Category: Business & Economy
On March 14, 1903, the Manila Electric Railroad and Light Company (MERALCO) was incorporated in the State of New Jersey. The incorporation followed Ordinance No. 44 of the Municipal Board of Manila, which was passed on March 24, 1903, granting Detroit entrepreneur Charles M. Swift a franchise "to operate an electric street railway service and to furnish electric current for light, heat, and power in the city and its suburbs …" Thus began a saga of service – moving people in tranvias and autobuses for over four decades and providing electric power for ten decades.
With a total upstream and downstream investment portfolio of around US$4.5 billion, the Malampaya Deep Water Gas to Power project is the largest investment to date in the country. The gas reservoir, situated some 80 kilometres offshore northwest Palawan, is about 3,000 metres below sea level, making the project one of the frontier deep water developments in the world.
In the pre-Spanish era, Makati was ruled by Lakan Tagkan. lt was predominated by swamps and cogon grass overlooking the banks of Pasig River. Don Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, first Governor-General of the Philippines spotted the area. When Legaspi asked the name of the place, the natives misinterpreted his query because of language barrier. They pointed to the receding tide of the Pasig River and answered, “Makati na, kumakati na” meaning ebbing tide.
Don Eugenio H. Lopez was born on July 20, 1901 in Jaro, lloilo to Benito and Presentacion Hofilena. After graduating with an AB cum laude from the Ateneo de Manila in 1919, Don Eugenio went on to Law studies at the University of the Philippines, graduating in 1923. He passed the bar exams in 1928 and underwent a year of post-graduate studies in law at Harvard. But Don Eugenio spent only three years in law practice. instead, in 1928, he decided to embark on twin careers as a pioneering businessman and a crusading newspaper publisher.
The Embocadero at the Pasig River during the 19th Century and the Modern Facilities of the Country’s Ports – This stamp will encapsulate the past and future role of trade, especially with other countries, in the development of the Philippines. The Patio of the Old University of Santo Tomas and the Thomasites – This stamp will reflect the undeniable significance that education and training played in moulding the minds of the Filipino people towards self-improvement to cope with increasingly challenging conditions.
Seeing the need to revitalize and help build the country's economy shortly after the second world war, Go Kim Pah established Equitable Banking Corporation in 1950. Its first headquarters rose in Binondo, Manila where trade and business were starting to flourish. Equitable Bank was the first commercial bank licensed by the newly created Central Bank of the Philippines.The bank grew steadily, establishing its first branch in Divisoria, and the second soon after in Cebu. In 1963, it became the first Filipino bank to establish a foreign branch in the Crown Colony (Honqkonq).
GMA Network, Inc. (formerly Republic Broadcasting System) began radio operations on March 1, 1950 and TV operations on October 29, 1961. From one radio station in 1950 and one TV station in 1960 in Manila, GMA will operate by the end of 1999 a total of 54 VHF TV stations, 30 UHF TV stations, and 63 AM radio and FM radio stations all over the country.
Recent Comments