J. Manuel González

Principal Shareholder

Plantation Prime (food products) | Philippines

Founded this artisanal-quality food canning company, specializing in almost-ready-to-eat Filipino and international dishes that would otherwise require lengthy preparation time at home. Initial products are Beef Shank Kare-Kare (a peanut-flavored beef stew with some similarities to osso bucco), Bicol Express (coconut-flavored, heavily-spiced pork), Chile con Carne (far superior to all the commonly-available brands in North America), and Tita Bok's All-Beef All-Purpose Pasta Sauce (long-simmered Bolognese-style). Now distributed through major supermarkets, online, in Australia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai.

Personal Interests & Ventures

Writing a parenting/life re-boot book, Archetypal Story-Telling: The Missing Element in Positive Psychology, and a collection of humorous travelogues, Europe for Fat Cats Droll Thoughts for the Well-Traveled.

Now hold eight US patents related to solar panels, host websites, and spam email/inappropriate online behavior: 4,484,566; 7,558,807; 7,647,339; 7,873,665; 8,065,333; 8,296,325; 10,303,889; and 10,936,733.

Conceptualizing a model urban center, a "seed city" which embodies simple-to-adopt green strategies (location undisclosed for now). Design and construction of a shopping mall which employs energy-saving techniques based on passive solar and prevailing-wind considerations (Mactan).

Principal Shareholder

Plantation Bay, a Real Resort with a Real Spa (www.plantationbay.com) | Philippines

Designed from scratch, acted as general contractor for, opened, and currently oversee the operations of this 5-Star resort with 280 rooms. Also performed assorted odd functions like writing collaterals, giving seminars to staff, performing handwriting analysis for guest amusement, and developing recipes. Plantation Bay is an innovative and highly successful resort. In most years it outperforms (relative to size) all other hotels in the country, including Shangri-La Mactan, the Shangri-La group's most profitable single property in the world.

Director, Investment Banking

AIA Capital Ltd. | Hong Kong

Devised a "synthetic swap" mechanism to make use of AIG's blocked funds in Southeast Asia, earning US$ multi-million transaction profits with no risk and no overhead.

Personal Business Interests

Philippines

Organized a real-estate holding company in Cebu and constructed a moderate-size office and shopping complex; invested in and helped resolve management problems in a consumer-finance company in Manila. Acquired real estate in Cebu, including the land that would eventually become Plantation Bay.

Executive Director, Corporate Finance

Sun Hung Kai Securities Ltd | Hong Kong

Prepared prospectuses and performed due diligence for IPOs. Helped start up SHK's brokerage operation in the Philippines.

Senior Investment Officer

International Finance Corporation - World Bank | Washington, DC

Private-sector project finance. Handled transactions in Mexico and the Caribbean, in the basic-industry, mining, and tourism sectors. Advised Government of Colombia on development-finance policies, Government of Haiti on sugar industry. Advised financial institutions in Colombia and Jamaica on portfolio management.

Uncovered major discrepancies in the portfolio valuation of ADELA, a $2.5 Billion investment company owned by approximately 250 of the world's then leading commercial banks, investment banks, and industrial corporations. Was seconded to the company for an extended period to advise in its orderly winding-down. This case was reported in Euromoney and the Wall Street Journal.

Performed original conceptual work on hybrid financial instruments. Was one of the first officers to recommend and suggest a specific structure for the extensive use of guarantees, especially asymmetrical guarantees.

Assistant Manager

Bank of America | San Francisco, London, Paris

Trained in San Francisco. As Credit Administrator in London, reviewed corporate and sovereign credit proposals. Participated in the bank's early efforts at evaluating country and currency risk. As Account Executive in Paris, interacted with US corporations and high-net-worth individuals doing business in France.

Crazy Wild Ideas - Out-of-the-Box Solutions for Fixing the Philippines, 2019.

A full-length book on Philippine history, politics, and society, proposing sweeping changes in Philippine national symbols, such as the flag, food, sports, holidays, a national motto. Available on Amazon Kindle.

"The Arithmetic Behind and Beyond the Proposed Manila Subway", 2019.

Simple calculations and comparisons with other subway systems show the proposed subway design to be grossly inadequate, almost certainly counter-productive (worsening rather than relieving traffic), and an indefensible waste of public resources.

"Solving the US Health Care Fiasco", 2019.

The problem is wrongly formulated as How to Pay High Costs. It would be more amenable to solution if we asked How to Reduce the Costs.

"Official National Dishes An Off-the-Wall Idea for National Change", 2018.

An essay proposing the proclamation and promotion of a set of three specific national dishes, as a way of helping build civic pride through Filipino food.

"Bitcoins: The Emperor Has No Clothes", 2018.

Op-ed discussing why cryptocurrencies do not qualify as money, and why they have a doubtful future even as speculations.

"Catalunya Independence Crisis Explained", 2017.

Series of four guest editorials in the Philippine Star synthesizing the issues and predicting, with considerable accuracy, the ultimate courses of action by the various parties.

"Call a Country a Company..." (Euromoney), February 1983.

Following the round of Latin American crises in the early 1980s, this seminal article proposed an alternative approach to country financial reporting and the evaluation of country credit risk.

"The Witch Doctors of Washington", Philippine Star, January and March 1998.

Pointed out the pitfalls of IMF tight-money policies. May have helped moderate the response of Philippine authorities to the IMF in the wake of the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997.

"The Unfriendly Philippine Skies" (Asian Wall Street Journal), May 19, 1999.

Widely-read and highly influential guest editorial which espoused more liberal civil aviation policies in the interests of both tourism and the overall economy.

"Roots of the Next Asian Crisis", The Philippine Star, November 1999.

Argued that post-Crisis economic policies in Asia were shoring up banks at the expense of the entrepreneurial sector.

"A Visit to Christie's, and a Glimpse of the US$ 450 Million Da Vinci", 2017.

On-the-spot reporting as part-time foreign correspondent.

Seasons Lost, Memories Found, 1988.

Booklet of sentimental and occasionally erotic poems ("... Your breathlessness at dusk returns / to restless seas we calmed / by sands our summer warmed..."). ISBN 971-8573-00-3.

"A Financial History of the World"

The Manila Bulletin, 1987, reprinted in the Philippine Military Academy Sword, 1988. Light-hearted series of articles on financial milestones, for the general public.

"Sex and Status"

The Philippine Star, 1994-5. Humor. Series of 20 satires on contemporary Philippine values ("... What accounts for the enduring popularity of golf? What aberrant desires, what secret perversions, what neurotic anxieties, lurk beneath its innocent exterior?")

The Many Moods of Plantation Bay, 2008.

The resort's first coffee-table book. Publisher, writer.

Tales of Plantation Bay, 2016.

Second coffee-table book to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the resort; recounts little-known facts and anecdotes about the origins and evolution of the resort and the people connected with it. Publisher, writer.

Continuing Series of Humorous, highly-personal Travelogues

In the Philippine Star: Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Istanbul, Athens, Seville, Granada, Barcelona, Marseille, the French Riviera, Rome, Barcelona, Bordeaux, Switzerland, and others.

"[This 1878 painting has a Story:] Rolla, by the window... is about to commit suicide. Marion [depicted stark naked on the bed] is not about to commit suicide. In fact, Marion looks pretty darn satisfied with life. Conclusion: Rolla is an idiot." See https://plantationbay.com/Cred