If you had a free hand, what pressing reforms would you like to implement in the Philippine Stock Exchange?

FELIPE YAP: They have already been implemented. Transparency and all the things that have been discussed. All these have been done already.

But the Market is still in the doldrums.

FELIPE: Definitely. But this has nothing to do anymore with the structure of the Philippine economy or the Exchange per se. It has to do with outside forces. I think it's the companies themselves - some are strong and sound, while some are weak. They've changed already and it's become obvious which are the companies that belong and can perform. An issue like Ayala should not go that low. But it went down because of the political climate. But those that are in really deep trouble cannot go lower than they already have. Here, it has nothing to do with the political situation. With Yapster e-Conglomerate, you're on the crest of what is essentially a pioneer industry. There's a relatively low number of PC users here in the Philippines. So what are the prospects for success?

FELIPE: We went into it because we thought this is the new economy. I believe that to succeed in this environment today, the old economy must now go side by side with the new. You can't have only one or the other one only. They must go side by side. The new economy will bring new products to the market much closer, cheaper and earlier, faster. The old economy can deliver but it's slower. However, without the old economy, you cannot provide. You might have a good deliver system, but what if you have no products to sell? So that was when I decided that even if I were to be successful with the old economy, I needed the new economy to become more successful and to become globally competitive. To do that, I decided that it has to be the children. When I was younger, I thought I was better than the people who were making a lot of money then, because I belonged to the new economy and they belonged to the old economy. I think it was better for me to realize this than have my children develop this feeling before me. Unfortunately I realized this before my parents did.

On-line trading is the particular sphere of responsibility of Christine.

How responsive has the buying public been to e-trade?

CHRISTINE YAP: Ever since we launched it, it's been a struggle.