10th Anniversary Special BusinessMirror
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BRING OUT THE CHAMPAGNE
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HE BM’s grand anniversary night was one for the books. There was hardly a need to look back to where the country’s leading business daily all began, as a bore would have it. It was straight from the hip, a celebration befitting a hip happening place that is the House Manila at Remington Hotel frequented by equally hip cult mob of people.
The night was all for the good times (really, Sandra, let history tell its own story) and all inclined going onward, perhaps toward the next 10 years, perhaps forever and ever amen. BusinessMirror Publisher T. Anthony Cabangon said best things have yet to come, one being the maverick business daily’s up-andcoming-up-up-and-away partnership with the New York Times, on a biggie commemorative (a coffee-table book? No, please!) that is the Turning Points. Published in over 40 countries, Turning Points is the original year-ahead licensed glossy featuring exclusives on global figures. The maiden Philippine issue of Turning Points will take on the political, cultural and economic movers, who look at trends and new ideas in the Philippines and from around the world to identify key, well, “turning points”
and how they underlie the year ahead. The second announcement hovered on the maverick innovations in all these areas, The Millennials and The Broader Look for instance, the newspaper’s newly integrated sections—an unprecedented take on the good read and a brilliant deviation from the otherwise bland and the boring. Take the BusinessMirror’s Millennial anniversary theme “When I was 25,” which was not just a success, but a phenomenon; it was not just read and enjoyed in the comforts of who knows where, it was celebrated. The BusinessMirror’s discussions with the who’s who in today’s business—government and foreign guests have also evolved to become the so-called BM Coffee Club, gathering over a little coffee tête-à-tête, and making light and making sense of all the news of the day.
TWO CARS GIVEN AWAY AT THE BUSINESSMIRROR 10.0 PARTY Lucky raffle winners Aleah Alani of Oakwood (fourth from left) and Sally Lacanilao of OMD (third from right) receive
the keys of their brand-new Toyota Wigo small sedans, immediately after the BUSINESSMIRROR’S 10th anniversary party held at the House Manila in Remington Hotel on Tuesday night, from the BUSINESSMIRROR officials (from left) Aldwin Tolosa, manager for Advertising Sales; Frederick Alegre, vice president for Corporate Affairs; Adebelo Gasmin, vice president for Finance; T. Anthony C. Cabangon, publisher; and Marvin Estigoy, vice president for Advertising Sales. ROY DOMINGO
And now that we’re 10 and have ever matured for all these years through the wringer of business, economics, politics and lifestyle, there’s no more slant in just talking about news, but, as Cabangon puts it, “we
will help create news.” How does the daily intend to do that? Apart from the BusinessMirror’s multiangular swipes at issues and constant egging to think younger, Cabangon announced the
BusinessMirror’s newest corporate social responsibility project in support of the country’s over just a million owners of small businesses. These budding entrepreneurs never run out of ingenious ideas, but funding and want of retail space for them have always been a challenge. The country’s business reporter has dished out concept BM Pop-up Store to give these businesses a chance to score a monthlong contracts for actual retail spaces in a mall or wherever all consumers congregate. These businesses will also be iconed in the newspaper, vis-à-vis promotional, and will receive constructive feedback from the BusinessMirror’s pool of experts to further help them. And because it’s a good time, the BusinessMirror’s top 10 outstanding dealers from January to June 2015 were recognized and each given a Rolex watch, and, what do you know, two really lucky souls at the House went home drunk in a brand spanking getaway Toyota Wigo. Can they beat that, they said. But they woke up the next day on a hang, but otherwise on a brand-new car. Indeed, the best has yet to come and there would be more reasons to bring out the champagne. The night, after all, was young and 10 years old.
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10th Anniversary Special BusinessMirror
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When I Was 25
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Thursday, October 29, 2015 F1
FROM STRUGGLING CPA TO COMPANY NY OWNER ALAS
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HE eldest of eight children of a tenant-farmer in a remote barangay in Nueva Ecija, Donnies T. Alas made a difficult choice at a young age when he decided to come to Manila to fulfill a dream for a better life. Armed with just “a prayer for strength, courage, direction and protection,” Alas got his prayers answered. He realized his dream by the grace of God, and, after 25 years, his perseverance paid a handsome dividend: He was able to establish his own company—the Alas Oplas & Co., CPAs. But that is putting the cart ahead of the horse. The young Alas struggled to finish his college education. After graduating with the highest honors in an elementary school in his hometown, he landed at the then-gangland of Pritil, Tondo, to pursue high school. Then he transferred to the red-light district of Malate, Manila, to be near the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM), where he earned a full scholarship for a five-year course. “During those times, I need only to have free meals, and I practically begged for used clothes, slippers or shoes that I need for school. I had no complaints, given the fact that I came from a handto-mouth family,” Alas recalled. He finished his Bachelor of Business Economics major in Accountancy, and he is most thankful that PLM has “molded us, students, well along the path of ethical standards known today for transparency, good governance, integrity in all aspects of business engagements and regulatory compliances.” Later, Alas took his Master’s in Business Administration at the Ateneo de Manila University. Alas valued the opportunities he got to work, and hone his expertise with two leading accounting firms for seven years. “When I joined the firm, I was already aiming to become a business partner. I want to put into my hands the shaping of my own fate. So I took the wheel of professional practice for the next 10 years, which eventually gave me good lessons on perseverance, constancy, dedication that led me to my goals,” he said. Alas recounted his experiences as CPA greenhorn: “Practically, all
my accounts were not desirable accounts. They belong to the small and medium, struggling companies that are short in finances or have poor financial records and poorer regulatory compliances. They all expected me to work hours upon hours to straighten their records and finances for them to overcome the hurdles of government reporting compliances.” “Nevertheless, I was passionate and happy to serve them, even to the point of sacrificing my family’s financial welfare back then.” Alas is happy to note that most of these companies are well known today, and are still with him for specialized ser vices. By staying loyal to his business partners, he also got opportunities to travel abroad with them to attend international training and seminars and be exposed to global practices, and learn in the process how to handle foreign and multinational companies. “I really value all these opportunities, which in the beginning seemed to be just sources of problems and complexities. All I did was to look for the positive side and the significance of each situation, thinking there would always be something to learn. Now I can say again and again, all have become good opportunities and nothing is without value. Truly, it is within us to turn any situation into gold,” Alas said. Thus, Alas Oplas & Co., CPAs was established in 1990, “after over 25 years of learning the ups and downs of the business, and inspite of the miscalculations and missteps in decision-making.” Over the years, the firm has become one of the leading assurance
and consultancy companies for the midtier market. “As we have been in the professional service for more than two decades, our accumulated experiences have given us expertise and helped us develop approaches tailor-fit to what our clients need,” Alas beamed with pride. In 2011 Alas unveiled yet another business venture—Alas Oplas Alliance Firm—a multifaceted group of companies committed to delivering and exceeding service expectations in the fields of audit and assurance, tax advisory, accounting, internal audit and risk management, and consulting, leading a team of experts and professionals in the business services industry. Today Alas Oplas & Co., CPAs is an independent member of BKR International. Ranked in the top 5 of accounting associations, BKR International’s global accountants and advisors help businesses and entrepreneurs around the world. BKR International represents the combined strength of more than 160 independent accounting and business advisory firms in over 500 offices and 80 countries. BKR member-firms are committed to delivering superior client service throughout the world. For all his accomplishments and the 25th anniversary of his company, Alas said his “life story will not be complete if I will not mention my dedication and love to Rotary service.” Having been a faithful member for 35 years of the Rotary Club of Makati North, R.I. District 3830, Alas served as club president in 2003 and 2004. He also served at the district level as assistant governor twice and as district treasurer twice; and is still active attending weekly Rotary meetings. Alas is also grateful for being elected as 2014 president of the Association of CPA in Public Practice (ACPAPP), a group with almost 1,000 individual and institutional members all over the Philippines. “I am also proud to have served as president of the ACPAPP Foundation Inc. for 2015 and raised the required funds for the ongoing project of construction of training facilities for the CPAs and its scholarship program. A dedicated leader with an unwavering thirst for excellence and education, Alas still participates in numerous conventions, conferences, seminars, trainings and special studies both in the Philippines and abroad. He is also a sought-after guest speaker and lecturer. Aside from his remarkable credentials in the field and his participation in several professional and sociocivic organizations, he is
widely known for his generosity and deep religiosity—attesting to how a versatile and well-balanced man he has always been. Despite his busy schedule, he finds time to relax through his other passion—golf.
When I Was 25
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P.A.L.’S BAUTISTA FULFILLS A VISION
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that’s one of the reasons I can’t say no to Mr. Tan when he asked me to be reinstated as president of PAL,” Bautista said.
HE halls of Colegio de San Juan de Letran were witnesses to how a terror professor once prophesied Jaime J. Bautista’s ascension to presidency of a company, adding fuel to his hope of being—at the very most—a firm’s vice president for finance.
Jimmy, as he is known in the airline industry, was not much of a career-driven person, when he was 25. His only goal back then is to settle with a family and enjoy what life has to offer. He never really imagined of leading a company, much more the flag carrier of the country. The vision was only casted to him by his professor in Finance 101. He was then taking up accountancy at Letran, when a professor once mentioned to him that he can be a manager if Bautista passes his subject. “He was a terror professor who once told me ‘You can be a manager in five years if you pass my subject. But when the grades came out, I got a 95 for his subject, which was above the average grade of 85,” he recalled.
“Then he told me: ‘You exceeded my expectation, you can be a president of a company in the future.’” The professor who said this to Bautista, however, did not live to see his prophecy come to fruition. “His name is Nick Limjoco. I can never forget his name,” he said. “The highest position that an accountant like me can attain, according to my other professors, is to be a vice president for finance. It was fine by me back then.” Today, Bautista sits as the president and COO of Philippine Airlines (PAL), the first commercial carrier in Asia. He just celebrated his first comeback anniversary as the aviation company’s chief honcho this month.
Family first
The 58-year-old executive was personally asked by no less than Lucio C. Tan to return to the flag carrier after the exit of San Miguel Corp. in the company. The diversified conglomerate divested its 49-percent shareholding in October 2014, leaving the presidential post open for Bautista to take.
Love at first sight
BEFORE joining El Kapitan in his quest for success in business, Bautista joined Sycip Gorres Velayo & Co. (SGV), the largest multidisciplinary professional services company in the Philippines, as an accountant. “I joined SGV & Co. when I was 20 years old, right after taking the board for certified public accountants. I got involved in auditing mining companies, logging companies, manufacturing service companies, among others,” he said. Bautista, at that time, looked up to the renowned auditor Washington C. Sycip, who, he describes as a jack of all trades. “When I was in my 20s, my idol was Washington Sycip, because I saw how he handled his profession. He is one of the best accountants there is, and I told myself I want to be like him someday. Mr. Sycip is a jack of all trades, which I think, is an important qualification of a leader of a good company,” he said. At Sycip’s company, he met his wife, Joji, who—as cliché as it may sound—he immediately thought of to be his future wife. “She was my classmate in training. I got attracted to her even before our training, when I saw her in a van. Then one time, we were in the stockroom, as newbies, we need to line up to get our supply papers. I was ahead of her in the queue, so, I let her take the go first, so I would see on the paper what her name is,” Bautista recalled, chuckling. Then he told himself: “She’s a fine woman. Maybe she’ll be my wife some day.” Joji, a Cavitena, did become his wife, and they were married at the time when Bautista, who hailed from Nueva Ecija, was 25, two years before he left the accounting firm. “We lost communication when I left SGV, and when I joined the Lucio Tan Group, I saw her one time, and we greeted each other. I was able to get her telephone number, and I frequently called her. She became my girlfriend for two-and-a-half years, then we decided to get married. I was 25, and she was 24,” he said, with eyes gleaming, as if they were crystals. They exchanged their vows on January 9, 1982, at the San Agustin Church in Intramuros. “I still remember that whenever I visit her at their home in Cavite, her father will always clean his 45-caliber gun in front of me,” he said, laughing at the distant thought. Bautista joined the tycoon when he turned 23, and eventually he became an assistant to the vice president of the corporate planning of the Lucio Tan Group of Cos. “One of our managers in SGV is a batchmate of one of the officers in Lucio Tan Group, and that person was the vice president of the corporate planning division of the group. That was the time when Lucio Tan
was expanding its business interest, from cigarettes to bank to brewery to agriculture to piggery to construction to hotel,” he recalled.
Close to the captain
THANKS to his dedication for the craft, and his outspoken, yet subtle manner of voicing out his thoughts, El Kapitan saw a potential in him, and eventually had him lead the diversification efforts of the company. “So, I got involved in all these new ventures in the Lucio Tan Group, particularly in the acquisition of new companies, where I normally handle the finance role. After setting up the finance, I will leave the company and go back to the parent, and get involve again in new ventures,” Bautista said. He then got involved in the flag carrier in 1992, after being the launchpad for so many projects, like the acquisition of spirits maker Tanduay, the expansion of Asia Brewery, the inauguration of a new farm in Teresa, Rizal. “In 1992 Mr. Tan made a decision to invest in PAL. The year after, we went out in the open that we are the majority shareholder, and they asked me to head the accounting division to see if the records were properly accounted for, and that the financial reports were correct,” he said. Two years later, he got promoted as the chief finance officer of the carrier. He then served as the company’s president for eight years from 2004. “The secret to this might be my transparency in work, and my dedication and love for the company. My personal interests were far beyond my interest for the company. I think Mr. Tan trusted me because of that and gave me a good package,” he said. The captain and his copilot are bonded with a brotherly kind of tie, although most of the time, their phone conversations were mainly about business. “There was a time before when he used to call me every day. We got close through work, when he saw how I worked with the project of his company,” Bautista said. “I live by the principles of honesty, integrity and efficiency.” Bautista is one of Tan’s most trusted allies, and it is reflective of the former’s reinstatement as the president of the legacy carrier. “For you to be able to lead the big organization like PAL, you can’t just be an accountant. You also have to be a marketing person, a humanresource person, an operations person, a tourism person—basically, you have to be a jack of all trades,” he said. Keeping the company afloat for eight years, Bautista now knows the ropes of the airline industry. He was instrumental in finally allowing the company to snap back from the red into the black last semester. “All these learning that I gained over the years helped me in gaining Mr. Tan’s trust. He trusted me, and
DESPITE all these achievements, Bautista looked back and remember that his primary goal in life was not to be a good businessman, but be a good family man. “I thought to myself that I wanted to be a successful, still my goal back then was to have a good family. Career was not my top priority, it only comes next to family,” he said. “If you ask me, family will always be family.” Now, more than ever, he can enjoy the company of his family, especially since he now has more guns in his wallet to do anything that his “good package” of a salary can afford. “Now that I have reached the top, now that I have nothing to race for, I could enjoy my family even more. It’s a different kind of enjoyment when you are with your family, and so I will always choose family over career,” he said. “What will you do with money from success if your family is a failure?” He has two grandkids, gifts from God that came through his only daughter Jaymee. “My grandson and granddaughter sometimes go to the office,” he said, adding that moments with these little ones, Joseph and Maria Elena, are precious ones that he will cherish forever. The family-centric value is just one of Bautista’s wisdom that he wants to pass on to the millennials. “To become successful you have to aim high. Don’t just be satisfied with mediocrity, because this hampers success. This generation should never settle for something that is ‘just fine,’ they should always aspire for the best, and they have to work hard to meet their dreams,” he said. Bautista added that today’s generation should also consider that each one has his own story, that each one deserves respect, and none deserve it more than another. “Be fair with everybody. It is not good that you are power tripping because you are at the top,” he said. “A leader must strive to strike a balance, which as an accountant is very important to me. A single ounce—or a centavo, for an accountant—of irregularity will always be a setback.” This also applies to one’s personal life. “You have to learn how to relax. It’s not okay to always think about work. I sometimes watch ‘AlDub,’ he said, referring to the segment of noontime show Eat Bulaga that features the split-screen romance of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza, commonly known as Yaya Dub. “There should be a balance.” Soon, after he officially retires from PAL, Bautista plans to travel the world with the love of his life. “When I retire, I will travel. In fact, I have a bucket list of the trips that I want to go. I want to go to Antartica, Machu Pichu, Galapagos,[and see the] Aurora Borealis and many more,” he said. He also wants to play golf with his wife in famous golf courses in the different parts of the globe. “I’m really in love with my wife. Until now, we play golf together; we travel together; we take care of our grandchildren together,” he said. “The secrets to a successful family are for both of you to give and take, have the a wide understanding, for you to trust each other.” Bautista has investments in different businesses, but his greatest investment is in his wife. “You have to be generous to your spouse, not only in terms of material things, but be generous of your time,” he said. “If you’re financially stable, the more important requirement of marriage is for you to invest in time.”
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When I Was 25
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CANON PHL PRESIDENT AND CEO LIM KOK HIN
GIVING HIS BEST SHOT
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NEVER really consider myself a success until today, frankly,” said Lim Kok Hin, president and CEO of Canon Marketing Philippines Inc. (CMPI) in an e-mail interview with the BM.
“Life for me is one long learning journey. But I realized very early in life, even before my education was completed, that no one owes me a living. I had to make things happen to survive,” Lim said. Lim is the newest executive of CMPI, having received his recent assignment only on July 1, 2014. He said he joined Canon at the age of 23+ after graduating from the University of Bradford, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. And at 25, he was already a sales supervisor in Penang Island West Malaysia. Prior to his new post, the 30year Canon veteran held several management positions at Canon Malaysia from 1991 until 2006, when he was promoted as senior director of Business Imaging Solutions (BIS) at Canon Singapore Pte. Ltd. He became the vice president of the BIS group for Southeast Asia in 2011, with overall responsibility for the sales and marketing of business imaging hardware and software solutions across 18 countries, which include subsidiaries in India, Malaysia, Thailand, and a representative office in Vietnam. In addition, Lim also served as the head of CSPL Domestic Business Operations and was in charge of the overall growth, sales, marketing and services of the
Consumer Imaging and Information Products and BIS groups for the Singapore market. The Malaysian-born Singaporean executive holds a degree in Economics from the University of Bradford in the UK. For all his accomplishments, he said, he learned not to depend on anyone. “I learned that when I want something bad enough and I give my best shot, normally I can get it. On the contrary, when I thought I failed to get something, when I soul search and become very totoo with myself, I would realize that I did not want it strongly enough. I was just hoping, by luck, I can get it,” Lim said. One of Lim’s greatest achievements with Canon was spearheading the launch of The Ambition Gap in 2010. He said the program enables both individuals and companies to become more productive through opportunities provided by technology, such as the reliable Canon products—from professional cameras to industrial printers, among its wide portfolio. “Thanks to effective and efficient tools, one can finish work easier and faster. With this, employees can do more yet work less,” Lim enthused. Since his appointment last year, he said he has challenged Canon
Philippines employees to go home one or a half hour earlier than their official time off. As top executive of Canon in the Philippines, Lim is in charge of a company with a work force of more than 600, whom he calls his colleagues. He said he enjoys working with younger colleagues whom he advices every now and then to enjoy their work and add value to the things that they do. Today’s millennials have it easier in some ways and more difficult in other ways, Lim said. “As a whole, Generation Y may be better off and can afford more trappings in life but they need more knowledge than us just to get by in life,” he said. “I think, we have higher EQ and they may have higher IQ. Our pain threshold is higher, but their challenges in life may be tougher and more competitive.” That’s why he admonishes the young generation to never stop learning, to be curious and to always want to be better. “The day you say you know it all is the day you start to become irrelevant. I read somewhere that everything you learn today, in six short years, it all becomes irrelevant. So keep versioning yourself up, every year if possible. Just like most software!” Lim concluded.
When I Was 25
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GINIA R. DOMINGO: MAKING
A CAREER SHIFT AT 25 W
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HEN buying cars, men like to go fast, while women like to go efficient. According to a survey by TrueCar.com among 8 million US car purchases, men tend to prefer fast and large autos, while women tend to look for value and fuel economy. TrueCar analyst Jesse Toprak said women car buyers were more cost-conscious and purchased fuelefficient vehicles while male buyers were completely the opposite, purchasing vehicles that were either big and brawny, like a large truck, or choosing a high-priced, highperformance vehicle. On the home front, Elena Mari Ginia R. Domingo said men have more brand loyalty than women. Men look at the size of the wheels, the speakers (“Maganda
ba ang sounds?”), the engine and its power, the air-con, etc. While women check if the seats are comfortable for their children—like if the seat can be folded to put a crib or stroller in there; or if it could carry groceries and other household purchases. To women, a car is more about function, katulong sa buhay. The brand is secondary to them, she added. Domingo knows this well, having been in the automobile sales industry for years. C G
When I Was 25
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SENATE PRESIDENT
FRANKLIN DRILON AT 25 I
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N 1969, when the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman was a roiling caldron of student activism as they rally against an overstaying strongman in Malacañang, a promising 25-year-old student of the UP College of Law had just placed third in the Bar Examinations. Senate President Franklin M. Drilon was that man, who said he pursued the practice of law because he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps.
“Was being a lawyer a childhood dream?” the BusinessMirror asked. “Honestly, no. I was inf luenced by my father, I took up law when I was already first-year AB in college,” he volunteered. But we are getting ahead of the story. The BusinessMirror had to wait for some time to interview Drilon because he was in the thick of preparation for the Liberal Party senatorial lineup for the 2016 elections. There were other pressing matters that his office would not divulge. Eventually, he finally gave his consent first week of October at his sixth floor office of the Senate in Pasay City. When I was ushered into the senator’s room, I had to negotiate a sizable acreage of floor space before reaching his desk. There, at the far end of the room, wearing a bespoke suit, sits the Big Kahuna, larger than life, physically and metaphorically. As a fearless lawyer and fierce advocate of justice, the senator was instrumental, as justice secretary, in the prosecution and conviction of Mayor Antonio Sanchez of Calauan, Laguna, who masterminded the rape-slaying of a UP Los Baños coed and the murder of her friend; and Claudio Teehankee, Jr., scion of a highly influential political figure, who was accused of gunning down Maureen Hultman. Both cases ended up in convictions. I told the senator beforehand in a letter that we were to discuss what he was doing at age 25, when most young men are either searching for the meaning of life in the company of drinking buddies, while some had already made up their mind what serious career to pursue. The questionnaire was in front of him and he graciously asked me to sit and we proceeded with the conversation. Drilon was born on November 28, 1945, in Iloilo City, Iloilo. He is the eldest son of Cesar Drilon Sr. and Primitiva Magtunao. He took his elementary education at the Baluarte Elementary School in Molo, Iloilo City, Iloilo, and graduated in 1957. He finished his secondary education at UP - Iloilo College (now University of the Philippines High School in Iloilo) in 1961. At UP, he was the associate editor to the Philippine Collegian and served as councilor of the UP Student Council. Among his classmates were future politicians Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Ronaldo Zamora. In 1969 he completed his Bachelor of Laws at the UP College of Law. In the same year he took the Bar
examination and finished with the third highest score. He said he was already a mature 19 and 20 years old when he decided to take up law and admits that he was not distracted by the ongoing rallies and frequent class disruptions at the UP, where many of the young firebrand had joined hands, holding placards, or engaged in “DGs” (discussion groups), clamoring for the dictator to end his term. He said that although he was aware of the ongoing revolutionary spirit engulfing the UP campus, and other campuses across the country, his head was buried in books reviewing for the Bar. “We had our shares of rallies, the Vietnam War going on, but I guess I was intent to become a lawyer,” he said. “I was active, I was a university councilor in the UP student council, we were in the Philippine Collegian together with Miriam Defensor-Santiago, my editor in chief, and I was active in extracurricular student activities.” “But I was not drawn into the firebrands of the left,” he admits, adding; “ That’s basically what occupied my mind and my life, talagang gusto kong gumaling bilang abogado.” Drilon said that he was thrilled upon knowing that he successfully hurdled one of the toughest of government examinations. “Of course, I was thrilled, especially after, when I was recommended by my professor, Dean Irene Cortez, who later on became a justice of the SC [Supreme Court], to a known law firm.” “She recommended me to what was the most prestigious law firm at that time, Sycip, Salazar, Luna, Manalo & Feliciano. When we were students, we keep on hearing about this law firms—the big ones in Makati City—which, when you were a law student, you had always dreamed of joining so that you learn from the masters, so to speak.” In time, he was a full-time lawyer and he vividly recalls the daily walks from his boarding house at Maria Orosa Street to Intramuros, where he had his office. “One day, while I was on the way to my office, there was a large commotion at the then-Congress, across City Hall. Now the National Museum, it was then-President Ferdinand Marcos who presided at the opening of Congress in 1970, and while delivering a speech, he was met with derision and catcalls from the leftists elements of the First Quarter Storm. Later he said he came to know that on that fateful day, the student activists hurled
the papier mache crocodile and the cardboard coffin at Marcos, while descending the concrete staircase to a waiting limousine. In 1972 Drilon tied the knot with fellow lawyer and ACCRA senior partner, Violeta Calvo, who bore him two children—Eliza and Patrick. During his candidacy for a Senate seat in 1995, Drilon often traveled to the US to be with his wife who was then being treated for lung cancer. Mrs. Drilon died of the disease in September 1995, two months after her husband assumed his Senate seat. Two years after he was widowed, Drilon, at 50 years old, said he proposed to close family friend Mila Serrano-Genuino, who was a widow. They married with former Presidents Aquino and Ramos as wedding sponsors. Drilon’s lawyering includes as an associate lawyer to the Sycip, Salazar, Luna, Manalo & Feliciano Law Offices (now SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan). He moved to the Angara, Abello, Concepcion, Regala & Cruz Law Offices (ACCR ALAW) in 1974, where he serves as senior counsel. He was elevated to partner in 1975, comanaging partner in 1981 and managing partner in 1986. “I was recruited by the late Augusto Sanchez, as undersecretary of labor in 1986, following the Edsa the revolution. When I was practicing law, I had many corporate clients and labor problems and I had exposure in labor practice on the side of management,” Drilon recalls vividly. “And I had a number of encounters with ‘Bobbit’ Sanchez during those raucous times but he always respected me, I would like to think, and I always had a respect for him.” Human-rights lawyer and former Labor Secretary Augusto “Bobbit” Sanchez spent years fighting strongman Marcos. He died of a heart attack on February 17, 2003. “Although we were on the opposite side of the fence, he knew that I was just doing my profession and my lawyering and, therefore, when he was looking for an undersecretary, he did not hesitate to invite me and cleared and discussed with
Cory [then-President Corazon] Aquino my joining public service.” Mrs. Aquino had formed a revolutionary government upon assuming office, with mandate from the bittersweet tumult of the Edsa revolution. “I joined the Department of Labor as undersecretary in August of 1986,” he added, and a year later, was appointed as deputy secretary of labor. Three years later, I became secretary of labor, and in 1990, I became secretary of justice,” he recalls his successive rise to fame. He confined that he has been bookish as a child. Now we call that a nerd. He admits that although he engages in youthful activities, like the lure of nightly binges with friends, or chasing the skirts, chose to bury his head in books. On long trips, he reads John Grisham’s novels or biographies. Reading became an ingrained habit he easily sails through the legalese and the jargon of lawyering because, as he said, he likes to read voluminous legal tomes. “In 1995, after nine years in the Cabinet, I entered the political field and became a senator.” Upon the opening of the 16th Congress, Drilon was elected, for the fourth time, to the third highest position in the land, the Senate presidency—a post he had previously held from April to November 2000; from July 2001 to June 2004; and from July 2004 to June 2006. During the 15th Congress, Drilon chaired the Senate Finance Committee and the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Public Expenditures. As chairman of both committees, Drilon successfully sponsored the swift passage of the General Appropriations Act for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013. He championed major reform measures during the 15th Congress: the GOCC Gover nance Act of 2011, the law that synchronized the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with the May national elections; the resolution annulling the original voters’ list in the ARMM and allowing the Commission on Elections to conduct a reregistration for a new
one; and the sin-tax reform law. He referred to it as “anticancer law.” Recognizing his exemplary leadership, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) elected him its president in 2005. From 2006 he was chairman of the IPU Committee on Human Rights of Parliamentarians. He is a member of the IPU executive committee. Drilon is highly proud of having led the cleanup drive of the Iloilo River, a feat, that many said, could probably be applied to the Pasig River. He is also equally gratified with the completion of the Iloilo Convention Center, which would be one of the venues of the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit this November. He was also the pivotal force behind the approval of the P11.2billion Jalaur River Multipurpose Project-Stage II. I asked Drilon, on a separate occasion, his secret in the speedy recovery of the river and the efforts required to achieve it “I had to cajole a lot of people, ship owners, fish-pen operators, and illegal settlers, whose livelihood are highly dependent on the river—to give way or help us remove their derelicts,” he said. One of those he inveigled to leave was a ship repair facility, who appropriated for its private use over a hectare of government land along the river bank. A cadastral survey had to be undertaken because through the years, he said the river had altered its flow by the presence of illegal settlers, which also caused frequent flooding of the surrounding areas. Drilon said the sunken ships and other shipwrecks that had stayed at the river’s bottom for years had to be removed before the rivers’ rehabilitation could proceed. Today, the promenade is filled with people enjoying the view and breathing the fresh air. At the far end of the river gathered several tall buildings, crammed together on a suddenly expensive piece of real estate, where café’s, bars and restaurants vie one another for the customer’s attention. I asked him if the same feat could be applied to the Pasig River. “Maybe, but it could prove to be difficult,” but did not say why. However, ob-
servers who had seen the “new Iloilo River, said it would be difficult to emulate it and make the Pasig River smell like newly laundered clothes. Drilon said the Iloilo-Batiano River Development Council, composed of political and private sector leaders, was formed to undertake the effort, while he provided the funding through his Presidential Development Assistance Program, one project that was praised and not reviled. Now that he had reached the pinnacle of his political power and prestige, the BusinessMirror posit this query: “Did it ever enter your mind to seek the presidency? The BusinessMirror told Drilon that he is one of the few intellectuals and statesmen in the country who has the brain, experience and accumulated insight to aspire for the country’s top post, “with all due respect to the other contenders.” As was his wont, it took some time for Drilon to reply, and when he did, he seems to be hemming and hawing. He took a deep breath (maybe it was buntong hininga), and in measured tone, he divulged what seem an idea that had been playing in his mid: “I do not…I keep…I mean…try to picture myself going through the campaign,” he said, almost pleading, “and the ‘office,’ kung minsan naisip ko, gusto ko pang mabuhay ng matagal kaysa sasakit ang ulo…hehehe.” “I just help, you know,” and I took that to mean he is satisfied having contributed his lot for the country’s advancement and in his later years, to steer the Senate to new heights. But after another pause, Drilon let on; “Gusto ko sigurong mabuhay pa ng mahaba, levity aside.” That pretty sums up the political situation in the country today. Mired in mediocrity, dominated by dynasties and empty posturings. It is also a threat to one’s life for those who could make a difference, a threat Drilon does not take lightly. He said his final piece: “Having been exposed to governance, having been exposed to many facets of public service, I feel I can contribute to good policies of government.”
When I Was 25
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BusinessMirror
Thursday, October 29, 2015 G3
Bro. Ray Suplido: A teacher at 25, molding young minds to become responsible citizens
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B L R. G
RO. Raymundo Belardo Suplido, FSC, PhD, is the 23rd president of De La Salle University (DLSU). External circumstances led to his appointment that also brought some excitement and milestone—he was fifth university president in the last five years! In 2010 then-DLSU President Bro. Armin Luistro, FSC, accepted the position of secretary of the Department of Education in the Cabinet of President Aquino. Bro. Erguiza, FSC, took over, but resigned to accept the challenge of heading La Salle-Araneta University and be president of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines. Bro. Ricky Laguda, FSC, took over, but in 2011 was appointed as one of the seven general councilors of the De La Salle Brothers International in Rome, the highest ruling body of the La Salle Brothers. Bro. Magbanua, FSC, president of De La SalleCollege of Saint Benilde, became concurrent president until a new president was selected. Finally, Suplido was serving as president of the University of Saint La Salle-Bacolod when he was selected as the new head of DLSU. Suplido’s induction also came at a critical time, as the university, like all other universities in the country, faces the challenges of the beginning of the K to 12 Program. Add to this the extremely high expectations of Lasallians that their alma mater remains the leader in the field of academics, sports and service to society. In an exclusive interview with the BusinessMirror, Suplido said that after the fifth appointment, “the transition has been rather smooth, because we decided to follow some of the guidelines they gave me when I became president.” One of them, he said, was to have a separate chancellor. Previously, he said, the chancellor also takes the university presidency, making the office “ heavy,” given the complex activities and programs of the school. Today as president, Suplido is more focused and relaxed attending to the affairs of the school. Already, he said, they have had planning session for the next five years. “We created some kind of a score card to monitor and evaluate our students on what we want our graduates to be in the future, after four or five years of their stay in the university. We conduct yearly measurement of the students’ analytical and critical skills; on how they have been doing; what the institution can do to further help them. Say, if the students have to be service-oriented, then we have to include services in the syllabus.” Also, the university has attuned itself to global challenges, such the issues of climate change and helping Mother Earth. Suplido said his academic journey and life’s experiences have prepared him well for the tremendous responsibility he has assumed. He entered the Christian Brother juniorate in his third year of high school, in what was then known as La Salle College-Taft. This early, he said, he already knew he wanted to serve through Christian brotherhood, a vocation similar to nuns—living under vows of poverty, chastity and obedience—but without entering priesthood. After years of diligence, he graduated with two bachelor’s degrees, AB-BS Education, majoring in General Science and a minor in Mathematics, graduating magna cum laude. Then he went on to complete several graduate programs, including one at the Institute of Religious Formation at Saint Louis University in the US; MA in Education, major in Educational Administration at DLSU; and graduated magna cum laude at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he finished with a bachelor’s degree and a Licentiate.
In 2007 he graduated with high distinction after completing his PhD in Counseling Psychology at DLSU. Over the years, Suplido has held various positions, from being a teacher to holding key administrative posts in various Lasallian institutions, locally and internationally. In the mid-1970s, he became principal of the Grade School Department of then-De La Salle College Manila and in the following decade, he became director of the De La Salle Scholasticate and of the La Salle Novitiate. He was elected the brother provincial of the De La Salle Brothers-Philippine District in the 1990s. He became the second Filipino brother, after Bro. Benildo Feliciano, FSC, to be appointed in Rome as general councilor of the De La Salle Brothers International from 1993 to 2000. Upon his return to the country, he was assigned director of the Philippine District’s programs on Lasallian Animation and Leadership Formation. Prior to becoming DLSU president, he served as president of De La Salle in Bacolod in his hometown, Negros Occidental. It is not surprising that he was a teacher at 25 and has taken on a noble duty of molding young minds to become responsible citizens of the land. Given a chance for another lifetime, Suplido said he wouldn’t trade for another profession or advocacy. He was elected as DLSU president for a three-year term, effective May 16, 2015. Suplido admits he still has other skills to develop “and a lot more of our people to know. I have to form new relationships, which are quite diverse in a community the size of De La Salle University.” Right now, as university president, Suplido said he has been receiving various invitations to become a member of different groups, like the Management Association of the Philippines. “So, that’s a different group, another culture. I have to learn a ‘new language,’ because we’re talking about management this time. Then as president of a big university, I also think of, among other things, fund raising for school advancement. Finding out how the university can develop its fund for scholarship, for improvement, for faculty development. That’s another skill I have to improve,” Suplido said. “I think keeping in touch with the students is always important, so I try to find out what the students’ concerns are. So I talk to them. I interview our student leaders. I also have to be present in games, like the UAAP [University Athletic Association of the Philippines], to meet team managers and the athletes,” he added. Suplido recognizes today’s millennials to be a generation that wants to succeed. However, he said, with the advent of technology, there are lots of options, propositions and even distractions that come along their way—and they can easily get lost. “The challenge of the millennials is where to get their grounding, of what is really good, beautiful and important. Unless they have something basic to make the judgment, they can flow, they can be moved from one direction to another. So it’s a challenge for them to locate their principles. That’s why education is very important, education in school, in the family, because that’s where the young people get to clarify what’s important,” he said. “That’s why our goal of having critically sharp students is important because they need to have criteria for judging,” he said.
When I Was 25
G4 Thursday, October 29, 2015 C G
More popularly known as Ginia, Domingo is president of Columbian Autocar Corp. (CAC), the assembler and exclusive distributor of Kia vehicles in the Philippines.
“People’s Car”–the Kia Pride
ONE of the fastest-growing automotive brands in the Philippines, Kia’s engineered cars are among the best manufactured vehicles today,
incorporating the latest engineering techniques in the design and production of its vehicles. In 1996 CAC found itself in the No. 4 spot in the Philippine automobile market, having participated in the government’s Car Development Program and introduced the first-ever “People’s Car”—the Kia Pride—that generated tremendous and favorable reviews in the market. To date, CAC has 32 dealerships and 10 sales outlets nationwide. Its
BusinessMirror
wide dealer network assures unrivaled after-sales customer service and satisfaction designed after its philosophy called “Family-like Care.” In June 2009 CAC achieved the unprecedented by extending the warranty protection of its manufactured vehicles to five years or 160,000 kilometers (km) or whichever comes first. The offer is far from the usual three years or 110,000 km, making its auto-protection coverage the best and the longest in the auto industry.
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By standing behind its products for a longer period of time, Kia not only breached the industry standard but also reinforced its claim that its vehicles are as good, if not better, as any available in the market today. CAC also introduced Kia’s 24/7 Customer Assistance on Roadside Emergency in 2012. It is a 24-hour vehicle-support program exclusively for Kia customers that offers assistance, such a flat-tire change, emergency towing, battery jump-start
and fuel-delivery service. In its continuous pursuit of excellence, CAC received Kia Motor’s Elite Zenith Club distinction for three consecutive years since 2007, thereby establishing itself as Kia’s foremost distributor in the Asia-Pacific region. C AC was given worldwide recognition, and was named the 2011 Distributor of the Year for the A sia-Pacif ic Reg ion for t he highest degree of professionalism and best overall sales performance achievement.
From office worker to automotive executive
DOMINGO is one of only a handful of women who currently lead a local automotive company. After more than 20 years of operations experience with various global automotive brands in the areas of general management, marketing, sales and finance, she has amassed a wealth of knowledge enough to drive and steer CAC forward in its efforts to reach out to a bigger and more diverse target market. Thus, since her appointment in 2011, Domingo has helped Kia exceed its growth expectations with global supply, struggling to keep up with actual demand. Industr y players know that Domingo did it by practicing a management style that is fresh and exciting, yet meticulous at the same time. Moreover, her unyielding efforts to further build the brand through the improvement of CAC’s sales supply, the strengthening of its dealer network and the enhancement of its after-sales support and customer relations have established a new order for the Korean brand in the Philippines. Domingo has reached a career high with CAC. At a very young age, she already knew that she wanted to become successful someday. “I believe I was 8 years old then. Life was tough growing up and I knew then that education was the only way to make good and be successful,” she said. She said she witnessed how her father, Ramon Roxas, worked hard as a school-bus driver in San Beda College and got promoted to several positions until he finally retired as a liaison officer of the college. Her mother, the former Virginia Vidal, was a schoolteacher in Bicol who decided to work at the Insurance Commission in Manila later. To be promoted to a higher post, she went to night school at the Lyceum, and finished a degree in BSC Accounting. Domingo said she was already in
grade school when her mother graduated and became qualified to be a supervisor. She was 25, Domingo said, when she decided to make a career shift from being a financial analyst to selling cars. At 25 and at the peak of her career as a single woman, she found “a knack” for sales and started in her journey in the automobile industry as a sales agent. “I vividly remember my new boss asking: ‘How do you see yourself five years from now?’ I was 25 years old then and my reply was, ‘I see myself married, with kids and with a thriving career.’ You can say that it was a very general [even safe] statement but it was really true. I wanted to start my own family first before I work on advancing my career. I must’ve been a good daughter because the Lord granted me that path,” Domingo said. In five years, after the career shift, Domingo was promoted as sales manager. And the rest, as they say, is history. But prior to her current post at CAC, her husband, Raymond, passed away in 2004. Since t hen, Domingo has become both mother and father to her two sons—Ramon Manuel, a literature graduate from Ateneo de Manila; and Francis Roy, a graduating student also in the same school, taking up communications. She is thankful that her sons have not given her any cause for concern. “My family is my success. Raising two wonderful sons as a single parent for the past 11 years while working on a career is a blessing. As for my career, it’s still a work in progress,” she said. Domingo’s word of wisdom is for the millenial to heed the advice of their elders. “Listen to your parents. The times may be different, but the learnings are the same,” she said. Does she consider today’s young people equally good or better than her generation? It’s a tough question, she said. She said times were very different then compared to now. She explained: “I would say, though, that the environment is a lot more competitive now but the opportunities are endless. “Given that, the millennial will have to be equally as good, if not better, and more hardworking than we were back then when the environment was already competitive but with limited opportunities.” “You are only as good as you allow yourself to become, so never stop learning,” she said.
When I Was 25
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BusinessMirror
Thursday, October 29, 2015 H1
TEDDY LOCSIN JR.: I WAS JOBLESS AT 25 B T L. L J. | Special to the BM
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T 25, I was jobless. It was a Thursday night; it was late, going on midnight. I always worked late, and only after a hot date. That is how I wrote. No other condition would get the juices flowing. I sat at my father’s desk, pounding away on an Underwood typewriter circa 1930s that, if dropped from one story up, will kill him a horse. Soldiers suddenly came into the building and an officer presented himself to me.
“What’s up,” I asked. “Communists,” the officer said crisply. “We are here to protect you.” “Thank you; see any, kill ’em,” I joked. I went back to pounding out the cover story of the Philippines Free Press, “the glory of Philippine journalism,” one famous Asian historian said. I was w r iting about “Oplan Double Strike”—the implementing blueprint of Oplan Sagittarius, whose exposé by Ninoy Aquino in the Senate I had covered, fingering Colonel Bocanegra (Black Mouth) ferociously. Bocanegra would arrest him later. A week or so after Ninoy’s Senate show, the office guards told me that people dressed in A rmy uniforms had dropped a package, “For Locsin Sr.” It contained a document labeled Oplan Double Strike. Its details included even the pretext for martial law—a fake assassination attempt on a top Marcos official. My Dad called in Pepe Diokno, Ninoy, Chino Roces, Wigberto Tañada and possibly Raul Manglapus. “What do we do?” he asked. They said there was nothing to be done, but grin and bear it. I added that it shouldn’t be long, because Toyota cars were being repainted Metrocom blue at the Toyota main dealership outside Dasmariñas Village, where we lived. Ninoy said, “Well, I am not going up to the mountains. The Communists will kill me. I’ll just stick around, and see what happens.” If Manglapus was there, it was there where he said that he would push through with a planned US visit and fight from exile. “Okay,” my Dad said, “C’est la vie.” Those old guys were cool, although none of them was past 50 then. I was assigned to do the exposé. So there I was pounding away and then I got bored and picked up the phone. I chatted away with the girl at the other end of the line until the officer stood up, looked at his watch demonstratively and said, “Martial law has been declared,” and slapped away the phone from my face. Soldiers swept into the building. I instructed the machinery to be shut down and the shredding of the Free Press cover. It was already printed. Prophetically, it showed Ninoy in the crosshairs of a sniper scope against a background of black. Save me a couple of keepsakes, I told the men at the plant. I left for home and told my Dad what happened. He was already on the phone with Bishop Eraño Manalo, who offered him asylum in the Iglesia Ni Cristo compound (though he called again to say the compound had been overrun by troops). Gerry Roxas called, offering to hide him in Bahay Puti. I knew Ninoy was in a room at the Hilton. Later, I would learn that he was told to come down, which he did.
Much later, Chavit Singson asked me, “Why did Ninoy, your Dad and the others go with the military?” “They were invited. That was how the arresting officers put it. I was also invited, but I told the officer to tell Marcos that I declined the invitation, and they left,” I said. Chavit looked genuinely puzzled. Chavit and Ninoy were thick as, well, whatever but, thick. Chavit was Ninoy’s muscle. My Dad packed a few things. At daybreak, there was a knock on the door. An officer said they had come for my father. I told them to wait at the door. Through that door, only presidents and justices of the Supreme Court (SC) had stepped in, and they all had to take off their shoes because my mother had a phobia of germs. I told my father the men had come for him. I hugged him with tears in my eyes. “Stop that,” he said. “It was a war. Our side lost. Maybe, one day our side will win.” Of course, his side did not win, ever. They just got old. And I only prayed, not that our side would ever win, but that they would live to see Marcos die or fa l l, whichever came first. But 13 years later, the latter happened—thanks to a massive peaceful People Power Movement, led by a woman out of legend; and a handful of military officers, led by Greg Honasan, under whose wings the defense minister sought protection—he who let himself to be used as the pretext for martial law and the destruction of democracy. None of the men in that room in the Free Press, who had fought a nd ga mbled e ver y t h i ng t he y cherished—their lives, their liberties, their careers, their printing plants—to protect democracy would ever benefit in the slightest from the resurrection of democracy, which was killed to the cheers of almost all the Filipino people or, as US Sen. Mike Mansfield described our countrymen, “40 million cowards and one son of a bitch.” Indeed, after a spasmodic show of feigned reluctance, the SC no less legitimated martial law, which had only been an executive action. The Court solemnly ruled that “there was no further obstacle to martial law going into the full force and effect of a law.” How a fact can become a law baffles the imagination of those smart enough to study at Harvard Law, unlike the locally educated guys in the Court. “When the guns speak, the laws fall silent,” the Court said, quoting as usual, in the manner of provincial Filipino lawyers, a legal adage which, by the way, American lawyers never do, because Justice Frankfurter (I think it was) said it is declassé to quote an aphorism in a legal brief or judicial decision; e.g., dura lex sed lex, which was actually
a stone advertisement for condoms or penis sheaths in Ancient Rome, and sui generis, which is tasteless steamed rice rolled in coconut or banana leaves. “ W hen the g uns spea k, the laws fall silent” is precisely when those overpaid jerks from local law schools are supposed to speak up. Chief Justice Taney of the US Supreme Court ruled—in the teeth of Lincoln’s evident bias toward blacks—that blacks are nonetheless property under the US Constitution even if he risked removal and imprisonment; and even though Taney personally opposed slavery and had emancipated all his slaves because he was a Catholic who must see all men as the God who made them sees them equal. Taney knew that Lincoln would ignore the Dred Scott decision and would respond with war if any state attempted to enforce it. But for Taney, it was what the US Constitution said, and it needed affirming by the Court. The Indian SC struck down Indira Gandhi’s emergency power, and told her to unravel martial law. She never recovered from the slap administered by that manly Court. The only virtue of judicial robes is that you don’t have to wear trousers or even underwear beneath, so much the easier to relieve themselves on their honors. So at 25, I was out of a job. The company lawyer, Joker Arroyo, stuck me into law school, so I wouldn’t get involved in a losing fight. The job I lost I got at 17, when I learned that my parents were going to Red China to see for themselves what the US was lying about, according to the pioneering journalist Felix Greene in his book China. But that was not my interest. The way into China was by rail from Hong Kong, which, underdeveloped and miserably poor as it was under the British, was still fun to visit as a lot of Filipinos did—for the food, for the cheap girls, for the trinkets sold on sidewalks, whatever. “Can I go?” I asked. “Sure,” my Dad said, “but you have to write about it.” And I did, the Free Press cover story “Meeting the Dragon.” I even got to stay in a Red Army camp and did bayonet practice. I finally met Africans there, black people I had never seen, except this one time when a black boy at the dry creek bed in Palo Alto, which was my shortcut to and from Lucky Grocery. He demanded that I give him the Three Musketeers chocolate bar in my hand. I swallowed it whole; he beat me up. And there they were again, learning how to take apart and put back together machine guns. Typical. The China story written and published, I assumed I could go back to collecting my weekly allowance, which was becoming a categorical imperative. My liking for girls had turned into a veritable blood lust and it cost. One steak dinner then was P75 and when a date of mine wouldn’t touch hers, because—she shrieked—a mouse had run over her foot, I took her plate and ate it. “It didn’t run over the steak,” she said. She was history. Pity, pretty, too. Chinese girl from Philippine Women’s University. I asked Dad, “Um, ah, my allowance is late.” “No, it isn’t,” he said. “Go get it from Aner [the Free Press office manager].” I went to Aner, who said, “Now why will I give you money? You don’t work here.” And I knew I had been sold into indentured slavery. So there I was, first a proofreader and then a proofreader, and then a copy editor, and a copy editor still. In the Free Press. there was no job descr iption. You did any work given to you. At the same time, I was writing think pieces, editorial articles, and even editorials—the
one I did on the Yuyitung deportation to Taiwan detention had the French IPI president telling my father, “He has a perfect command of the imperfect subjunctive.” Eventually, I covered Ninoy exclusively. No other papers touched him, but he and I had shared interests and passions that my father and the other older stalwarts of the Republic had already outgrown. When my father was in detention and interrogated by the military, they
showed him, one after another, the articles I had written projecting Ninoy as “Superboy” and pushing his political agenda at the expense of Marcos. My articles were the evidence justifying my Dad’s arrest and detention. The military asked him, “Are you Teodoro L. Locsin Jr., the author of these articles?” “I am,” he said and the militar y accepted it, although they knew better. Later, Munding Reyes, the immigration commissioner, clarified for me, “The President said that only one Locsin
would be taken in.” Congress was padlocked, and so was the Philippines Free Press, which at the time had the most modern printing press in Asia outside Japan, where we bought it. All that was lost to the silliest venture imaginable: The defense at any price of the democracy of a people who cheered its destruction. All because none of those who undertook its defense had ever asked themselves the crucial question: Democracy, sure, but democracy for what?
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When I W
Business
Thursday, October 29, 2015
AMBASSADOR ANTONIO L. CABANGON CHUA
NO DREAM TO I
B J P S | Special to the BusinessMirror
T was half past the summer of 2009 when, as the new boy in the Philippines Graphic newsroom, I was introduced to the company’s chairman emeritus, Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua. I was then just recently hired as the magazine’s new managing editor.
At the doorway to his office, I saw the ambassador standing all dapper and sporty in his dark blue jacket, sports shirt and beige pants, even as he sported a smile that made me feel doubly welcome. I immediately sensed a humility to him that defied explanation. I had worked in numerous companies prior to working with the Aliw Media Group. I was no stranger to corporate top brass. The same level of modesty I sensed in my new boss came few and far between. Very few had had the chance to meet the man, whom many fondly call Amba, up close. As we shook hands and settled in his of-
fice, I noticed a huge framed photograph of a lovely woman in Filipiniana attire hanging by his wall. I recall wondering who the woman was, until later in the day when I was told she was the ambassador’s mother, Dominga Lim Cabangon. Past the routine civility of introducing myself as his new hired hand, Amba immediately set the pace of the conversation. No small talk, no further courtesies; just a gesture of trust I rarely see in other bosses I’ve worked with in the past. “I want you to interview General Ermita for the magazine today,” the ambassador said, obviously eyeing me with a bit of cu-
riosity. After about half a minute of silence, he waved at his secretary, who apparently knew what the gesture meant. Turning to me, he then said, “My driver and my car are waiting for you downstairs. Hijo, I have worked with a lot of journalists and editors in my lifetime. All I ask is that you be fair.” With no further instructions, he stood up and kindly saw me out the door. As I strolled past the secretary’s desk, he again called and asked me to draw near. Thereafter, he leaned over and said, “I want you to think of the magazine as your own, and think
PORTRAIT of the Cabangon Chua couple, who got married on the eve of Christmas, 1959.
of me as your own father. From this day on, I will treat you as one of my children. We’re your family, always remember that. If you need anything, anything at all, don’t have second thoughts of asking me.” He then patted me on the shoulders. That alone said a lot about the sort of individual I was to respect as my boss. Little did I know then that there was more to this man than meets the eye. Weeks into the job saw me scrounging for information about the ambassador—who he is, how he runs things. I have yet to hear anything adverse when, quite by accident, I stumbled on two books, one written by National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin, Antonio L. Cabangon Chua: A Saga of Success, and its sequel penned by awardwinning writer Jose F. Lacaba and Eric S. Caruncho. While I was not the sort who read biographies, Joaquin and
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Lacaba were good enough reasons to flip the pages. Tony Cabangon’s life as a child cared for by single parent— his mother Dominga—along the poorer side of Barrio Namayan in Mandaluyong was anything but a breeze. During and immediately after World War II, the young Tony ran errands as a servant, rented out komiks, sold newspapers and magazines, and buffed the shoes of American GIs just to make ends meet. Later on, with a little help from a vocational course, the future ambassador to Laos worked as an automotive and diesel mechanic and a passenger jeepney driver. His mother Dominga borrowed money from rich relatives in exchange for life’s modest needs. Often ill-treated to the point of being humiliated, both mother and son soldiered on, Tony more than ever, who did everything hu-
manly possible to ease the poverty of his mother. It was a hard climb for both mother and son, but none too steep for Tony to reach. To ease the grip of poverty, the young Tony engaged in everything, from vending fish whenever he can to finally opening a humble sari-sari store in that pitiful riverside barrio they called home. One defining moment in young Tony’s life came by way of an American GI. In the book The Continuing Saga of Success, written by awardwinning poet Jose “Pete” Lacaba and Eric S. Caruncho, Tony himself reminisced about the incident. Tony related that while he was shining the shoes of a GI, his eyes caught the pear the man was eating. Tony hardly had a bite to eat for hours. As if to taunt him, the GI asked if Tony wanted the pear. “And this son-of-a-bitch American knew my mouth was watering for that pear he was eating. ‘You
Was 25
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www.businessmirror.com.ph | Thursday, October 29, 2015
OO TALL TONY (in bow tie), then the youngest member of the Chamber of Pawnbrokers of the Philippines. Then Manila Mayor Antonio J. Villegas is in left foreground.
It served the young boy a lot of good to see to it that his mother was cared for by him all throughout her life, earning for himself some homespun wisdom along the way. Coupled with being streetwise, the young Tony began his dream of a life even while in high school and college. With more than ample resources from the sari-sari store, the young Tony ventured into being a driver of a passenger jeepney in his middle teens. It was, as he said, his first car. His job as driver and shopkeeper kept him busy all throughout the day, plying the Pandacan, Santa Ana and Paco routes. The hours he spent as college student of the University of the East he dedicated to studying until he made it into the Dean’s list. No summer went by without seeing Tony on campus, between the pages of textbooks and inside classrooms. He was, at an early age, a man in a hurry. In three years, and at the age of 22, he was able to finish what was supposedly a four-
UNG businessman Tony, shown here with his d motorcycle, a Harley-Davidson speeder.
want this pear, boy?’ he grinned at me. I could only gape at him. The pear was only half-eaten and suddenly he hurled it away. ‘Go get it, boy!’ I didn’t move […] I refused to stir.” It was then that the GI kicked the young boy “like a dog.” The sudden violence forced the young Tony to scamper under a six-by-six truck for safety, where he wept because of the pain. “But at the time,” Tony said, “I felt something of my mother’s pride. I hadn’t run to pick up that thrown-away pear the GI wanted me to eat. I was very thin then, probably malnourished, certainly quite hungry. But I had not run after food like a dog. I had shown the American how even in misery, one can keep one’s pride.” THE Filipinas Pawnshop, on the corner of Herran (now Pedro Gil) and General Luna in Paco, in a recent photo: Still in the same location after almost 50 years.
year commerce course. However, his attempt at being a certified public accountant proved disastrous for a time in Tony’s estimation. He had failed the first test. While on the verge of taking the second, his first business as a jeepney operator was already taking off. But he had better things in mind than the meager return on investments he received from driving and operating a fleet of publicutility jeeps. Able to convince college friends to invest their money on a new venture—a pawnshop— Tony took on the reins of what would be a defining moment in his career as a businessman. It cost him more than a hand and a limb: all of the P30,000 savings he garnered from operating a fleet of passenger jeepneys. And so rose the Filipinas Pawnshop at the corner of Herran (currently Pedro Gil Street) and General Luna in Paco, Manila. It still stands today as an admirable
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tribute to the ingenious young man who knew how to turn his misfortunes into fortunes. At the age of 26, Antonio L. Cabangon Chua was the youngest member of the Chamber of Pawnbrokers of the Philippines. He would decades later stand as the country’s diplomat to Laos and chairman emeritus of one of the country’s largest and most extensive business and media enterprises—the Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Group of Companies and the Aliw Media Group. In honor of his mother’s memory, the ambassador shares his blessings through the Dominga L. Cabangon Memorial Foundation. With its goal of supporting needy children through education, the foundation has lent its hand in support of hundreds of scholars belonging to deserving children of his employees, also to priests seeking further education. With this comes his homage to his good friend and first editor in chief of the Philippines Graphic, National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin: the Quijano de Manila Foundation. The foundation’s aim is to offer financial assistance to the effort of developing young writers and children of journalists. The Philippines Graphic Nick Joaquin Literary Awards, now on its 25th year, seeks to enhance writers’ skills by empowering them with tools needed for the task. “Whether you’re rich or poor, everyone has 24 hours in a day. It’s what you do with your 24 hours that counts. In life, you never give up.” *Joel Pablo Salud is currently the editor in chief of the Philippines Graphic.
When I Was 25
H4 Thursday, October 29, 2015
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CORY QUIRINO: IN A HURRY AT 25
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T still rings loudly in my memory— “Cory, you should have been born a boy!” Yes, that was my father’s special admonishment-cum-wish for me at age 13. Today, his words are as clear to me as the day he made the pronouncement. In the early 1960s it was taboo to defy parental authority, much less even question it. But by virtue of being the firstborn daughter, I might have been given special discretion. The mind-set at that time labeled boys as rightfully argumentative and girls respectfully submissive. And so, the day I told my father that I wanted to drop out of college and get a job; he didn’t stop me. The terms of the condition were simple, if I was hired on my first job interview, then he would allow me to quit school. And if I failed to get a job, it would mean back to school for me. We shook hands on it. And that was the start of my first deal.
Challenging times
MAYBE all along I was out to prove to dad that I could never fail. He had, after all, challenged me. But looking back at
my early 20s, I was in search of who I wanted to be in the real world. And the only way I could get the right answer or, to at least see a semblance of it, was to confront two realities: I was constantly in a state of challenging myself. I was a woman in a hurry. Therefore, by adopting this frame of mind, there was nothing I couldn’t do. While I had no dreams of becoming an Einstein, I looked into myself to find the genius within. Where did my strengths lie? And do I work on my weaknesses?
People business and more
ACKNOWLEDGING both my openness and willingness to work with people, I knew in my heart of hearts that this is where I belonged—not in some desk job in a solitary corner of an office, but out there—mingling
and interacting with the world. The first job I landed was a public relations (PR) assistant for an advertising agency called PAC—Philippine Advertising Counselors. Six months into the job and I wanted to do more. All told, I switched jobs and hopped from one company to the next a total of five times in the span of five years—PAC, Hyatt, Bancom, 3M Phils, Hyatt. The nature and scope of work were diverse from advertising, hotel PR, sales and marketing, investment management, human relations/ training and development. Finally I put out my roots at the Hyatt Regency Manila where I rose from sales executive to regional—PR for the Philippines (at that time there were three Hyatt Hotels—Manila, Baguio and Puerto Princesa).
Not enough
BUT where once compensation was a major motivating factor, in the end, you stay longest at the job you enjoy doing most. I learned early on that if you’re not happy doing whatever it is you are doing—then it’s not the right job for you. A sense of fearlessness takes over when you come to the realization that there is no job satisfaction—because you master the courage to quit and move on.
Limitless
ONE can never be limitless— especially when it comes to the physical. Nine years working in a high-pressured hotel job demands that you are not only available 24/7 to the customer and management. It is expected that you keep strong and healthy in order to excel in your work. In the hotel and tourism business there is no such thing as a nine to five kind of mentality. You are always ready on call—most especially in communications and PR. This keeps your mind and senses aware at all times. Thus after 6 p.m. there was the entertainment of VIP hotel clientele, as well as media. This inspired the beginnings of my wellness journey which eventually turned into a life advocacy. Translation: by 10 p.m., just when the disco hours began, in the glory days of Hyatt’s circuit, I mastered the art of holding a wine glass without sipping all night, as well as doing a French leave at the appropriate time. Therefore, with perfect timing, one can achieve limitless. It was just a matter of setting priorities.
Hello world!
OPENING one’s doors in order to expand an awareness of life and the role of people responsible for self-transformation is only possible if you adopt an open-heart and open-mind policy. And this comes only with experience. In between my corporate duties, I was offered a co-hosting stint of a civic-service segment in Oh No. It’s Johnny. Soon after, I anchored my own lifestyle show Citilife on ABS-CBN. From then on, my role in media took center stage. While filming for my TV show in Laguna, I was kidnapped by a criminal syndicate. This earned for me the distinction of being the first TV personality to be ever be kidnapped— and who survived to tell her tale. Immediately I was adopted by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption as their vice president and with it I expanded my personal advocacies to help victims of crime. What I am saying? That one’s place in the world is influenced and molded by personal fate—and how one decides to do with it. Life can offer you detours and each time you find yourself at the cross roads, a weighing of options take place. I was at this point when the Miss World Organization offered me to own and manage the Miss World Philippines licensee, having had no experience handling pageants, I hesitated to accept it until I was informed that they believed I
was the “best woman for the job.” Buoyed by their belief in me I agree for only one year. Intrigued and inspired by our victory in London in 2011, with Gwendolyn Ruais, first runner-up, my growing fascination to go for the elusive Miss World crown drove me to try again until in 2013, that historic win catapulted the Philippines into the elite circle of Miss World crown holders— thanks to Megan Young.
Balancing act
LOOKING back, it has been a colorful career journey for me though checkered with disappointments, disillusion and a near-tragic kidnapping. But one moves on and carries on. You take with you for the rest of your adventures and misadventures. One thing is certain—mistakes made along the way only serve to make you wiser. And wisend by the world I have become. There is no summing up one’s experiences into a grand total— only a balancing act with all that
you are in every aspect of who you are. Today I make time for my tri-media obligations T V, radio and print, personal and national advocacies in the promotion of wellness, book writing, anticrime crusading, civic duties through Rotary international District 3830, and the President Elpidio Quirino Foundation. One might asked if my love life suffered on the road to success. Sadly, yes. the Cory of yesterday tried her best to focus equally to her career and family.
Using one’s life
BEYOND a career, there is finding one’s place in the sun—the one that answers the question “Why am I here?” And if you haven’t found the answer yet you have to continue challenging yourself to go beyond your self-imposed bound ar ies. In truth, there are no boundaries if you intend to use your life in the discovery of the ultimate challenge—to become the best version of who you can become.