Luna's Crown affair

Juan Luna - Self portrait http://www.lopezmuseum.org.ph/

IF YOU WATCHED THE MOVIE “The Thomas Crown Affair” which starred Pierce Brosnan a.k.a. Remington Steele, then you must remember that his role as Mr. Thomas Crown showed him as a billionaire who, for want only of an adrenalin rush – not for money, conducted a foolproof game plan to steal an expensive painting from a museum.

If you’ve been keeping watch of what’s happening here at home in the Philippines, I’m pretty sure that aside from knowing that the Ateneo Blue Eagles bagged this year’s UAAP title in basketball, you must have known that GSIS President Wilson Garcia recently purchased Juan Luna’s “Parisian Life” from an auction of Christie’s in Hong Kong. It fetched a hefty P46 million, being no less than a crown jewel of Luna – the national painter of the Philippines.

The GSIS prexy must have thought he was some kind of a Mr. Crown with billions worth of assets, batting as the highest bidder for Juan Luna’s painting in Hong Kong. The only difference is that Thomas Crown represented his own wealth. On the other hand, Mr. Garcia is only the president of the GSIS, the existence and assets of which is made possible by the continuing contributions of the GSIS members, no less than majority of the Filipino people themselves.

The prexy battles criticisms by defending that the funds used to purchase the painting came from the income of GSIS’ insurance company, not from the members’ contributions. It’s like saying a person’s fingers can do something in its own volition without a person’s brain having anything to do with it at all.

Fund managers of huge banks don’t even get into a painting auction in order to build up the funds for their clients. As a matter of prudence, fund managers normally position their clients’ money into different money market instruments mixed to answer short and long-term financial requirements. The purchase of paintings is left to the whims of the wealthy clients themselves because after all, the psychology of buying a painting goes beyond buying it as a piece of investment.

I presume that wealthy people who are into this “thing” – auctions for the rare pieces of famous people, be it Juan Luna’s painting or Lady Diana’s dress – are driven by the ecstatic feeling of power, that of being the highest bidder to a very expensive item, and having that item found in one’s house to be beamed at by guests or to be appreciated by the owner himself. The appreciation of a rarity’s market value comes in as a secondary thought or else, one could have just invested in blue-chip stocks for trading gains. The adrenalin rush from casting a price on something until nobody else can afford it other than your wager, should be overwhelming as people strain their necks to find out who won the bid, like who’s the big fish. Until they find out that the bid was won by GSIS. Who or what is that?

Well, the president who represented all the members of the GSIS must have felt he was as wealthy as Thomas Crown himself.

When the rest of the corporate jungle is trying to act prudently amidst tough times, there is this one corporate leader who takes income from the corporation he represents to a rich man’s auction. And in which wall does Luna’s crown jewel now hangs, I really do not know. And whether Mr. GSIS President’s investment idea was a bright one, you be the judge. *

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Renzi is a graduate of Economics with a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of St. La Salle. While working full-time in the Trust & Investments Division of one of the 10 largest banks in the Philippines, she dabbles into writing and does mountain biking as her weekend hobby. You may email the author at renzijuarez@philippinestoday.net.