THEY came, they saw and they conquered 700 litres of beer, 900 litres of soft drinks and 7,000 packets of crisps.
But the one thing the 750 shareholders at the San Miguel annual general meeting conspicuously failed to do was listen.
Valiantly, San Miguel chiefs spoke of beer becoming less affordable - not a problem when it is free - and of sales targets not being met.
San Miguel Brewery chairman Andres Soriano attempted to scare the crowds into taking an interest by alerting them to the impact of the increased duties announced in this month's Budget.
Financial Secretary Hamish Macleod's proposal to lift duty on beer by 9.5 per cent in line with inflation would harm both beer drinkers and the brewery, he said.
''This is the third consecutive year that beer tax has been increased.
