Even if this country observes free enterprise to promote the economy, those that strive to earn from their hard-earned investment also need some kind of protection. Such is even more necessary if the one doing business is paying a rather costly franchise fee. This we say because a franchise holder is vulnerable to the possible manipulation and even rigging practice by some unscrupulous and greedy franchisor like what the Jollibee Food Corp. is doing to one of its franchise holders, Prosperity Ventures Corp.
What Jollibee Food Corp., possibly in connivance and with the consent of its president Tony Tan Caktiong, did in granting franchise to Central Manila Food Corp. to allow it to operate and serve the same food products at the Naia I departure area to directly compete with the Prosperity Ventures Corp., the company that first secured a permit to operate a Jollibee outlet at the Naia since 1998. The new franchise holder sells and serves the same food products offered by aggrieved Prosperity Ventures Corp. It believes Jollibee Food Corp. purposely granted franchise to Manila Central Food Corp. to ease it out of business. This is not borne out of ordinary and regular business competition, but a premeditated and malicious act because it appears to be orchestrated by the franchisor to purposely bankrupt the first franchisee until it folds out of business.
Jollibee Food Corp. cannot claim innocence or lack of knowledge that when it granted franchise to Manila Central Food Corp. to operate the same food and service in the area. It should have been guided by due diligence to protect the business that was first granted the franchise, and Prosperity Venture is entitled to that as a right accorded to a franchise holder. It can never raise the defense that Central Manila Food Corp. is different from Prosperity Ventures Corp. on the ground that the franchise granted to it is to operate at the pre-departure area, while Prosperity Ventures is located at the arrival area. Such argument is nonsense because most of the customers are people working at the airport, or those who are welcoming passengers or sending off friends and relatives. They do not choose between the two Jollibee outlets.
If Jollibee Corp. wants to augment its franchise fees, it should have first offered the additional franchise to Prosperity Ventures Corp. based on the right of first refusal to operate an additional outlet. Franchisee Prosperity Ventures is entitled to that, provided the franchise cost remains reasonable. Aside from the complete lack of gratitude on the part of Jollibee Foods Corp. to acknowledge the effort of Prosperity Ventures Corp. in securing a permit to operate an outlet at the Naia, it granted Central Manila Food Corp. a franchise, without its knowledge, which made it to suspect of a collusion between Simon Wong and Jollibee Foods Corp. to maliciously ease out Property Ventures in the area because of reduced customers. This can be gleaned from the fact that there are four other Jollibee outlets at the Naia I, II and III operated by various corporations but suspected to be all owned by Simon Wong.
The anomalous practice by Jollibee Foods Corp. is an indirect way of competing with its own outlet. Unfortunately, this method has opened a can of worms which is bad for our tourism industry and our business practice which amounts to something of a syndicated operation. Aside from competing with Prosperity Venture, Jollibee food service now operates at the pre-departure area of the Naia I under the name of Central Manila Food Corp. Jollibee Food Corp. also granted three more franchise to serve Jollibee products at the Naia II pre-departure area under the name of Pasay Centennial Restaurant Inc., at the arrival area under the name of Canteen Networks Inc., and at the Naia III, pre-departure area, under the name of Laughing Buddha Food Corp.
Aside from the fact, that this Simon Wong is a Singaporean, it is believed that he enjoys the favor of Jollibee Foods Corp. when it granted franchise to three other outlets without much ado, thereby suspecting that Jollibee Food Corp. is operating them directly if it sees the area as both lucrative and one that provides an assured market. In other words, in those areas where the market is lean, not assured or where the risk of losing is a possibility, it is the investment of its franchise holders that is put at risk which is definitely not good to any businessman relying to earn by the convenient way of securing a franchise from Jollibee Foods Corp.
This business arrangement that is being operated in the country’s premier airport terminals does not bode well for many of our local businessmen because right in their own backyard, they are being eased out of business or being denied the opportunity to do business in favor of an alien who is engaged in the subverted practice of monopoly. In fact, several complaints and protests have been lodged against Jollibee Food Corp. by Prosperity Ventures, but all were ignored by Tony Tan Caktiong, president and CEO, and by Rosemarie D. Caalam, vice president, Regional Business Unit of Jollibee Foods Corp. This has now caused Prosperity Ventures to speculate that maybe there is a “close understanding” between Jollibee Foods Corp. and the authorities of the Manila International Airport Authority headed by Jose Honrado.
According columnist Jerry Yap, the Kamag-Anak Inc. is now deeply entrenched, doing a lucrative and cornered business. If the speculation is true, then we could well say that a kind of business syndicate is operating right inside our premier airports. This also explains why the food service and all items being sold by stores inside the terminals are expensive, and the victims are mostly our unwary but poor overseas Filipino workers. This is another instance of how this hypocritical tuwid na daan runs the government in favor of big business.
