Who is Archie Po?

Editor’s Note: This story was first published by Newsbreak on August 2, 2011. It becomes relevant again in the light of revelations by presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte that in his sorties he uses the private jets and helicopters of Lionair Inc owned by an old friend, Archibald Po. 

MANILA, Philippines – An excellent pilot and a self-made businessman, Archibald “Archie” Po has diversified his businesses beyond helicopters. He now owns two boutique hotels and a Singapore-based company that operates air ambulances.

The 56-year-old Po is scheduled to testify at the Senate on Tuesday, August 2, 2011, in connection with allegations that Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, husband of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, had bought two helicopters from him in 2004, two of which Mr. Arroyo sold as brand new to the Philippine National Police in 2009.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada has told reporters that Po has confirmed his attendance in Tuesday’s hearing. On Monday, Aug. 1, 2011, the Inquirer broke the story about an unidentified businessman as the witness against Mr. Mike Arroyo in the helicopter deal. The Inquirer said the businessman had already submitted his documents to Estrada.

(Po’s lawyer happens to be Noel Malaya, who was designated by the Sandiganbayan to defend Estrada when the latter’s lawyers walked out of what they claimed to be biased proceedings. Malaya is also the lawyer of former military budget officer-turned whistleblower George Rabusa.)

In his affidavit, a copy of which was obtained by Newsbreak, Po claimed that Mr. Arroyo bought five helicopters from him in 2004 but asked him to register these under Asian Spirit, a company that Po then owned. In 2009, two of the helicopters were sold along with a brand new Robinson R44 Raven II to the PNP for the price of brand-new units, or a total of P105 million.

Owner of Lionair Inc, Po is well-known in the aviation industry and has a colorful history – though his looks don’t show it. He is said to be a man with simple tastes, often preferring to wear rugged pants and white shirt.

He is one of the sons of the late Joaquin Po Sr, founder of Popular Bookstore and a staunch anti-Marcos businessman. Founded in 1945 in Manila, the bookstore chain sold – and continues to sell – rare books on politics, communism and revolutions. In a published interview, Dina Po, a sister of Archie and member of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines, said that their father “envisioned Popular Bookstore to be a hub of progressive ideas and a promoter of nationalist consciousness among Filipinos.”

Archie Po’s interests went beyond books, however. Newsbreak interviewed two people who have known him since the 1980s. And this is what they know about him.

Yabut & Enrile

During the Marcos years, Archie Po served as the pilot of the late Nemesio Yabut, the longtime mayor of Makati. After this, he went to Malaysia to take a lucrative but difficult job: as a pilot of a plane that watered and sprayed pesticides in huge plantations.

He returned with enough savings to be able to buy one of Yabut’s helicopters, which Po then rented out. His helicopter-renting business soon became, by 1983, the country’s biggest helicopter fleet called Airspan (Airspan Corp) He managed to sell the fleet before the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

In the latter part of the Marcos years, Po got acquainted with then defense minister and now Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile through the senator’s son, Jack, now a representative of Cagayan. The senator reportedly utilized Po’s fleet in various times.

Records from the House of Representatives show that the younger Enrile was a vice president, as of 2001, of Airspan. Reports said the Enriles bought Airspan from Po.

In 1996, Po organized a small airline company, Asian Spirit, with friends Antonio Turralba and Noel Oñate.

Oñate is a known funder of Lakas-NUCD and brother of the former wife of Gabby Claudio, the Arroyo administration’s adviser and presidential and political affairs, according to our Lakas-NUCD sources. In the 2010 presidential election, Oñate declared to have donated P100 million to Lakas.

Po also played the part. In 2002, when then Transportation and Communication Secretary Pantaleon Alvarez was facing rough sailing at the Commission on Appointments, Po, speaking for Asian Spirit, issued a statement vouching for the Secretary. Alvarez was closely associated with Mike Arroyo.

Six years later, in 2008, Po and his partners sold Asian Spirit to Zest Airways. He is said to be a director of Zest.

Today, Po not only sells and rents out helicopters. He also runs two boutique hotels – one in Puerto Princesa City (Hotel Fleuris) and another in Boracay (Hotel Soffia).

He has set up an ambulance service in Singapore, which transports patients from Nepal and India to world-class hospitals in the city-state.

“I think the Philippines has no way to go except tourism. That is what will save our economy, not manufacturing, which is already the stronghold of China,” Po said in a published interview. – Rappler.com