IT looks like there is no stopping importer-turned-retailer Lucio Co from his aggressive mall expansion.

Co has leapfrogged from his Pampanga and Metro Manila base right into the heart of Ilocoslovakia, where, according to the grapevine, his Bellagio Holdings has secured approval to demolish the 1920s-era Laoag Central Elementary School and build a Puregold mall on the property despite opposition from conservation advocates.

A usufruct donation by the Catholic Church to the US-era Laoag City government, both Bishop Sergio Utleg and Mayor Michael Fari?as have jointly taken possession of the 1.3-hectare campus and agreed to share in the lease payments as condition for its redevelopment.

According to the grapevine, Co will lease the campus for 25 years, with 75 percent of the undisclosed rental fees going to the Church and the balance of 25 percent to the city government.

As sweetener, Co has also agreed to build and donate a new, bigger school campus a kilometer away, at the outskirts of the capital town.

Accra?s Frankahan

An ex-Accra lawyer has raised a legal question that should bring up the profile of the pre-electioneering ?Frankahan? TV debates of Franklin Drilon and his Accra law firm.

Ernesto Francisco, now counsel of Senator Jamby Madrigal, has written the Judicial and Bar Council to oppose the nomination of Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Diosdado Peralta to the highest tribunal, claiming that when Francisco was still an Accra litigator, Peralta, then a fiscal of Manila, was already ?offering his services to fix cases.?

Equally jaw-dropping was the claim of Francisco that Accra and Peralta had such close ties that the prospective Supreme Court justice had ?helped? the law firm in a number of cases.

Francisco said he had initially opposed Peralta?s appointment as Sandigan justice in 2005 but the latter withdrew his opposition because the anti-graft court was a ?collegial body where [Peralta] could not do so much harm.?

Money-go-round

? Tumbok, one of the two Tagalog tabloids acquired by the Inquirer from Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng, is nearing the end of its rope.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer owners have already alerted newspaper dealers that the daily tabloid (referring to Tumbok, not the Inquirer) was shifting to a weekly starting this week, but, if the grapevine is to be believed, the shift is only good for a couple of weeks before Tumbok finally folds up.

? First, SEC Commissioner Jesus Martinez called to object to his being mistaken as Philcomsat fund manager Philip Brodett in a front page photo that appeared on the Jan. 7 issue.

Now, Philcomsat Holdings chairman Katrina Ponce Enrile wrote to protest the description of Brodett as ?Philcomsat fund manager.?

Maintaining that Brodett is no longer connected with the Philcomsat Group, Ponce Enrile said that ?between P400 million and P600 million went missing from the company coffers during the time that Mr. Philip G. Brodett and his group, Enrique Locsin, Concepcion Poblador, Benito Araneta, Luis Lokin, Alma Kristina Alobba, Kristine Joy Diaz and Johnny Tan were in control of Philcomsat Holdings Corp.?

?Bank records left by Brodett in Philcomsat?s Pacific Star offices show that these funds ended up in their personal accounts and/or made available for their personal use,? Ponce Enrile said.

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