Forbes.com
Both with $2.6 billion net worth
- Isn’t it obvious that the biggest and most ‘extravagant’ malls in the country are owned by either of them?!

PLDT
- Ranked at the 1,321 spot of the world’s largest public companies
- Sales ($2.37B); Profits ($0.64B); Assets ($4.46B); Market Value ($9.01B)

Josie Natorie
- A Filipino-American fashion designer has been making waves in the New York fashion industry. Josie Natorie, who was born in Manila in 1947, owns and manages Natorie Lingerie. In 2001, she was one of the Asian-American awardees of the nonprofit Asians United to Raise Awareness (AURA) Fund.
- Natorie was already a successful stockbroker and investment banker even before she established her lingerie business. She had served as the head of the Manila branch of Bache Securities and as an executive of the investment banking division of Merrill Lynch.
- I remember when she introduced her perfume line before. I think it didn’t quite make it.

Cebu City
- Oldest Philippine city (earliest European settlement established by Spanish conqueror Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in 1565)
- Calle de Colon (which is also in Cebu ) happens to be the oldest street in the country
It’s like Quiapo and Divisoria! That’s where the good bargains are!
- The oldest fort in the country is Fort San Pedro – construction began in 1565.
I wonder where my pictures of the fort are…
- The University of San Carlos (USC) in Cebu City is considered as the oldest school in the country and in Asia . Formerly known as the Colegio de San Ildefonso, it was founded by the Spanish Jesuits on August 1, 1595. This makes the Cebu-based university older than the University of Santo Tomas (1611) in Manila and Harvard University (1636) in the United States .

Prospero Pichay
- AC Nielsen says Pichay spent a total of P202.746 million in radio and television spots, making him the top ad spender among the senatorial candidates. But experts say his ad campaign was among the worst of the lot, and not only because it failed to land him in the top 12.

Miguel Zubiri
- Of the neophyte senators of 2007, Migz Zubiri, with net worth of Php 43.3M is the wealthiest amongst the newly-elected young senators.
Thanks to wife Audrey Tan who also comes from a rich clan

Antonio Trillanes IV
- The Oakwood mutiny leader – now senator has been considered the poorest among the newcomers in the Senate with P2.2M net worth
- Oh, he happens to have a P60,000 liability – government salary loan before the Oakwood mutiny. I bet the funds went to financing it!

DLSU Tuition Fees
- I remember not so long ago when I had a full load of 21 units in a term in the College of Engineering , my tuition fee was about P 18,000 – P 21,000 per trimester. I just learned that now, it’s just about half of the fees EXCLUDING laboratory, miscellaneous, etc.
I haven’t seen a 2007 EAF but I could imagine one term would cost about 50 grand! Jeez!

*excerpts from Forbes.com, txtmania.com, infoplease.com, gmanews.tv, pinoyvote.info.