BusinessMirror 10th Anniversary Issue

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When I Was 25 BusinessMirror

Thursday, October 8, 2015

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SPEAKER FELICIANO ‘SONNY’ BELMONTE JR.

BEGAN SERVING THE PEOPLE AT AGE 25

‘A

B J M N.  C

NG hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makararating sa paroroonan [He who does not know how to look back at where he came from will never get to his destination].”

“This, one of the famous quotes of the Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal, describes ‘my life,’” said Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr., who emphasized how impor-

tant the past is in one’s future.

Reminiscing about the past, Belmonte said that while studying law at the Lyceum of the Philippines, he was working as a

reporter at the Manila Chronicle, covering the police and the Commission on Elections beats. “If there’s no past, there’s no future,” the 79-year-old Belmonte said.

Lawyer at 25 BUT at the age of 25, Belmonte resigned from the Manila Chronicle and took the Bar examinations.

His career as a lawyer also started at age 25, when he passed the Bar with high grades: 94 percent in Political Law; 93 percent in International Law and Land Registration and Mortgages; and with a general weighted average of 85.55 percent.

His grades were then one of the highest among examinees.

Belmonte was born in Manila on October 2, 1936, to Judge Feliciano Belmonte Sr. and his wife Luz, a teacher. As a new lawyer, he handled several criminal cases for free.

“Continuing my 25th year, I was practicing law as best as I could. [At that time] I didn’t have choices. I was a new lawyer. Criminal cases were assigned to me by a prosecutor, and I was handling these cases for free for a few months,” Belmonte said.

Continued on E8

SPEAKER Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr., when he finished law school at the age of 25.

E2

Thursday, October 8, 2015

When I Was 25

WHAT WERE YOU DOING

WHEN YOU WERE 25?

BUSINESSMIRROR’S MOTORING EDITOR ASKS TOYOTA MOTOR PHILIPPINES’S MICHINOBU SUGATA THE QUESTION

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When I Was 25 BusinessMirror

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CCORDING to Republican and political strategist Gary Teal, 25 is the age that most people look back to—when they seek to evaluate how they’ve fared in life, and ponder the things they did but wish they hadn’t done—the things they wish that they had done but didn’t, and the heavy cost of the time they wasted.

‘Sarariman’ AFTER graduation, Sugata-san was hired by the Tokyo Office of Toyota Motor Corp., where he was tasked with looking after the marketing operations in Toyota South Africa.

“I found the job very challenging as South Africa was a big automobile market in diversity,” he recounted. Being single and driving a Toyota Corolla Levin AE86 to work, made him refer to that time as the “glorious days.” Sugata-san remembered that he held an optimistic view of the world then. “There were many opportunities for me. Every day, I was able to recognize my growth. I set simple goals for myself, which was to work overseas—outside Japan—in a position of responsibility.”

Lifehack expert Aquila Norazman, on the other hand, says that 25 is the age when one has built a base from which to build the walls of one’s life and paint it with one’s favorite colors.

Turning 25 means you’re 25 years wiser, but the learning and experiences do not stop there.

When we look at people who we respect and admire, we often wonder what they were like when they were younger and what life was like for them, when they hit the quarter-of-a-century mark.

The musing is perhaps borne out of a curiosity to find out what they did right (or wrong) to bring them to where they are now.

In this piece, the BusinessMirror,

Higher learning ALTHOUGH most people would say that he had it so good, the ever-pragmatic expat said that he felt somewhat unprepared for the tasks he had to face. “I lacked knowledge and skills, which made me realize that I should have studied harder in the university,” he said.

That circumspection prompted him to earn a Master in Business Administration degree at the University of Washington’s Graduate School of Business in 1993.

Armed with new concepts and skills, Sugatasan radiated with hope, when he returned to his country, which was inevitably tempered by reality. “I thought Japan would lead the

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decided to do just that and ask local automotive industry bigwig, Michinobu Sugata, who is president of the country’s leading carmaker, Toyota Motor Philippines Inc., what he was doing when he was 25 years old.

“I was living in Tokyo, Japan, at that time and I was into cars, surfing, dating and studying English,” Sugata-san, as he is called in automotive circles, recalled. During that time, he was pursuing a degree of Bachelor of Economics from Kobe University, which he completed in 1983.

“I chose Economics because I believed that its theory and applications are useful in working in a big company, like Toyota,” he shared.

Thursday, October 8, 2015 E3

RENE SO (from left), Toyota Dealers Association president; Michinobu Sugata, Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) president; and Alfred Ty, TMP tech vice chairman, congratulates Melvin Lunas for being the Most Outstanding Student of TMP School of Technology during their first commencement exercise held in Santa Rosa, Laguna. NONIE REYES

global economy. But now, I realize it was just an illusion,” he stated in hindsight.

Play harder WHEN asked what life taught him when he was 25, he said, “Work hard and play harder.”

Pressing on, this writer asked what he would change if he had the chance to be 25 again? “I have tried to think about it many

times, but nothing comes to my mind,” the smiling Sugata-san replied.

Now if you were the head honcho of a car company that has captured 13 consecutive Triple Crowns or leadership in the passenger car, commercial vehicle and overall sales in one of the most cutthroat automotive markets in the region, you probably wouldn’t think of changing anything either, would you?

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When I

Business

Thursday, October 8, 2015

HENRY LIM: I WAS FORCED TO FI A

A   M G P

T a time when most of my peers were starting a new life, I was still mourning the death of my father. It was 1977, and I was just a young man of 25.

My father died unexpectedly in Hong Kong in 1976. He was only 49 years old. His untimely death prevented us from saying our good-byes.

Words were lost along with so many plans and dreams our family still had.

I suddenly found myself burdened with the responsibility of filling in the great void left

by my father—at home, and in our business.

I knew from the start that his were big shoes to fill.

As the eldest child, I took on the presidency of Sterling Co. With my father gone, I had to start from scratch.

Filling his father’s shoes

THE first few years were difficult and challenging. At that time, nobody even knew about Sterling notebooks, our company’s primary product.

I also had to struggle with naysayers, who believed that my father’s death would also spell the death of Sterling Co. They said: “Oh, Sterling is going to go down. The one who is holding the big flag is not around anymore.”

At the time, I must admit, my youth became my curse. But I forced myself to believe in what I can do—it was the only way I could honor the memory of my father.

I also vowed to do better than my father, because it was the only way I could make him proud.

Looking back, some would say that it may have been pure nerve that gave me the courage and ability to run Sterling Co. at a very young age. Some would say it may have even been the impulsiveness of my youth.

But earning the approval and respect of my father was one of my biggest motivations during the challenging times in my mid-20s.

No easy life

MY family and I did not have an easy life. Contrary to how people now perceive me, I was not born with a silver spoon. We were not poor but we were not rich.

When my father was still alive, we—my parents and I, along with my three other brothers—lived in a small apartment with no bathroom. We even had to go down several flights of stairs to my uncle’s warehouse just to use the bathroom.

Growing up, I’ve seen people who were rich. My classmates in college had Mercedes-Benzes with air-conditioning inside.

They even had houses in Forbes Park, the kind that could easily pass for a castle compared to where I lived.

So, I said, one day I’m going to work hard and own a house and a car. I wanted to prove to my parents that I am worthy of their respect and approval.

Though my parents did not give me riches or luxuries that many of those I grew up with learned to take for granted, they gave me the best gift of all—a good education.

Entrep training

THEY also tried to mold me and my brothers into law-abiding citizens who had sympathy for the less fortunate. They kept us grounded and always mindful of where we came from.

My family taught me that the only way for me to achieve my dreams is through hard work and perseverance. I had to study and learn from my father as diligently as I could, and I did.

My father started my training as an entrepreneur when I was in high school.

He taught me while bringing me along in his business travels all over the country and abroad.

He taught me the value of money and quality products, as well as the art of negotiating. He taught

me that there are risks that are worth taking, and that risk had its own rewards.

But my father was not content in giving me lessons from his business playbook, so to speak. He wanted to challenge me and test my business acumen.

Sell at a high price

ONE important challenge was in pricing products. Conventional knowledge taught businessmen to sell wares at a low price, and sell more. While my father believed in this, he challenged me to do the exact opposite—sell at a high price—but still sell more.

I was able to test-run my response to this challenge, when I decided to gamble on my college education. At that time, my father encouraged me to take up Economics, Marketing or Management, so that I can efficiently run Sterling Co. But I knew I needed a greater challenge.

I decided to take up Engineering, one of the most difficult courses at the University of the Philippines (UP). When I eventually earned my degree, I realized the folly of my gamble— Engineering didn’t teach you anything about reading balance sheets.

To make up for lost time, I had to go back to the drawing board and enroll in business courses at the Ateneo de Manila University.

Many years later, I would supplement my business education by going to Harvard University and better my entrepreneurial skills.

My education is part of the hard work and perseverance that my father taught me. Unbeknown to me, his informal lessons when I was growing up was preparing me for a life of learning. It prepared me to accept that no one is too old or too successful to learn something new.

Life’s lessons

LEARNING for me is no longer just about business. Books taught me that. By reading books about successful businessmen, like Akio Morita of Sony; Konosuke Matsushita of Panasonic; Sam Walton of Walmart; Steve Jobs of Apple; and Jack Ma of Alibaba, I learned about their trials and tribulations. I learned about their business and what kind of executives they were. But most important, I learned about who they were as people, who had both weaknesses and strengths. These lessons have become invaluable to me.

The lessons I gained from my father— education—and all the books I read on other businessmen helped me accomplish tasks I would not have dreamt possible when I took over Sterling Co. in 1977.

Another source of strength I had at that time was my family—my siblings and my mother. One by one, my siblings finished their education and were able to join me in running Sterling Co.. Joseph, the second oldest, graduated from UP; Willy finished his studies at the University of Santo Tomas; and Gerry went to the University of California Los Angeles for his business courses.

Family support

MY mother’s help was also invaluable not only to me and my siblings, but also to the business.

Though she was widowed early at 46 years old, and the loss of my father really took a toll on her, her support for us and the business never wavered. She was there with us every step of the way, and we are always grateful.

When my father passed away, we told my mother, “Mom, please, just sit behind and give us your direction, and we will do what we can do in order to make this company grow—10 times, a hundred times bigger than father’s.”

We all worked hard. We had the same vision and shared the same passion.

Yes, like most families, we had our misunderstandings, but we never allowed our differences to get the best of us. At the end of the day, we were family, and we had each other’s best interests at heart. Through my family’s help and support, I was able to keep Sterling Co. alive all these years.

Sterling notebooks

OUR hard work paid off, and we were able to become the best paper products and stationery company in the country. But I knew that we could expand more if only we advertised.

Even before, when my father was around, I was already telling him, “Look, if we are going to be a consumer product, we really have to advertise. There’s no other way.”

After my father passed away, I allocated a big budget for advertising, a move that I think has really paid off. I think everybody who’s 50 years or younger will really know about Sterling notebooks now.

Was 25

sMirror

Thursday, October 8, 2015 E5

ILL BIG SHOES AT THE AGE OF 25 I think we were the first one to advertise notebooks during that time. I spent P2 million in 1977 advertising our notebooks. At that time, nobody dared to do advertising on trimedia.

We did it in television, movie houses, print ads and radio just to advertise Sterling notebooks.

I worked hard toward my goal to be the best paper-product company. I’m happy to say, Sterling Paper can already be considered an icon among paper products. All of our product lines are good.

We did very well from those challenging days of the late 1970s and 1980s. But the changing times caught up with us. Technology has made our greeting cards, some stationery and photo albums, outdated. We decided to expand and innovate.

Expansion

WE branched out into packaging, and later on became the biggest paper-cups manufacturing in the Philippines. We have also taken up publishing.We do a lot more now compared to what we did when my father was alive.

But, just like my gamble on my college education, we decided to branch out and explore businesses outside of paper and paper products. We have already included call centers and subdivisions to our business portfolio.

But the change I have made to Sterling Co. that I am most proud of is selling hybrid rice.

Way back in 1997, I didn’t even know how much 1 kilo of rice is sold in the palengke. At that time, Vice President Joseph Estrada was my friend. He used to tell me he wanted to put agriculture as his top priority when he became the president of the country. He said we should learn from China.

“China is such a big country with a big population, yet, they can be self-sufficient in food,” he said.

Doña Maria

I DID my research and found out that China’s rice self-sufficiency really came from one person, Prof. Yuan Long Ping. He is a national treasure of China, he was the one who introduced hybrid rice to the Chinese. He was able to produce rice hybrids with two or three times the normal yield.

So, I went to China and visited him. We struck a special bond of friendship, and he was so gracious to pass on his technology of hybrid rice to the Philippines. But the hybrid rice of China cannot be used in the Philippines, because they belong to a temperate region, and we belong to a tropical region. We had to develop our own hybrid rice locally.

It took me more than three years to develop a rice variety—from 1998 to 2000.

I had this good technology, but I could not come up with a good hybrid variety. I could not stabilize the parental line for my rice variety. The seeds I gave to the farmers sometimes had high yield, sometimes had no yield at all. So it was dangerous to release the seeds during that time.

However, we met a tragic accident in 2000.

We opened our department store in Olongapo, but when we headed back that night, we were hit by a container trailer head-on.

In that accident, I lost my mother, who was sitting on my left side, and my younger brother, Willy, who was sitting on my right side. The driver died the next day. I was seriously injured—I had five broken ribs and

LIM NONIE REYES

hemathorax. The blood vessels in my lungs busted. I even suffered from vertigo, lost my sense of balance. I thought I was going to die.

But I survived the accident.

Two months after the passing of my mother, in the middle of the night, my lead

scientist Prof. Zhang Zhaodong was sleeping, when his bed suddenly moved. He said he thought it was an earthquake.

But he was surprised when he opened his eyes. He saw my mother, Doña Maria, standing in front of him.

My scientists, who all came from China, were very attached to my mother. She used to take care of them when they were sick.

That morning, my mother informed Professor Zhang he should go out in the field early in the next morning to take a look at all the rice flowers.

Professor Zhang argued with my mother, saying that he had already inspected all the flowers, and none of them had stabilized. He considered the current batch a failure, and was ready to start over again.

But Professor Zhang said, when he woke up the second time, he rushed to the field.

Walking along the pilapil, he heard a small voice. And he saw right there on lot No. 8, the flowers had stabilized.

Exactly two months from that tragic accident that took away my mother and brother, January 17, 2001, we came out with our first variety of hybrid rice, the SL-8H. Rice may be a “political commodity” or the country’s food staple but to me, it is so much more. By selling hybrid rice, I am helping farmers nationwide uplift their lives. Perhaps, I see myself in them and their struggles. They need help and just like the the help I received from my family and my education, I want to extend the same help to them.

I have seen farmers in Japan drive an SUV or Land Cruiser. Recently, we are seeing Filipino farmers driving Monteros and Fortuners. But millions more need help and support. These developments encourage me that I am treading on the right path.

To encourage more farmers to continue planting hybrid rice and as a treat to poor families nationwide, I launched my own

rice-bucket challenge using our Doña Maria Rice. I gave 5,000 buckets of rice to 5,000 poor families all over the country. Last year, I think, I personally gave 7,000 to 8,000 buckets of rice. I also challenged my top managers to do the same.

I even challenged MVP (Manny V. Pangilinan), who graciously accepted my challenge. He even asked other bossings to do the same. We have our dealers, farmers’ cooperative, who also gave out rice. So we reached almost 40,000 or 50,000 buckets of rice given all over.

I’m determined to do this every September of every year. I’d also like the legacy of this rice-bucket challenge to pass on to the next generation to make sure that even those poor people in the urban areas can savor our Doña Maria Rice.

Legacy

I WANT to be remembered as someone who was able to lift the standard of living of the farmers in the whole of Southeast Asia. I’m more determined now to make use of this hybrid-rice technology and give prosperity, not only to the farmers in the Philippines, but also to the farmers in other countries, such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam, even as far as Africa, Nigeria and Somalia.

Most of all, I want my legacy to be remembered through this poem I wrote: One seed can calm a tribe and stabilize a nation.

One seed can change one’s life.

One seed can determine one’s destiny.

One seed can lead to prosperity.

E6

When I Was 25 BusinessMirror

Thursday, October 8, 2015

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WHEN MEN WORE ‘BAKYA’: ‘KA’ JIMMY RECALLS HOW LIFE WAS AS A FARMER IN BULACAN WHEN HE WAS 25

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(CARP). During the more than 25 years after the historic signing of the law, Tadeo was at the forefront of the struggle for the implementation of the CARP. Ka Jimmy is, perhaps, the oldest living farmer-leader and agrarian-reform advocate who witnessed how Filipinos, especially farmers like him, lived their lives more than 50 years ago, and how they now live their lives today, when everything is moving fast and the postal service is almost a thing of the past, with the majority of the Filipinos having at least one cellular phone in the pocket, and information about almost anything can be downloaded through smartphones or in just a click of a mouse in the computer through the Internet technology.

a passionate government employee who lived a simple life, helping farmers in Bulacan, his home province, how to make their conditions better.

Born in Bocaue, Bulacan, on March 28, 1938, the 77-year-old farmer-leader paused for a moment when asked to narrate how life was during his youth and to go down memory lane.

“I came from a poor family from Bocaue, Bulacan. We were six siblings. That was before the International Rice Research Institute came to the Philippines. Before the Green Revolution,” he recalled.

“When I was 25, I was an employee of the Bureau of Agricultural Extension of the Department of Agriculture [DA]. My job was to help farmers. In Bulacan I saw how miserable farmers lived their lives whenever pests and diseases struck,” he said, admitting that he was part of those who helped introduce agrochemicals to farmers.

“Before, rice harvest was very low. And the use of chemicals was seen as solution.

Harvests doubled. But that did not last long,” Ka Jimmy said, a reason he decided to advocate organic farming.

Tadeo the government employee

Tadeo the farmer

FARMER, agrarian-reform and organic-farming advocate. This is how Jimmy Tadeo describes himself today.

Tadeo, or “Ka Jimmy” as he is called by friends and colleagues in acknowledgment of his works as a fighter for farmers’ cause, is a soft-spoken farmer-leader from Bulacan.

He prominently figured in the historic, but infamous, Mendiola Massacre on January 22, 1987, being the leader of the militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, which he formed along with other militant farmers to struggle for agrarian reform after the ouster of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, during the Edsa People Power Revolt in February 1986. It was the following year, after the Mendiola Massacre, where 13 farmers were killed by the police during the violent dispersal, that then-President Corazon C. Aquino signed the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform law and implemented the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program

BUT more than 50 years ago, Ka Jimmy was

AS a farmer who owns a small farm in Pla-

ridel, a town near his hometown Bocaue, he now practices organic farming, which, he believes, will help solve the multifaceted problems faced by Filipino farmers.

He remembers visiting farms being an extension worker of the DA then, and there was an emerging disease affecting watermelon farms in Bulacan.

“Farmers were helpless because they didn’t know what to do then. The disease was killing their crops. Our job was to teach them how to prevent losses,” Ka Jimmy said.

At that time, in the rural areas, life was simple. Outdoor activities were the fun way to spend idle time for the young and energetic. Food was not as hard to find and put on the table as it is today.

“In my youth, I remember that you have to learn how to swim to be able to cross the river, otherwise, you can’t get mangoes on the other side. I learned how to swim by myself. When I started swimming, I dripped and started to drown, but somehow, I learned how to kick and kick hard and was able to swim across,” he said.

P2:$1 exchange rate

“YOU plant vegetables for food, catch palakang bukid, or frogs, from time to time, hito [catfish] or dalag [mudfish], and your

problem is solved for the day,” he said.

Before, he said, farmers do not mind giving away vegetables to passersby.

“You just ask, and farmers give whatever you ask for,” Ka Jimmy said.

But even when the peso was strong, with the exchange rate at P2 to $1, money was hard to find.

Rice then was cheap and he remembered that rice farmers in Bulacan and other provinces were calling for an increase in the buying price of palay (unhusked rice) from P3 per kilo to P5 per kilo.

Even then, since farming was the only known way of life to many Filipinos after the war and many were landless, farmers had to enter into a 50-50 sharing deal with landed families who provided capital and seeds, an arrangement that still exists in many areas until now, only the share is 70-30, with farmers getting less of the harvest.

“Before, we don’t need fertilizers and not much on pesticides. Fertilizers then were organic. Just carabao poop and other animal manure,” he said.

‘Bakya’ for men

BUT at 30 metric tons to 50 MT of harvest, farmers barely had enough to put food on

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When I Was 25 BusinessMirror

TADEO

the table. During those times, men wore a wooden sandal called bakya, a footwear associated with women today. “If you were rich, you got to wear shoes from Marikina,” Ka Jimmy quipped.

“Marcelo and Elpo, those were the popular shoes then. Then later, Converse came.

Before, when you had Converse, you were definitely rich,” Ka Jimmy said.

The most common means of communication, he said, was the mail. “You write and send it via postal service. You go to postal office,” Ka Jimmy said.

“But you have to go downtown,” he

laughed. No computers, no Internet, no cellular phones and, although there was already the telephone service, only a few had the privilege of having one in their homes, he said.

The rich also wore watches. “The most famous then was Relova,” Ka Jimmy recalled.

Thursday, October 8, 2015 E7

People read komiks and magazines. There were very few newspapers, no television, and news of what was going on were heard from battery-powered transistor radios.

“Whenever there’s a transistor radio, you can see men and women gathering around, eagerly listening and waiting for news about incoming typhoons. That was the only way we learned if our farms were threatened by bad weather,” he said.

According to Ka Jimmy, there were not too many hospitals around then. But doctors went directly to their patients’ homes whenever they were requested.

“You just had to go to the clinic downtown, give a message about a sick person, leave a location or direction, and the doctor would come. I remember when I was injured playing basketball, a doctor came to our house,” Ka Jimmy said.

Unlike today, transportation then was hard to find. In rural areas, there’s no other means of transportation but the kareta, a cart pulled by carabao.

Public transportation then was very rare. There were a few jeepneys, and the fare was only 10 centavos.

There were also a few buses, but he said they only take buses when going to school, such as for a Bulakenyo like him going to the Araneta University, where he graduated college.

When former President Diosdado Macapagal introduced the agricultural land reform, he remembered being active in helping farmers fight for land. “We were pushing then for agrarian reform for farmers to have their own farms,” Ka Jimmy said.

Even before, even after agrochemicals were already popular, farmers had a hard time making ends meet, he said. “Even when harvest doubled, the cost of fertilizers was high,” he said.

“When Marcos took over, after he de-

clared martial law, I remember that he was hailed as a champion of landless farmers because of his declaration that all lands are subject to agrarian reform,” he said.

Tadeo the activist

BUT just one month after, Marcos backtracked and announced that the lands covered are only those planted with rice and corn, he lamented.

As years passed by, and as transportation cost also started to go up—from 10 centavos to 20 centavos—and farmers were still landless and struggling for land and depending on government support to make ends meet, he said he decided to do something.

“That struck me; because I belong to a poor family. Even when I was a young boy, there was sadness. Life was not complete.

I asked myself what’s wrong. I asked why I was born to a poor family. Somehow, I got my answer. Seeing how farmers lived as an extension officer, that was the time I started to think hard how to help my fellow farmers,” Ka Jimmy said.

Ka Jimmy remains passionate in helping his fellow farmers in his own little way until now. He wants them to become owners of the land they have been cultivating for decades through agrarian reform and learn ways to increase yield and income by shunning agrochemicals and going back to the organic way of life.

Except for the new technology, where farmers now have the television in their homes and cellular phones for communication—and even the know-how to use the Internet, life then and now remains basically the same for many poor farmers who remain poor and landless.

Ka Jimmy now leads a small group of Bulakenyo farmers under Paragos-Pilipinas and is the chairman of the National Rice Farmers’ Council.

E8

When I Was 25 BusinessMirror

Thursday, October 8, 2015

www.businessmirror.com.ph

SPEAKER FELICIANO ‘SONNY’ BELMONTE JR.

BEGAN SERVING THE PEOPLE AT AGE 25 Continued from E1

Family man at 25

WHILE still relishing the good news of passing the Bar at age 25, Belmonte and his wife Betty Go-Belmonte received another blessing from God: Their first baby, who they later named Isaac.

“At the age of 25, I was starting a family, I was starting a career and I had a lot of things going for me during that time,” Belmonte recalled. “So while I was helping my wife in her office, I was also reviewing for the Bar. I took the bar in 1960 at the age of 24 and passed it at the age of 25 with a grade of 85.55 in 1961,” he said.

The young Belmonte married Betty Go, daughter of Fookien Times publisher Go Puan Seng, in 1959. It was a whirlwind courtship that wound up with the young lovers’ elopement and marriage that ended with the untimely demise of Betty in 1994.

Betty was afflicted with cancer of the bones.

She cofounded the Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Star and Pilipino Star Ngayon.

Besides Isaac, Sonny and Betty raised three more children: Kevin, Miguel and Joy.

Public servant at 25

MONTHS before turning 26, Belmonte began his government service as the presidential staff assistant of President Diosdado Macapagal. “1962—when I was still 25—was the start of the Macapagal administration. It also marked my entry in government service. I joined the

government at the invitation of the late Labor Secretary Terry Adevoso. During that time, there was government office called Presidential Committee on Performance Efficiency, so we were conducting the management survey of various offices there,” Belmonte said.

“Also, since Terry Adevoso was an official of a political party then, I could not but help working under politicians; I worked under him, former Labor official Bernardino Abes, I also worked under Rufi no “Fenny” Hechanova, who was the right-hand man of President Macapagal.

I always worked as high as No. 2. These people were very deep in politics at that time. Although I was never a candidate, still my work involved some amount of politics. As their executive assistant, I was their right-hand man,” he said.

With these experiences, “I would say I am not a total stranger to politics,” Belmonte said.

After 25

DUE to his leadership skills, Belmonte also worked as a special assistant for the commissioner of customs and as an executive assistant at the Central Bank of the Philippines in 1963. He was elected president of the Manila Jaycees in 1971 and the Philippine Jaycees in 1973.

In the Jaycees World Congress in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, he was elected president of the Jaycees International for 1976, besting three frontrunners from Bel-

gium, Australia and Puerto Rico.

In 1986 President Corazon Aquino assigned him to head various financiallystruggling government-owned corporations. He became president and general manager of the Government Service Insurance System and the Manila Hotel, and chairman of the National Reinsurance Corp. of the Philippines. Belmonte also represented the government as member of the board of directors of the San Miguel Corp. and the Philippine Long Distance and Telephone Co. He also assumed the position of president and CEO of the Philippine Airlines, which was then wholly owned by the Philippine government. All these were among the top 10 corporations in the country. “Since the age of 16, I worked—up to now and I am already 79,” he said.

Fourth-highest position

THE year 1992 marked Belmonte’s first stint as a congressman. Before he became mayor of Quezon City, Belmonte was elected representative of the Fourth Congressional District of Quezon City, and held the position for three consecutive terms.

Belmonte was Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2001, and also served as House Minority Leader. In his first two terms, he was the vice chairman of the Committee on Appropriations.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, in the hierarchical order of political leadership, is the fourth-highest official in the Philippine government.

From June 2001 to June 2010, Belmonte was mayor of Quezon City, during which time he was selected as the Most Outstanding Mayor of the Philippines by the Local Government Leadership Awards.

Belmonte’s nine years of prudent fiscal management, aggressive tax-management strategies, and increasing efficiency and growing discipline in the management and use of the city’s resources made Quezon City the most competitive city of Metro Manila, and second in the Philippines today.

These are rankings made by businessmen in the Philippines in studies of the Asian Institute of Management, in cooperation with international agencies.

Quezon City was cited for the dynamism of its local economy, the quality of life of its residents and the responsiveness of the local government in addressing business needs, among others.

In 2007 Quezon City was ranked the No. 7 Asian City of the Future, based on a survey commissioned by the Financial Times of London through a consultancy based in Singapore.

In May 2010 he was elected congressman, representing the Fourth District of Quezon City under the ruling Liberal Party.

In 2013 Belmonte was reelected Quezon City representative, and maintained his position as Speaker of the House. Belmonte said that he is eyeing reelection next year to continue his priority bills, including his proposal amending the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

BELMONTE’S governance of Quezon City has been recognized through the following prominent awards: 2008 Galing Pook Award for the Payatas Dumpsite Transformation Project (Galing Pook Foundation); 2005 CEO Excel Award in Communications Leadership for Government; 2005 Galing Pook Award for Outstanding Government Program; Molave Youth Home (Galing Pook Foundation); 2003 Galing Pook Award for Effective Fiscal Management (Galing Pook Foundation); Most Business-friendly City awardee for 2003, 2004 and Hall of Famer in 2005 (Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry; 2003 Livable Community Award (Metrobank Foundation); and 2003 Kabalikat sa Pabahay Award for the Local Government Unit with the Most Number of Community Mortgage Programs (Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council).

He also received the following personal recognition: 2003 Most Outstanding City Mayor (Local Government Leadership Awards); Huwarang Pilipino awardee for Local Governance (Huwarang Pilipino Foundation); CEO Excel Awards for Communications Excellence in the Government Sector, 2006; Outstanding Filipino in Government Service of the Philippine Jaycees, and Insular Life Philippines, 2002; Outstanding Congressman of the 9th, 10th and 11th Congress; Gintong Ama awardee 1993; Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary Club of Manila; Model Filipino Awardee of the World Family Institute, 1994; Outstanding Alumni, Lyceum of the Philippines; Benedictine Centennial awardee, San Beda College.

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When I Was 25

Thursday, October 8, 2015

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

ALFREDO YAO F

HIS BUSINESS GENIUS CAME FROM WITHIN, NOT FROM SCHOOL

B C N. P

OR the go-getting Millennial generation, the name of the game in life, as in business, is keep up, not catch up.

This is apparent in the growing new breed of Millennial dollarmillionaires, whose businesses are market-disrupting innovations hinged on doing things faster, easier, better.

Continued on F8

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When I Was 25 BusinessMirror

Thursday, October 8, 2015

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OSCAR S. REYES

IN GOOD COMPANY AT 25

S

B L L

IXTY-NINEYEAROLD Oscar S. Reyes has been working hard for half a century now. During those 50 years, Reyes had stints in the country’s top corporations here and abroad, yet, he remained simple, humble and dedicated to his craft.

Success came to him early when he was offered a job at the Private Development

Corp. of the Philippines after finishing a degree in Economics at the Ateneo de Ma-

nila University. “I was quite fortunate because I finished college at 18 and immediately joined a leading financial institution.

I started from the ground level and did all of the basics of business. I got involved in market research and, at the same time, exposed to different companies. I did project development and financing for four-and-ahalf years,” Reyes said.

At the same time, Reyes said his craft for such was honed after he chanced upon an opportunity to study in Japan and Canada, where discipline and value mattered most.

“I got two different grants. One was from the Asian Productivity Organizations in Japan, where I was trained for business management consultancy. Shortly after that I trained in Canada, for international business,” he recalled.

These all happened from 1965 to 1970.

MANILA Electric Co. President and CEO Oscar M. Reyes

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When I Was 25 BusinessMirror

Thursday, October 8, 2015 F3

terms of tools. The level of technology has drastically improved. Work is done a lot faster now.”

Based on his observation, however, the skills of a great worker—be he an employee or employer—remains intact.

“The way you interface and run a company remains essentially the same. You still have to deal with customers, shareholders, business partners and investors the same way we did back then.

“I still read and go over reports. I still execute plans and programs. The principles of doing business did not change. These were only improved for the better,” he said.

His next job—as a consultant at the National Steel Corp.—further gave him the confidence to pursue a career in managing a business.

Peaking at 25

AT 25, his career was at its peak. He recalled having spent 12 years holding key executive positions in the Philippine Petroleum Corp. (PPC) from 1971 to 1983 before joining Shell.

“It all started when Chris Monsod brought me to this place. I was introduced to someone who, it turned out, was the son of Geny Lopez. It all happened in one hour.

There was no further discussion. I got a job at PPC right away,” Reyes said with a big grin on his face.

It was during those 12 years when he got to put to good use all that he learned early on. The experience was fulfilling yet challenging because the country was placed under martial law then.

“It was a challenging time to launch a business because it was martial law at that time. You know, the government and the Lopezes were not exactly the best of friends. But with such great mentors by my side, I was able to survive the very tough times,” he said.

Reyes credits his tenacity and success to three influential mentors—Christisn Monsod, Jose “Ping” de Jesus and Cesar Buenaventura. He said they are keen observers who exuded confidence, some of the most important qualities that make them strong leaders.

“They taught me how to survive and accomplish the missions, amid a very tough environment due to martial law. It’s not so much by telling me what I should do but more on how to arrive at a decision. I remember we were working for up to 16 hours a day. The rigid training and discipline are

Passion for excellence

what kept me going. And I enjoyed doing these,” Reyes recalled.

Eventually, Reyes became PPC’s executive vice president and general manager from 1983 to 1985.

A year later Reyes joined Shell and stayed on with the company for 20 years. He served various top positions: general manager, vice president and country chairman.

Now, Reyes is the president and CEO of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the country’s largest power-distribution firm. He

joined Meralco in July 2010, as the utility firm’s COO, before being promoted.

‘Not my ambition’

AS a kid, Reyes said he wanted to be a fireman. “I got attracted to sirens at age 4 or 5.

It was not really my ambition to be where I am now,” he said, adding that he was not fond of reading books.

“I don’t read books. I don’t enjoy reading long books, but I make it a point to be updated in current events.”

Reyes, a board member of 104 entities in 13 different organizations across 20 different industries—and yet not a book lover— is thankful for the people he had worked with over the years. “They had confidence in me. You just have to know what you want to achieve. I did. I accomplished it and I delivered,” he said.

Describing how the working environment was compared to now, Reyes uttered the obvious: technological progress.

“I think the workplace was different in

WHEN asked what is the best advice he can give to the young generation, Reyes cited three: Love and enjoy what you are doing; always create value; and have the passion for excellence.

“I did not aspire for any particular position. All I wanted is to do my best; and I did, and so the people around took notice of me.

Promotions and compensation came after,” he said.

All these years, work for him is still challenging. There is no stopping Reyes, or OSR as he is called, from leading Meralco or any other top firms in the future should he decide to move on.

When asked if he has plans to retire soon, Reyes said retirement is inevitable.

But, for now, Reyes said he feels he has a 25-year-old’s health, mind and spirit still.

“I was surrounded with such great mentors who were good influences. That made a lot of difference. Until now, I am surrounded with those kinds of people.”

He said, “My principle in life is simple: Be happy with what you do so that you can continue to enjoy what you do. And, in the process, create value in what you do.”

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Thursday, October 8, 2015

PLDT’S ERIC ALBE

FROM BIN

A

B L S. M

T Manila’s bustling China Town in the 1980s, Ernesto R. Alberto was a young man evaluating the cost benefit of changing an entire fleet of armored cars and checking randomly the ledger of the day’s peso, dollar and yen computations. Fast-forward almost three decades later, he is now an executive of one of the Philippines’s most profitable listed companies.

Well clad with a suit and a pocket square, Ernesto—or Eric as he is known by his friends— just came from a meeting with the big boss of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), the man whom they regard as their MVP—a play on Manuel V. Pangilinan’s initials—or the most valuable player.

Gathering his thoughts, Eric takes a sip on his first glass of Chardonnay in a café in Makati City, and began telling his story.

Banker at 25

“I WAS a young bank manager for Equitable Banking Corp. in Binondo when I was 25. It was 1986, a very significant period in Philippine history that opened up the country to the rest of the world,” he said.

His vocabulary back then consisted of the terms borrowing, liquidity, loans and interest rates. After all, a bank manager must be well versed in lending terms and policies.

He was a protégé of then-Far East Bank and Trust Co. Chairman Jose B. Fernandez—whom he fondly calls Jobo—in his early 20s, when he started his banking career as a credit and investment analyst.

“Early in my career, I really admired the late Central Bank Governor and Far East Bank Chairman Jobo Fernandez for his intelligence and bearing. I liked the way he dresses up, the way he speaks and his demeanor was very classical. When I was younger, I wanted to be like him. He is a very formidable man with a very good reputation,” Eric said.

He always wanted to become a successful banker, Eric, who graduated with flying colors from San Beda College in Manila with a degree in Economics, said. A career in banking, he explained, gave him a branding of being a dignified man.

“It was a very dignified career, as it is the most apolitical job out there. Banking brands you as a very trustworthy person. You cannot be corrupt in the banking profession. You must be trustworthy because you will be entrusted with people’s money. As you go up the corporate ladder in banking, you will be entrusted with keys to those funds,” he said.

Banking also gave him a good reason to dress up nicely, he quickly quipped.

‘GQ’

“IF you are single and you want to impress girls you must dress up, right? So it was very important for me to buy back issues of GQ then show it to my tailor, who copies the dress for me,” Eric said.

He recalled that he used to date a lot of pretty ladies in his mid20s, when life was still as simple as pie. Though he was a little cautious with the people he interacted with—fearing that a son of a politico or a military man would play the death game with him— he remained very friendly with many people.

“My crowning point was when I became a vice president of a bank at 28,” Eric said.

‘Sayote’ pie and the economic standstill

COMING from a family of nine—six siblings and two lawyers for parents—Eric lived a modest lifestyle.

He has no other choice, though, as Manila was practically closed to foreign money with the martial rule in place.

“The population was polarized back then. It was an era of belt tightening, paired with a ban on importation of nonessential things, as there was really nothing much to import with a negative balance of trade and payment. There was not much choice in the market,” Eric said.

One such incident that proved that modesty was the norm back then was his family’s Christmas pie.

“People became very innovative because of the situation. I remembered that instead of an apple pie, my mother baked us sayote pie for Christmas,” he recalled.

“We had to resort to local clothes, which were sewn by local tailors that filled the need for clothing.

It’s lamentable that today, a lot of microbusinesses like these have collapsed.”

The local economy back then was at a standstill and normal people lived with little on their pockets, while politically connected people were squandering around, enjoying while their poor brethren suffered.

“Despite an economic standstill, the Filipino spirit was still alive. There where discos in every five-star hotel in the Philippines; and at your 20s, that’s where you go,” Eric said. “People still had fun, but life was much simpler.”

The 52-year-old executive remembered that the heydays of the disco scene in the Philippines were concentrated on a specific strip in Makati City.

The discos where he used to spend his nights in were now replaced with other establishments, but he will never forget their beauty and character.

Speaking in hushed tones, Eric remembered his fear of being peppered with bullets at a disco should he earn the ire of a politically connected man. He quickly

PHILIPPINE Long Distance and Telephone Co. (PLDT) Execu Alberto IPC

returned to his normal voice, after realizing that he has been afforded with the freedom of speech for quite a few decades now.

“I was young at 25 in a marketplace where there was not only political, but also economic turmoil.

No one would support a country that defaulted in its loans. In the 1980s, when I was still a young bank manager, Central Bank Governor Jobo Fernandez, had to float T-bills just to keep the economy afloat and keep liquidity intact, because there was capital flight with interest rates of over 40 percent,” he recalled.

It was also in the 1980s when Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., known as Ninoy, was shot at Manila’s international gateway, stirring up the fire in the Filipino people to stage the largest peaceful protest in 1986 that ousted President Ferdinand Marcos.

Edsa veteran

ERIC was there—by accident and by choice. He lived just a few kilometers away from Epifanio

When I Was 25 BusinessMirror

Thursday, October 8, 2015 F5

ERTO

NONDO TO CLOUD “ AFTER his two-decade stint in the banking sector, Eric was convinced by his colleagues to fill in a seat at the country’s largest telecommunications player, PLDT. “In 2003, my colleagues from Citibank, Ricky Vargas and Annabel Chua, recommended me to MVP and brought me to fill in a corporate business head. I was into corporate relations banking back then, so they thought that I have the right background and network to head the corporate business group of PLDT,” he said.

Today, Eric has the know-hows and the expertise to the latest in technology, from innovations such as the ever-so-complex cloud to the concept of Big Data. He is, among more than 20 hats, the president of ePLDT Inc., the information and communications technology arm of the telecommunications titan.

“What I had when I joined PLDT was just barebones management orientation. I moved when I was 42 years old, when I still had a lot of energy; and I’m glad I did. I don’t think I will have the same amount of energy and patience to take on such a drastic shift in careers. I did it at the time when I already have the maturity and seasoning to do so.

If I jumped earlier, I won’t have the maturity—and seasoning—and the exposure to take on a task like that,” he explained.

Shifting careers, he said, allowed him to gain more perspective in life.

“In banking, you can never be a maverick; but in technology, you should not be risk-averse, else you will be left behind,” Eric said. “You have to have the balance of both.”

In more than a decade in managing subsidiaries of the telecommunications giant, Eric learned that adjusting to the latest trends and fads in the tech scene is a constant, as they come every six months to a year.

“The beauty of technology [that] is every six months to a year, things change; so you are all on a clean slate after. Hence, it takes a lot of selfdiligence and studying to keep pace with the new trends in technology and make them to something commercially distributable,” he said.

His work today involves selling to corporations—from large ones to the microenterprises—solutions that help them improve the efficiency of their work through certain tech products, both physical and digital.

Untarnished inheritance

utive Vice President and ePLDT Group President and CEO Ernesto R.

de los Santos Avenue (Edsa), where the People Power Revolution broke out. “I remember that I was in my girlfriend’s house in Alabang, and I heard the news. On my way back, there was a crowd, so I managed to get there. Every day that my brother and I went, the crowd grew in number. It was frightening when the military was instructed to intervene,” he said.

A few years after the lifting of the martial rule, Eric transferred to Citytrust Banking Corp., married his girlfriend at the time and built a family of four with her.

Contribution at 25

“MAYBE my contribution to the world when I was 25—when I was still in corporate banking—was that I channeled loans to fund working capital of fledging companies.

It was a personal victory, and that is how I built relationships and friends,” he said.

The executive admits that he has a soft spot for entrepreneurs, who, he said, are the cornerstone and the bedrock of an emerging economy.

“We need to empower and enable them to grow further,” he said. “The loans that I approved when I was 25 were the good deed that I have done for them, and that’s all that matters.”

ERIC’S salary might be as high as the sky, as proven by the education of his two daughters and his only son, who are all studying in prestigious schools around the globe. Despite this, he likes to believe that he has not changed much.

He learned this value from his parents, who had to help each other out to give their seven children the best education, to bring food on the table and to dress them decently.

“We were not poor, but we were not rich. My mother just knew her priorities. Education was paramount, then food and the last is the way we dressed up in public,” he said.

These, Eric said, are what he inherited from his parents that he would also like to pass on to his children, stressing on the need to teach them financial prudence and integrity. “I don’t spoil my kids, which, I guess, is part of tough love,” he said. “They must learn to be financially prudent despite the blessings that we currently enjoy.”

He recalled that he was able to instill this value to one of his daughters when she asked Eric to buy a $4,000 Chanel bag while they were on holiday in Europe.

“I didn’t buy her the bag that she wanted and I explained why. I told her that if I bought the bag myself,

then I am robbing her of the joy of getting things from her own effort,” he said. “She understood, but quickly quipped: ‘How much would one of my kidney’s cost? Would it suffice for the bag?’ And I just laughed.”

Eric knew how it felt to be successful without the help of his family’s wealth. This, he said, allows a person to have a sense of fulfillment in life.

“The blessings that I have had all came from blood, sweat and tears. They gave me a sense of fulfillment, and I hope my kids will also feel the same,” he said.

Despite being a car junkie—his iPad Air contains a lot of pictures of high-end cars— Eric said he remains prudent in his finances because he believes that one should not necessarily inflate his lifestyle with the increase in income.

“Millennials must learn to stick to their values—the simple values that they learned when they were young. They must not change themselves, particularly at how they deal with people, just because they have higher income,” he stressed. “They must also learn the value of integrity in all ways possible, even the integrity to admit who they really are.”

He also advised the youth of today to

constantly seek themselves to find out the aspects of life that they should not change.

“The secret to life is finding the few things that you will never compromise on, like being honest and playing fair,” Eric said.

Everything is fleeting

ERIC has at least a decade, or at most two, before he retires from work. As much as he would like to continue earning, life, he said, does not circle around material things, much less around titles.

“At the end of this long, hard career, the titles are temporary. I’d appreciate a continuous income, like building a nest egg; but the titles, I know very well from day one, these are just temporary. At the end of the day, the life that you lived with your family and friends—the relationships that you built—that’s all that matters,” he said.

“These are all means, not the end, means to living, but it is not about living,” Eric added.

He sipped on his last glass of Chardonnay that night, his eyes gleaming after the nostalgia of remembering when he roamed the frenzied streets of Binondo, memories that were kept for more than two decades.

AT THE END OF THIS LONG, HARD CAREER, THE TITLES ARE TEMPORARY. I’D APPRECIATE A CONTINUOUS INCOME, LIKE BUILDING A NEST EGG; BUT THE TITLES, I KNOW VERY WELL FROM DAY ONE, THESE ARE JUST TEMPORARY. AT THE END OF THE DAY, THE LIFE THAT YOU LIVED WITH YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS— THE RELATIONSHIPS THAT YOU BUILT— THAT’S ALL THAT MATTERS.

“

From bills to the Cloud

F6 Thursday, October 8, 2015

When I Was 25 BusinessMirror

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RAFAEL ‘PAENG’ NEPOMUCENO

ON TOP OF THE BOW W B J O

RAFAEL “PAENG” NEPOMUCENO’S achievements are unparalleled up to this day. NONIE REYES

ELL-TRIMMED and a handsome mestizo at 6-foot-2 and already a two-time World Cup of Bowling champion, who wouldn’t recognize Rafael “Paeng” Nepomuceno bopping and grinding at the then-chic Where Else disco at the Hotel InterContinental?

Not to mention more dancing to Olivia Newton John’s “Let’s Get Physical” and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” also at Mars on Makati Avenue and there you have a young man so successful in his chosen career—and sport—doing other things he loves most outside of the bowling alleys.

That was 1982, when Nepomuceno didn’t quite imagine yet that he was destined to become world champion four more times and turn out as one of the most recognizable bowling icons.

“When I was 25, like any other guys, I loved to hang out, dance, and what have you,” Nepomuceno, now 58 but still so much into competitive bowling, recalls. “And I do love going out

of town, until now.”

It’s been mentioned over and over again, but no matter how many times Nepomuceno’s brightest achievements are outlined, they leave one always in awe.

Take a look:  World Cup champion in four different decades—1976 in Tehran, Iran; 1980 in Jakarta, Indonesia; 1992 in Le Mans, France; and 1996 in Belfast, Northern Ireland;  A total of 130 international titles, including the World Invitational Tournament in 1984 and World Tenpin Masters in 1999;  Was named the Greatest International Bowler of All Time by the prestigious Bowlers

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When I Was 25 BusinessMirror

Thursday, October 8, 2015 F7

WLING WORLD Journal International in September 2003; and  Youngest winner of the Philippine International Youth Open at 17.

So much for a young man who, also at 25, pulled off what he describes as his greatest achievement that made those glittering World Cup trophies pale in comparison—win the heart and wait down the aisle for Saira Puyat, who, for Nepomuceno, is the most precious trophy he has ever hoisted.

“That was when I was getting serious with my personal life. I was traveling a lot and I was looking forward to have my future wife be with me in competitions abroad,” Nepomuceno says.

“As it turned out, she was my lucky charm. I won four more world titles and established three Guinness world records, which are all unbroken up to this day.”

It turns out being in the limelight and a world champion is not everything for a Paeng Nepomuceno, whose nights of dancing and out-of-town sorties are always fitted into a regimen of discipline in the bowling alley.

Even with a strict father as

coach—Angel—the younger Nepomuceno was in the thick of everything.

“I was in on what’s happening in the country—from the current trends to political, social and sports issues,” he says. “And I liked watching tennis, the likes of Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert.”

Hollywood movies were also tops in Nepomuceno’s list. Name it—the horror film Poltergeist to the sci-fi E.T., and of course, Brook Shields and Farah Fawcett, among others, and the hit TV series Dynasty—he was a fan of them all.

And like almost every other Filipino, Nepomuceno loves basketball. He admits to enjoying the fabled Crispa-Toyota rivalry in the Philippine Basketball Association, but kept his favorite team to himself.

And he ran, too.

“I was into running. I loved it and joined a lot of fun runs, mostly 10K, and collected those finisher’s certificates and t-shirts,” Nepomuceno says.

“I cross trained with weights for physical fitness. I was one of the first athletes in the Philippines who believed

in cross training with other activities like running and weights in order to have positive effect on my sport,” he adds.

Blessed with three children— Rafael Jose, Saira Margarita Paz and Isabel Angela— Nepomuceno never ceases to aspire for more in his sport, even bucking a left-hand injury that needed surgery and sidelined him for a while in 1999.

“At 25, my career was really peaking. I really wanted to win more World Cups, the most prestigious tournament,” Nepomuceno proudly narrates.

But despite all those accomplishments—including becoming one of only 25 coaches certified as gold level by the United States Bowling Congress, something that compares to a doctorate degree in the academic world—Nepomuceno would never drop his bowling ball and replace those bowling shoes with any other.

“It’s really always a step by step for me,” Nepomuceno says.

“Things didn’t happen overnight.

And I will never turn my back to my sport. I’ll always be rolling that ball and toppling those pins.”

FOUR-TIME World Cup champion Rafael “Paeng” Nepomuceno strikes that iconic championship pose at the Superbowl Bowling Center at the Makati Cinema Square. NONIE REYES

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Thursday, October 8, 2015

When I Was 25 BusinessMirror

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ALFREDO YAO HIS BUSINESS GENIUS CAME FROM WITHIN, NOT FROM SCHOOL Continued from F1

This may seem like an open threat to the baby-boomer generation of business honchos whose empires are firmly rooted in traditional, capital-intensive sectors, but one tycoon appears to be unfazed by the phenomenon: Beverage magnate Alfredo M. Yao. “Times have changed because of technology. The speed of technology has changed things in the business but we have to adapt, and change, too,” Yao said in an interview.

Tech-driven

JUMPING on emerging technology is nothing new for the 72-yearold businessman, as it has been a hallmark of his four decades as an industrialist. Adapting technology was, in fact, the move that propelled his first large business venture, Zest-O Corp., to be the market leader it is today in the ready-todrink juice segment.

In 1979 Yao brought to the Philippines a then-unknown innovation in packaging called “Doypacks,” similar and better known to baby-boomers as Tetrapack.

The technology failed to gain any taker from food manufacturers, and compelled Yao to make the juice himself to be able to use the machine. The rest is history.

But even before he made the bank as the country’s “Juice King,” Yao was no idler looking for his big break: At 25 years old, Yao was already in the printing-press service specializing in shrink-wrapping and packaging.

Businessman at 18

“IN 1968 I was 25 and newly married. I got married in 1966, but by

ple, and this opportunity should be seized, he said.

“Before, very seldom ka makakakita ng 25-year-old na milyonaryo. Ngayon, ang dami na, and that makes it much more competitive to do something new. But, at the same time, mas maraming opportunities to hit it big, because people are always looking to find solutions to things, like transportation,” he said, citing the innovation of transport-network company Uber as an example.

In terms of support for smaller businesses, the landscape is also much friendlier now than back in the 1960s, he said.

“Walang masyadong tulong noon, maybe because there was much less competition in the business back then. Any subsidy or government support meron noon but now, there’s more support from the private sector, too,” Yao said.

PCCI president

ALFREDO M. YAO with his mother, Soledad

then, eight years na ako into the business,” Yao said.

At 17, Yao sought a start-up capital from the Rizal Financing Corp., the forerunner of the Development Bank of the Philippines, to delve into the printing business.

Th is was to be the start of Yao’s

pursuit of his ultimate ambition: To become a very successful businessman.

“I wanted to have my business to change my life, to improve my life.

The way I saw it, I couldn’t improve my life by working for someone else,” the businessman said.

Zest-O

FROM a printing-and-packaging solutions company in the 1960s to the 1970s, Yao established his beverage-making company through brand Zest-O in the 1980s and diversified into real estate, banking, pharmaceuticals

and air transportation.

All these to a man who only finished high school. He tried going to college, but had to stop, as his full attention was needed in managing his growing business empire.

Semexco Marketing Inc., Harman Foods, Amchem Marketing Inc., American Brands Philippines Inc., SMI Development Corp. and Boracay’s Sol Marina Bay Resort are among the companies Yao founded under the umbrella of the Yao Group of Companies.

Seeing that the entrepreneurial spirit among today’s Millennial is still on the upsurge, Yao notes that the business environment today is much more competitive.

25-year-old millionaires

BUT even with tighter competition, the environment is more enabling for enterprising young peo-

YAO currently sits as the President of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the country’s largest organization of businesses, mostly comprised of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). For PCCI, the development of SMEs is a key advocacy, with the PCCI SME Development Division arranging several linkages for members with international counterparts through business-matching sessions and foras.

Just this April, PCCI renewed a 39-year partnership with PCCI Japan to allow more business ventures to flourish among SMEs of both countries.

Philippine Business Bank

AS a businessman, his banking arm, the Philippine Business Bank (PBB), specifically caters to corporate and SME markets. Branch count of PBB was at 116 in 2014, and expansion for 12 more are slated this year to penetrate the SME market deeper.

But having scaled above and beyond being an SME in the years following the establishment of ZestO, Yao intends to keep changing and diversifying, as times dictate.

Although keeping mum on other industries he’d like to venture into in the near future, Yao said a venture close to his heart is in education. “If you ask me, I would like to have a school—a university or a high school. I value education, maybe because that’s something I never had,” he said.

When I Was 25

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ARMED FORCES CHIEF OF STAFF GEN. HERNANDO IRIBERRI

CHARTING A COURSE 31 YEARS EARLIER

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B R A

OINING the military service, where only the brave and selfless souls exist and thrive, was the dream of Hernando Delfin Carmelo A. Iriberri as a young boy.

He got this by way of the Philippine Military Academy.

But while he accomplished his first goal, he set out for his biggest and ultimate objective, which is to lead the Armed Forces, a “soldier’s dream” that came into reality 31 years later.

Achieving the feat was not an easy task for Iriberri, because he had to begin working for it as a young Army junior officer, and

as they say, the rest is history.

Company commander at 25

AT 25, Iriberri was a company commander at the Army’s 23rd Infantry Battalion that was attached to the Fourth Infantry “Diamond” Division at the time. The 4ID, based in Camp Evangelista, Cagayan de Oro City, operated against rebels and other lawless groups in the

Misamis provinces, Bukidnon and Agusan del Sur at the time.

As a leader of men, however, Irriberi showed his finest when he commanded the Task Group Panther “COMAG” of the First Scout Ranger Regiment in Central Mindanao, where his troops killed 10 members of the Abu Sayyaf Group in Barangay Klobe, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato.

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IRIBERRI

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ARNEL PACIAN

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HO would ever think that a slum dweller, a penniless student who migrated to the city to pursue the elusive dream of education, would one day become a city builder?

This is the story of Arnel Paciano Casanova, currently the president and CEO of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), a government development corporation mandated to transform former military lands into alternative productive civilian enclaves.

Casanova grew up in a poor

LAWYER Arnel Paciano Casanova, president and CEO of Bases Conversion and Development Authority, speaks before participants of an investment conference in 2014.

family in Padre Garcia, Batangas province. His father, a farmer, and her mother, a seamstress, had a hard time raising him and his seven siblings. Thus, at a young age, there was this thirst for learning as a way out of hardship for the family and a way to be successful in life someday.

Thirst for learning

“IN my town, a college degree was literally an impossible dream. Yet, my thirst for learning was insatiable.

Armed with P100 in my pocket, I went to Manila and took the University of the Philippines [UP] College Admission Test, and passed,” Casanova reminisced.

So while studying in UP, the young Casanova lived with relatives, who were slum dwellers in Fort Bonifacio. He then became one of those unknown city migrants who had to scrounge for food, shelter and education while sleeping on the floor, enduring leaking roofs and flooded road. “Yet, I found grace in humanity in the slums. Neighbors know each other. I never ran out of people to play street basketball with at any given time of the day or night. We shared food, no matter how meager it could be. I found my true friends in the midst of squalor,” he continued.

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NO CASANOVA

ER TO A CITY BUILDER “For me they are equally good and hardworking. My story is not unique, and we have many youths who have moved mountains through hard work and selflessness.

The only difference with today’s youth is the lack of reverence for the heroes of our country. Because we can learn a lot from our history, value those who passed before us,” Casanova admonished.

Peace negotiator at 25

FAST forward. Casanova was 25, just a year out of the UP Law School. He was a young lawyer working as part of the government peace panel.

“Fortunately, we were able to successfully negotiate peace with former military rebels. For this, I was awarded the prestigious Philippine Legion of Honor Medal [1997], one of the youngest recipients of such award under the presidency of President Fidel Ramos,” he said.

According to Casanova, other accomplishments of the peace panel then included the recovery of weapons, firearms, explosives and ammunitions of the army rebels—Reform the Armed Forces Movement, Soldiers of the Filipino People, Young Officers Union (RAM-SFP-YOU).

As a lawyer, he also helped draft the General Peace Agreement between the Philippine government and the RAMSFP-YOU and the Marcos loyalist forces and the Amnesty Proclamation. And in 2003, he testified on military corruption before the Feliciano Commission, a body created to investigate the Oakwood Mutiny. This resulted in the recovery of government property, valued at approximately $200 million, which was misappropriated by a group of retired and active generals of the military.

BCDA chief

AND now, 20 years after, Casanova finds himself approaching his fifth year as BCDA president and CEO. And his latest accomplishments: “Through sound partnerships forged with the private sector, prudent asset management and revenue collection, we were able to contribute over P27 billion for the account of the modernization of the Armed Forces. Among our projects which greatly benefited the nation are the Bonifacio Global City, the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway and soon, the country’s first, smart, disasterresilient metropolis, the Clark Green City.”

Other advocacies

CURRENTLY, he is a faculty member of the Ateneo School of Government and UP College of Law teaching social entrepreneurship and law, while mentoring other social enterprises involved in health care, poverty alleviation, environment, housing and others.

He is also into microfinancing and is part of CARD Inc., the biggest microfinance institution in the Philippines. He has founded AvantChange, a social enterprise organized in Cambridge that aims to promote social entrepreneurship in Asia. Further, he supports the Tsinelas Leadership of the late Secretary Jesse Robredo, and is among the pioneers of Kaya Natin! (We Can!), a social movement for good governance and ethical leadership.

A staunch supporter of the youth, Casanova believes in the promise and the vast possibilities that they can do. “For me they are equally good and hardworking. My story is not unique, and we have many youths who have moved mountains through hard work and selflessness. The only difference with today’s youth is the lack of reverence for the heroes of our country.

Because we can learn a lot from our history, value those who passed before us,” he admonished.

He also advised today’s Millennials to love the country and study hard, to value the opportunity to participate in good governance, and not holding back in dreaming and working hard to achieve those dreams.

“From a slum dweller, I am now a city builder. And my education in UP and in Harvard has given me a different perspective—a perspective that has empowered me to pay it forward. In building Clark Green City, my colleagues in the BCDA are being able to offer Filipinos an opportunity to live a better quality of life—a life they deserve,” he said.

“Clark Green City is a project for the benefit of the new generation. And we in the BCDA are committed to realize this for our country. We hope our countrymen will support this project, as it will behold proper urban planning that will yield growth that is inclusive—affordable quality of life that is world-class and responsive,” Casanova concluded.

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The young Iriberri and his troops also recovered seven high-powered firearms and documents of high intelligence value. There were no casualties among his men. While he was performing his sacred duty for the country and working to achieve his biggest dream, Iriberri was, however, also raring to perform his other duty, and this is to his family.

No quality family time

“AS a husband and a father, I wanted to visit my family,” he said, “but I could not.”

Iriberri’s family was in Manila and his wife was even pregnant with their second child at that time.

The chief of staff said, most of the time, he was on combat operations leading his men, denying him a pass for a trip to Manila and briefly visit his family.

Not only was his duty to the country was robbing him off of his time to be with his family, but it was even denying him to regularly communicate with them.

“Communication to Manila at that time was very difficult, and I could only place a call to my wife if we have to go to the poblacion of Agusan for resupply or marketing missions,” the chief of staff said. Iriberri’s company headquarters was in Barangay Mahayahay, Sibagat, Agusan del Sur. But as a soldier, Iriberri is trained to cope with all types of situations, and he could not only thrive in it, but succeed despite it.

Discipline, determination

IRIBERRI’S character was mostly molded by strong discipline, determination and hard work.

As a junior officer, he personally led his three Scout Ranger companies during an attack on Camp Didagen at the Reina Regente Mountains in Sultan sa Barongis, Maguindanao. Camp Didagen was the second-largest camp of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front at that time. Iriberri and his men took it after a three-day of battle without sustaining a casualty.

As he toiled in the service, and along with his exemplary accomplishments that served as testimonies to his sterling leadership and competence, Iriberri rose through the ladder of the military hierarchy. In February 2014 he was named the commanding general of the Army and on July 10, 2015, he became the chief of staff of the Armed Forces.

NEW Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Hernando Delfin Carmelo A. Iriberri (left), with then-AFP Chief Gen. Gregorio Catapang (center), reacts after learning about the safe repositioning of Filipino peacekeepers in the Golan Heights, as they monitor the situation with Foreign Secretary Albert F. del Rosario (second from left) and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin (seated, third from left) at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on August 30, 2014. AP /AFP PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE

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TETANGCO TIME AWAY FROM COMFORT ZONE

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SPEEDS UP GROWING UP

HEN I was 25, I was a grad student at the University of Wisconsin (UW) in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. I was doing my Master’s in Public Policy, with concentration in Development Economics, as a Central Bank and UW scholar.

IN this file photo, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. poses following an interview in Jakarta, Indonesia, on March 22, 2008. BLOOMBERG

I took that opportunity and privilege of being sent abroad to study, seriously. So I worked hard. And the hours I put in paid off; I was chosen “most outstanding student” by the Center for Development of the university at the end of my program.

The time I spent in Wisconsin was in a way formative. It allowed me to get a different perspective on life. Being away from your comfort zone, from family, from things that are familiar… speeds up your growing up, if I may say so.

If you have ever been to Madison, Wisconsin, you will know that Madison and Manila are polar opposites. Madison can have harsh winters, while Manila has floods. Madison is essentially a university town, and seat of government, while Manila— well, what can I say? I don’t think the population of Madison C  H

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QUEEN Maxima of the Netherlands (right), the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, looks at a book with Amando M. Tetangco Jr., governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, during a news conference after the launch of the Philippines National Strategy for Financial Inclusion in Pasay City on July 1. AP C  H

was even 200,000 at the time. So you can imagine the amount of adjustment I had to make as a grad student. Add to this the fact that the cost of phone calls to family was prohibitive. Recall, rotary phones? The email was still at a nascent stage...and pretty limited in coverage. Mark Zuckerberg was not even conceived at the time, so there wasn’t much of social media to speak of.

When you are away from accountability, it is very easy to lose focus. I learned as a grad student that to succeed, you need selfmotivation…but that must be balanced by sound distraction. What do I mean?

While my motivation came from the “privilege” of being sent on scholarship, the

distraction came from learning to unwind during the weekend. To help me “detox,” I would normally go out with friends to have a drink at the end of the week. Every now and then, we would go to cities outside of Madison, like Chicago, about an hour or so by car, to buy Filipino food. We also went skiing during winter.

As I think about it now, balance is pretty much the thread that runs through my life—I study hard, but I relax. I work hard, but I also find time to unwind and enjoy.

You asked me what I would advise my 25-year-old self, if I met him. I think I would advise him to keep the right balance. Be forward-looking, but remember the lessons from the past. Be mindful of those around you, but know that there

is One who is above you.

Part of balance is being prepared for change. While you may be doing certain things really well now, you must be conscious that there may come a time when developments will allow you to do those same things better, or you may no longer need to do those things at all! So my advice, which

is part of balance, is look out for advances in technology and take advantage of what they offer.

Another piece of advice I would like to share with my 25-year-old self is this—it is never too early to prepare for your financial future. Your financial future begins now…. I will tell him that it is impor-

tant to have a working budget that helps you list down your sources of income and gives you the discipline to allocate your income to your expenses in a way that will allow you to eventually achieve the lifestyle you would like without getting yourself in deep debt. Compounding, reinvestment, choices—these are words I will teach my

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25-year-old self. A rule that will work is to determine how much you need or like to save to achieve a certain income stream by a certain age…. Deduct this value from your income, and what is left is what you should learn to live with now. If that amount is a bit tight, then this may mean that you would need to find other sources of income…. Keep the dream, find ways to make adjustments.

25 year olds of today are privileged to have finan-

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cial information at their fingertips through technology. Sometimes, too much technology. Th is is why part of the BSP’s Economic and Financial Learning Program is geared toward reaching out to millennials.

Is there anything I would change about my life when I was 25? Maybe, with the wisdom of hindsight, I would say, perhaps the balance could have been tilted toward a little C  H

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bit more fun. This is the challenge of finding the balance that I speak of—as one ages, where that fulcrum lies may change.

It’s the same about central banking. It is a balancing act. How much to ease. How much to tighten. How much to let go. How much to rein in.

Balance is a difficult concept to define. Finding balance is not as simple as putting the fulcrum of the see-saw at the center. As I am learning now, finding “balance” is a lifelong challenge.

I am grateful that I have my family. Because they—especially my wife, Elma—help me keep my balance. They remind me everyday, that I may be governor of the BSP, but at home, I am husband and father…now grandfather. Being home is what brings balance to my life.

You asked me my favorite memory from my 20s? I would have to say, the time I learned about this new employee in the Central Bank. She was, as I was told, quite a looker… and smart…and not a pushover. So, I was told, she was perfect for me. As you can imagine, mahirap dumiskarte from overseas—wala pa ngang text, Facebook or Instagram nuon…. So, when I returned from the US, I looked her up…and she must have also been told about me. So my favorite memory? When I first actually met her face to face. Unforgettable.

This is something else I will advise my 25-year-old self…. You must know how to find The One… and when you find her, you should be smart not to let her go.

■ As e-mailed to our BSP reporter Bianca Cuaresma hours before Tetangco’s flight to Peru for the Group of 24, International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings.

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P-NOY: PRESIDENTIAL ‘BODYGUARD’ AT 25, COMMANDER IN CHIEF AT 50

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ORN on February 8, 1960, President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III spent his 25th birthday amid mounting peoplepowered street protests that would force the then-strongman Ferdinand Marcos to abandon Malacañang barely two weeks after Aquino’s next birthday in 1986.

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ROMYMARIANO

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C  I

Sandwiched between four sisters, President Aquino was born as the third child—and only son—of the late Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. and former President Corazon Aquino, who rose to power in the aftermath of her husband’s assassination on August 21, 1983.

Nicknamed Noynoy, Aquino, barely 30 years old, first served as Tarlac congressman in 1989, before being elected in 2007 as senator, like his father; then as President, like his mother, following his election to the top post in the 2010 presidential polls.

At 25, Aquino was working as Nike Philippines’s retail sales supervisor and youth promotions assistant, until he was promoted

assistant for advertising and promotion for Mondragon Philippines in 1985. A year later, he was named vice president of the family-owned Intra-Strata Assurance Corp.

Cory’s bodyguard

THAT stint was marked, however, by the times he had to devote as de facto “bodyguard” to his mother, who was swept into the vortex of fast-changing political events following the assassination of her husband, the senator Ninoy, as he returned from US exile in 1983.

The subsequent nationwide protests after August 21, 1983, culminated in a call by the dictator for snap elections in February 1986. Soon, the various opposition groups decided to rally behind

just one candidate, who they thought stood the biggest chance of unseating the strongman. That person was Cory Aquino.

When she was catapulted to the presidency following the four-day February 1986 Edsa revolt, her only son, Noynoy, became even more involved in her day-to-day activities, giving him a ringside view of both the powers and the crushing burden of the presidency.

Little did he know at that time that such an experience was meant to prepare him for his turn to preside over the country his parents had served with a passion.

Bullet in his neck

NOYNOY, the son, divided his time between helping out his mother and doing his day job; serving as

vice president and treasurer of a security agency owned by a relative. Working for his uncle, Antolin Oreta, apparently gave him more leeway to be by his mother’s side whenever necessary, impelled by a protective instinct for a mother who had to face down seven coup attempts. In one such attempt in August 1987, he was a collateral damage, as rebel soldiers encircling the Palace fired at his convoy on their way back to Malacañang. To this day, he points out occasionally, a bullet is lodged in his neck owing to that ambush.

Having witnessed at age 25 how the irresistible force of the people’s anger can, in due time, dislodge even the

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seemingly immovable object that an entrenched dictatorship represented, the lessons of power and responsibility are etched indelibly in Aquino’s mind as a reminder of the pitfalls one should watch out for from the dizzying heights of the presidency.

Only a few people turning 25 have such a challenging life as Noynoy Aquino had at that age, when most others would be starting to peak in their career. But in all interviews and forums where he talks about his life then, the only son of Ninoy and Cory makes it clear the experience was both a blessing and a burden. History was being made as he marked his own quarter of a century, and the

man doesn’t sound like he had any regret about having his life hijacked, as it were, by history.

Recalling the four-day peaceful uprising that toppled the Marcos dictatorship, Aquino singled out “an image from the Edsa People Power Revolution that has been branded into our national consciousness: Nuns on their knees, who, despite being worried at the sight of guns, continued to display faith and compassion. Through the rosaries and flowers we handed to armed soldiers, through the human chains we formed to stop the advance of tanks, we were able to prove: Compassion is the most powerful response to anger; there is no greater weapon than love.”

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JOSE MIDAS P. MARQUEZ

IN THE MIDST OF ‘DEMIGODS’

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T the age of 25, I was in secondyear law school at the Ateneo de Manila College of Law, on my way to a Juris Doctor degree. At the same time, I was working as a fulltime law clerk for one of the justices of the Supreme Court (SC), holding the position of Executive Assistant I, an entry position.

I just finished my two-month summer internship at the SC, a requirement of the Juris Doctor degree. Immediately thereafter, I was offered a regular job by the justice I was working for. It was an irresistible offer. As law students, we thought of SC justices as demigods. It was every law student’s dream to become a justice of the Supreme Court.

We were amazed at how they penned their opinions. And here I was, being offered a regular job while I was still a second-year law student. I could not say no to the offer.

While my immediate goal was to graduate from law school, take the bar and become a lawyer, I could not pass off

the offer. After all, it was what I wanted to do after passing the bar—be a lawyer.

It was not easy being a working law student. I had to be at work by 7:30 a.m.

Leave Padre Faura at 4 p.m. to be in Ateneo in Makati City in time for my 5 p.m. class.

Traffic was not as bad then. I would always barely make it to class. Cramming was a way of life. I would end my class at 9 p.m., have dinner at home, and start studying by 11 p.m. until around 3 a.m. or until I doze off, whichever comes first.

My work in the SC kept me going and going. I was overwhelmed by the fact that I was working on actual cases pending in the Supreme Court, Continued on J4

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GLADYS R. BASINILLO: CLIMBING

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OR 22 years, Gladys RondinaBasinillo’s life has practically revolved around the world of advertising. Basinillo is CEO of Carat Philippines, which is considered the fastest-growing advertising agency in the country today.

Basinillo joined Carat in 2012 following stints in reputable agencies. She started out as a 19-year-old media buyer for then-Aspac & Grey. Basinillo said she was lucky to have learned from media guru Louie Rogacion.

She then moved on other positions—media planner, media manager, media group head, associate media director, media director and business unit head in J. Romero, Campaigns & Grey and Basic.

Basinillo is recognized as a member of the local advertising industry’s elite and has earned the monicker “Direk,” which her team, clients and media partners endearingly call her.

“I like it that way because

that’s what I do anyway. I practically manage, guide and give overall direction. I empower them and let them do their job independently. As Direk, the secret is knowing when to step in and when to step out,” she explained.

Having spent two decades of her working life in advertising, Basinillo admits that she still gets excited about coming to the office everyday and working out on various projects.

“I thought it was a glamorous job, sobrang hirap pala. It is one of the most difficult job there is, but it is very rewarding. So if I were to live my life again, I will not change a thing,” she said.

Basinillo said she reached

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THE CORPORATE LADDER AT 25 a significant milestone in her career when she turned 25. She was appointed manager, the youngest to be given the position at the time. Basinillo said it was a position she did not aspire for, but her superior believed that she had the capability to do the job.

“I believe I got ahead of the others because I never complained about my job. Pag binibigyan ako ng boss ko ng trabaho, pag tinatawag ako, parang it means pinagkakatiwalaan niya ako. I thought and felt that way.

There were times I skipped lunch para lang magawa ko lahat ng projects,” she said.

“Everything was fast-paced, I didn’t complain, I like it that way. Ang sarap ng feeling kapag nananalo ka. I’m the kind of person na pag mas nananalo, mas gusto ko pa. Winning is addicting,” Basinillo added.

What makes Basinillo’s achievements more significant is the fact that she has no background in advertising.

While education is important, Basinillo said those aspiring to go into advertising need to learn how to deal with people from all walks of life.

“You learn the ropes of advertising on the job. What’s important is your creativity and how you handle relationships.

Emotional quotient is also a plus factor. It’s important that you read your clients correctly kasi pag mali ka ng take sa briefing nila, tatrabahuhin nyo ’yun. So very important ’yung people relationship, and ’yun nga, dapat you’re very fair in dealing with clients,” she said.

“Hindi ako naniniwala na you’ll be successful in anything if you don’t like what you do. So if you don’t see yourself happy five years from now, maghanap ka ng ibang trabaho,” Basinillo added.

Unlike her generation, Basinillo said today’s millennials should consider themselves lucky to be exposed to various technological innovations.

“Ang laki ng difference with graduates now because they’re very quick to learn. They’re exposed to new technology, ’yung mga tools, ang dali nilang matutunan. I could say mas magaling sila ngayon compared when I was 25. They only need constant coaching and reminder to focus,” she said.

An advocate for training and development, Basinillo believes in “overinvesting” in people. “It’s people who make things happen.

Without a good team, a leader is nothing. There are many talents out there, they’re smart and maybe a bit pricey. But they’re

capable; all they need is a little wise investment.”

Currently, Carat Philippines’ team consists of 55 hardworking individuals. Basinillo said the agency has grown by fourfold since she joined the company in 2012. She said she looks forward to expanding the agency’s roster in the near future.

“Our batting average is two out of three pitches. We bag two contracts out of three pitches.

We’re more careful now in our business strategy. We don’t do pitches anymore for the sake of having clients. We’re more selective now,” she said.

Basinillo said she cannot imagine herself retiring. She said she intends to stay in the industy for as long as she’s needed.

“Hanggang productive at makakatulong ako, I’ll stay. Even if I leave Carat Philippines, I will continue to do other advertisingrelated stuff. Maybe I can coach or become a consultant,” she said.

For Basinillo, there are only two words to make it big in this industry: malasakit (Filipino word for protective concern, adherence or faithful support) and drive. “Malasakit sa company, sa boss, sa clients, to everyone. And then drive ‘coz it’s a highly competitive world. Pag wala any of the two, mahirap.”

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Continued from J1 which required me to go over pleadings filed by my professors in law school and the best law firms in the country—while I was still in law school. Nevermind that I occupied the lowest position in the office. What mattered most was the work I was doing, not the position I was holding.

It was not easy juggling schoolwork at Ateneo with actual work at Padre Faura. Sleep was a luxury. I would always catch up with schoolwork during weekends when I needed rest. Not much time for family, not much time for non-law school friends. Law classmates were the BFFs at that time. You study together, you discuss cases together, you get embarrassed by the law teacher, at the same time, you eat together, you breathe together. Your female law classmates become prettier and prettier.

In no time, however, I was promoted constantly in the Supreme Court until I occupied the highest position a law clerk can have. The cases I was assigned to became more significant and difficult. It was a recognition of my submissions. I would never submit a work that was not well written and well researched. It was not unusual to rewrite a memorandum 20 times before submitting it.

I never thought of having a career in the judiciary. When I was in first-year law school, I saw myself as a lawyer in a prestigious law firm in Makati. Back then, Bonifacio Global City was still Fort Bonifacio, a military camp. I saw myself in a suit, having power lunches with rich and famous clients, going to court and

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corporate meetings. But I was not able to leave the Court anymore.

In the Court, I worked from one justice to another. I consider myself lucky in this sense because I worked for the best legal minds in the country. I saw the demigods up close and personal. They are also people like any one of us. I emulated their strengths and avoided their weaknesses. I was trained by the justices of the Supreme Court.

In the Court, back then and up to now, I never thought of rewards and promotions. I just did my assigned tasks in the best way I knew how and more. I never considered myself as sipsip. I abhor that. Sipsip for me is when you do or submit the best work you can. Rewards and promotions will come when you least expect them. Then, you just have to be thankful for them.

I take pride of the fact that what I have achieved was borne out of my own sheer industry and work ethic.

Hindi dahil sa kamag-anak, ka-klase, kaibigan, kapamilya, kapuso, o kapatid. I live by the Panunumpa ng Linkod Bayan. Lagi kong isasaalang-alang ang interes ng nakararami, bago ang pansarili kong kapakanan. This is what I personally chose. I have to live by it.

Positions of consequence are never permanent. Nothing is permanent. When occupying these positions, one has to keep his feet on the ground. One has to help as much as he can, especially if that is the function of his office—without expecting anything in return—as one will not be able to help forever.

One must never be big-headed because occupying these positions is bigheaded enough.

Becoming the spokesman of the Supreme Court was never a dream.

I thought about it before I was appointed, but I never aspired for it. I just thought that it must be big time to speak for the Court. I was only the second of three spokesmen of the Court, while there are already 173 justices. Being the spokesman is very challenging. It is never easy.

But one just has to rise to the challenge all the time. Given another opportunity to occupy the position, I will have to think twice, thrice, four times, five times….

I never dreamt of becoming the court administrator. It was never a dream job. But like any good soldier, I have to do it. I don’t say no to work. When I was appointed as court administrator, I told myself that I shall, first and foremost, work for the good and welfare of the judges and court personnel, a vow that I keep up to now. Sila ang boss ko. It never means though that I will condone their wrongdoings and indiscretions. They will have to accept the consequences.

In the same manner, I do not aspire to become a justice of the Supreme Court, even if that is the natural progression from a court administrator. After all, many court administrators have become justices of the Court. While it may be a dream when I was a law student, dreams fade away. One becomes a justice of the SC through divine providence. If it is not for you, you will never get it no matter what you do. If it is for you, you will get it when you least expect it. In the meantime, you just always have to do what is right and work for what is best for the institution you have chosen to serve.

■ As e-mailed by Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez to our Supreme Court reporter Joel San Juan.

When I Was 25

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Thursday, October 8, 2015 K1

ARSENIO M. BALISACAN

RESOLUTE AT 25 B C U. O

A

T the age of 25, the country’s chief economic planner was not the typical carefree young adult like many of his contemporaries. He knew what he wanted and knew how to get it.

Continued on K2

K2

When I W

Business

Thursday, October 8, 2015

ARSENIO M. BALISA

RESOLUTE Continued from K1

In 1982 Arsenio M. Balisacan was employed as a research intern at the East West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. He also received funding from the United States-based institution to acquire his PhD in Economics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UH), where the East West Center was located.

At the time, Balisacan also uprooted his young family from Manila to Hawaii. His wife and 2-year-old son joined him eight months after he arrived in Honolulu.

Because he and his family could not live on campus where Balisacan was currently housed by the East West Center, he had to rent a small apartment near the UH. Apart from pursuing his studies and doing research at the East West Center, Balisacan also took on teaching assistant jobs at the

university to get additional funds to sustain him and his family in what is considered a “vacation” destination in the US. Balisacan also recounted that his wife also had to get a job to add to the family’s income. Raising a small family is not easy when you have a toddler in a foreign land.

And so, just like all working parents, Balisacan and his wife had to take turns in taking care of their son.

He also recounted how on Sundays he and his wife would venture out collecting coupons from all the newspapers they could find. He was couponing way before it was even considered “cool.”

“One thing we were good at then was gather all the newspapers on a Sunday to get all the coupons. Yes, we were couponing. That’s the only way you can save money.

When we were starting, we just had enough because

we had a family to support,” Balisacan said.

“We had no added source of income at the time and I only had my stipend. In fact, the money that I used to bring my family [to Hawaii], I borrowed that from a good friend,” he added.

These were small sacrifices compared to where he came from. Balisacan was not the typical government official who was schooled in private institutions and pursued further studies abroad using their parents’ money.

From his primary-school days a l l t he w ay t o h i s p o s t g raduate st ud ies, Ba lisac a n h ad t o rely on scholarships and grants as his family was poor.

Balisacan’s father was initially a farm tenant tilling fields at the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountains.

When their relative convinced his father to take on a janitorial job in Laoag City,

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sMirror

ACAN

E AT 25 they had to leave their farm life behind.

In the city, Balisacan, his five other siblings and their parents stayed in a home where they were later evicted.

Balisacan said he was in high school when their family was forced out of the property and had to go back to their tiny village at the easternmost part of Ilocos Norte.

“It was tough. It was only lately that I realized that we were an informal settler. We were squatting in somebody’s land. We didn’t realize that until much later.

[When] I was already in high school, we were evicted from that place, and we had to return to that old town of ours,” Balisacan recalled.

When things got worse, Balisacan’s eldest brother graduated from Divine Word College. Armed with an Accounting degree, Balisacan’s eldest brother was offered a job in Cebu

City by Atlas Mining.

The job allowed his brother to bring their family to Cebu to live. Ba lisaca n, who was a n Agriculture scholar at the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU), had to stay behind in Batac, Ilocos Norte.

At the MMSU, Balisacan did not only excel in academics, as he was also a student leader.

Despite being an Ilocano and studying at the MMSU, Balisacan had his fair share of the “fear” of the m i lita r y.

As a student leader during martial law, Balisacan was leading some demonstrations and protests. At one point, the military “invited” him, but he was forewarned and was able to escape the dreaded invitation.

“It turned out that it wasn’t too serious, they just wanted to ‘invite’ me; ask me a few Continued on K4

www.businessmirror.com.ph | Thursday, October 8, 2015

K3

When I Was 25 BusinessMirror

K4 Thursday, October 8, 2015

Continued from K3

questions, I guess. But you know what that means when they say they would ‘invite’ you,” Balisacan said.

When he completed his degree from the MMSU, Balisacan accepted a job offer in a local organization that promised to help him look for a scholarship to finance his master’s degree.

A year later, his employer fulfilled the promise and found a scholarship that financed Balisacan’s Master’s in Agricuture Economics at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).

Incidentally, the scholarship came from Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture

(Searca), a research institution that Balisacan would lead in the 2000s.

Graduate studies, Balisacan said, was really part of his dream from a very young age, because his ultimate dream was to lead a regional or international organization.

He knew that graduate studies and publications would be required to boost his chances to achieve this.

This was the same dream he was fulfilling when he was at the UH at Manoa when he was 25 years old. At that time, his goal was to complete his doctorate degree by the age of 30. But, luck was on his side, and he was able to complete his degree by by the time he was 28 years old.

Balisacan said one of the reasons he was able to complete his studies faster was because from Day One, he knew what his research interests were. When he got to Hawaii, he already told his program director his interests, and the professor helped him chart the courses that would help him in his studies.

He said he chose courses that would help him support a particular dissertation topic. In that way, every term paper required in courses essentially became chapters for his dissertation. This is

the reason by the time he reached his dissertation, 50 percent of his work was already complete.

Balisacan said his dissertation was about the politics of agriculture.

He created a conceptual model of how developed and developing countries shifted their policy of taxing agriculture and subsidized consumers to a protectionist policy of subsidizing agriculture and taxing consumers over time.

He was able to support the study because of his Agriculture degree from the MMSU and master’s degree at the UPLB. In the end, Balisacan earned a PhD in Economics, and his area of focus became development economics.

It was no surprise that after completing his doctorate degree from the University of Hawaii, he was employed by the World Bank to work on a threeyear multicountry research program at the global lenders’ headquarters in Washington, D.C. “But, of course, the pressure, the inclination to come back was also high, especially because in 1986, when there was a change in government, there was all the swelling for transformation of the economy. I was a new PhD graduate, and I thought

I could do something. The nationalist in me was starting to get into the picture,” Balisacan said.

Back in the Philippines, Balisacan continued his development work. He continued to publish his studies in academic journals, and some of these became books. Despite his achievements, Balisacan said none of his two children became economists.

Balisacan said he could not forget what his son told him when he tried to convince his child to take up economics.

“I kept asking, why don’t you take up economics? I cannot forget what he told me. ‘Dad, I see you working very hard, every weekend you are always working but my friends have richer dads [and have more time to enjoy]’. So I guess my son was asking ‘What is this economics?’”

In the end, his son obtained a computer science degree from the Ateneo de Manila University and is now a game developer. His daughter, meanwhile, was also headstrong. Balisacan said after graduating from Miriam College High School, her daughter, who was born in the United States, told him she wanted to go to the US to pursue a degree in Business Administration.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

At first, Balisacan was opposed to the idea, because studying in the US was very expensive. But his daughter did her homework and researched how she can obtain a student loan and housing while studying in the US. His daughter completed her studies and has recently moved back to the Philippines with her husband and child.

“At least, she believed me when I told her the economy was doing better, so she moved back. If I failed to convince her that there’s a good future for [her family] here, she might not have come back but she did,” Balisacan said.

After many decades in the development community, Balisacan still refuses to give up on his dream of leading a regional or international organization. He was only able to fulfill this dream when he was at Searca, which he felt he was successful in helping to become a regional research hub.

But he admits that being appointed as the country’s economic planning secretary under the current administration was a “unique and singular” opportunity. He said it was an opportunity to serve the President and the Filipino people.

As an academic, a government official and a family man, Balisacan said he does not

care about the criticisms or any resistance about his work or decisions in life. This is because cynicism usually greets new studies, policies and other changes. But if the work or decision is true and is based on real evidence, he knows that history will vindicate him in the end.

Case in point, Balisacan said, was former President Fidel Ramos. The former President was criticized heavily for his decision to liberalize the telecommunications sector in the 1990s. Naysayers were criticizing the former President that he was destroying a local industry because he was allowing new players to come in.

But, Balisacan said, if it weren’t for that decision, the economy would not have had a business-process outsourcing (BPO) sector. The BPO sector is one of the, if not the biggest, contributors to the country’s economic success in the past decade.

Asked how he would want to be remembered, Balisacan said it is difficult to go on in life thinking about the kind of legacy he would leave behind.

He said that what is important is to do his best under any circumstance.

“I have done, delivered what I could. Let time be my judge,” he said.

When I Was 25 BusinessMirror

K4 Thursday, October 8, 2015

Continued from K3

questions, I guess. But you know what that means when they say they would ‘invite’ you,” Balisacan said.

When he completed his degree from the MMSU, Balisacan accepted a job offer in a local organization that promised to help him look for a scholarship to finance his master’s degree.

A year later, his employer fulfilled the promise and found a scholarship that financed Balisacan’s Master’s in Agricuture Economics at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).

Incidentally, the scholarship came from Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture

(Searca), a research institution that Balisacan would lead in the 2000s.

Graduate studies, Balisacan said, was really part of his dream from a very young age, because his ultimate dream was to lead a regional or international organization.

He knew that graduate studies and publications would be required to boost his chances to achieve this.

This was the same dream he was fulfilling when he was at the UH at Manoa when he was 25 years old. At that time, his goal was to complete his doctorate degree by the age of 30. But, luck was on his side, and he was able to complete his degree by by the time he was 28 years old.

Balisacan said one of the reasons he was able to complete his studies faster was because from Day One, he knew what his research interests were. When he got to Hawaii, he already told his program director his interests, and the professor helped him chart the courses that would help him in his studies.

He said he chose courses that would help him support a particular dissertation topic. In that way, every term paper required in courses essentially became chapters for his dissertation. This is

the reason by the time he reached his dissertation, 50 percent of his work was already complete.

Balisacan said his dissertation was about the politics of agriculture.

He created a conceptual model of how developed and developing countries shifted their policy of taxing agriculture and subsidized consumers to a protectionist policy of subsidizing agriculture and taxing consumers over time.

He was able to support the study because of his Agriculture degree from the MMSU and master’s degree at the UPLB. In the end, Balisacan earned a PhD in Economics, and his area of focus became development economics.

It was no surprise that after completing his doctorate degree from the University of Hawaii, he was employed by the World Bank to work on a threeyear multicountry research program at the global lenders’ headquarters in Washington, D.C. “But, of course, the pressure, the inclination to come back was also high, especially because in 1986, when there was a change in government, there was all the swelling for transformation of the economy. I was a new PhD graduate, and I thought

I could do something. The nationalist in me was starting to get into the picture,” Balisacan said.

Back in the Philippines, Balisacan continued his development work. He continued to publish his studies in academic journals, and some of these became books. Despite his achievements, Balisacan said none of his two children became economists.

Balisacan said he could not forget what his son told him when he tried to convince his child to take up economics.

“I kept asking, why don’t you take up economics? I cannot forget what he told me. ‘Dad, I see you working very hard, every weekend you are always working but my friends have richer dads [and have more time to enjoy]’. So I guess my son was asking ‘What is this economics?’”

In the end, his son obtained a computer science degree from the Ateneo de Manila University and is now a game developer. His daughter, meanwhile, was also headstrong. Balisacan said after graduating from Miriam College High School, her daughter, who was born in the United States, told him she wanted to go to the US to pursue a degree in Business Administration.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

At first, Balisacan was opposed to the idea, because studying in the US was very expensive. But his daughter did her homework and researched how she can obtain a student loan and housing while studying in the US. His daughter completed her studies and has recently moved back to the Philippines with her husband and child.

“At least, she believed me when I told her the economy was doing better, so she moved back. If I failed to convince her that there’s a good future for [her family] here, she might not have come back but she did,” Balisacan said.

After many decades in the development community, Balisacan still refuses to give up on his dream of leading a regional or international organization. He was only able to fulfill this dream when he was at Searca, which he felt he was successful in helping to become a regional research hub.

But he admits that being appointed as the country’s economic planning secretary under the current administration was a “unique and singular” opportunity. He said it was an opportunity to serve the President and the Filipino people.

As an academic, a government official and a family man, Balisacan said he does not

care about the criticisms or any resistance about his work or decisions in life. This is because cynicism usually greets new studies, policies and other changes. But if the work or decision is true and is based on real evidence, he knows that history will vindicate him in the end.

Case in point, Balisacan said, was former President Fidel Ramos. The former President was criticized heavily for his decision to liberalize the telecommunications sector in the 1990s. Naysayers were criticizing the former President that he was destroying a local industry because he was allowing new players to come in.

But, Balisacan said, if it weren’t for that decision, the economy would not have had a business-process outsourcing (BPO) sector. The BPO sector is one of the, if not the biggest, contributors to the country’s economic success in the past decade.

Asked how he would want to be remembered, Balisacan said it is difficult to go on in life thinking about the kind of legacy he would leave behind.

He said that what is important is to do his best under any circumstance.

“I have done, delivered what I could. Let time be my judge,” he said.

When I Was 25

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Thursday, October 8, 2015 L1

LUCIO TAN AT 25

BIRTH OF AN ENTERPRISE B J  G |

A

Special to the BusinessMirror

S a child, Lucio C. Tan was always fascinated by technology. With a sense of wonder, he marveled at the speed and efficiency by which machines and high-tech devices of his time transformed the world. He believed then, as now, that technology and innovation play vital roles in the development of any enterprise.

At his tender age, he dreamt of becoming a scientist. Thus, after graduating from Chiang Kai Shek High School in 1955, he immediately set this dream to motion: He enrolled in a chemical engineering course at the Far Eastern University. Though he did not become a full-time scientist by profession, his almost obsessive fondness for science and technology is reflected in his daily life and throughout his business empire.

Business mind-set

AS a working student, the young Lucio Tan busied himself with mastering the craft of mixing chemicals and flavorings at the Bataan Cigar and Cigarette Factory. Through hard work and a frugal lifestyle, he slowly raised the seed of his envisioned enterprise.

While still working for the cigarette firm, he became a partner in a cornstarch venture and, later, established an electronics shop producing transistor radios. Though both attempts at entrepreneurship didn’t take off, these setbacks only fueled his determination to pursue his dream.

Sowing the seeds of an empire

AT 25, he started laying the groundwork for a chemical manufacturing and trading firm. While others of similar age were busy establishing careers after college, Tan was already forming the foundations of what would become one of the most inspiring corporate success stories in the Philippines.

Making the most of what he learned from his chemical engineering studies and his work of mixing chemicals at the Bataan Cigar and Cigarette Factory, he drew plans and purchased secondhand machines and reconditioned American trucks for his envisioned enterprise.

On November 18, 1960, Himmel Industries Inc. was born. The company started small, venturing into the trading of chemicals, such as refined glycerin, sorbitol, industrial honey, menthol and flavoring compounds. While the company’s original target market was the burgeoning cigarette industry, it later expanded operations to supply major ingredients to the food, pharmaceutical, beer, paint, ink, textile, cosmetic, paper, glue, plastic, rubber, PVC and cement industries.

Within the same year, Tan married Carmen Khao Tan. They have seven children.

Continued on L2

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Business

Thursday, October 8, 2015

HIMMEL, 1999

LUCIO TAN’S first Jeep, still working

Founders

Continued from L1

LOCATED in Barrio Santolan, Pasig City—where it still stands today—Himmel was founded by Tan and several partners. Each took specific roles in managing plant operations, marketing and cash management. With this core group, Himmel provided high-quality products and professional services, thus earning the trust and loyalty of its clients and business partners.

Early years

AT the time of Himmel’s entry, there was great demand for refined glycerin—a chemical widely used in the cigarette, paint, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. However, few Philippine companies could meet the demand and the pharmaceutical grade required by most manufacturers. Seeing great opportunity, Tan flew to the United States and bought an old glycerin refinery, dismantled the same and rebuilt it piece by piece in the Philippines.

The refurbished plant was a huge success. Himmel was able to process and produce high-grade glycerin, which it sold to local companies at costs much lower than its imported counterparts. Because of Tan’s foresight and keen business sense, many local companies benefited from his glycerin plant, which made Himmel a byword in Philippine industrial circles.

Trading and related businesses

YEARS later, Himmel’s operations expanded to the trading of industrial chemicals. In 1977 it built a second glycerin plant. With the foundation for long-term stability in place, Himmel diversified into the trading of fabricated steel drums, compound flavors, and fragrances and printing ink.

With great demand for flavorings and fragrances, Himmel introduced the planting of peppermint grass in Mindoro; propagation of citronella plants in Laguna; and raising of honey bees. It was upon Tan’s initiative that honey production was pursued. Even today, the tycoon is an acknowledged beekeeping expert, a skill he acquired during his younger days as a chemist for the Bataan Cigar and Cigarette Factory.

With natural competitive advantages as a supplier of raw materials, Himmel ventured into soap manufacturing. Through Manserve, an affiliate company, Himmel produces its own line of bath soap, like Nova, Success, Persona and Stiefel. The company is also a major subcontractor, producing different brands for various multinational corporations.

In 1981 Himmel set its sights on the booming Calabarzon area.

Using South Korean technology, it built a private pier in Pinamucan, Batangas, that could service huge vessels with average lifting capacities up to 17,000 dead weight tons. Later, Himmel acquired 14 shore tanks with a combined capacity of 11.5 million liters of liquid bulk cargo, including aviation fuel.

On a par with international standards, Himmel’s liquid cargo terminal could store imported chemicals and solvents in bulk for later delivery to different parts of the Philippines. Equipped

Was 25

sMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph | Thursday, October 8, 2015

HIMMEL’S products

HIMMEL’S old boiler

with some of the best safety and firefighting equipment, the cargo terminal has attracted an impressive list of clients which includes giant multinational firms.

Himmel and the LT Group

THROUGH vision and hard work, Tan and his cofounders built Himmel from its small plant in Pasig City to its current status as one of the country’s biggest chemical

HIMMEL’S new building in Pasig City

traders. Its path to success was paved with calculated moves, carried out with methodical precision. Its operations were anchored in the belief that nothing can be gained from haphazard strategies.

Indeed, after more than five decades, Himmel has distinguished itself not only in the chemical manufacturing and trading sectors, but also as the seed from which sprouted a vast conglomerate that now

cuts across the length and breadth of Philippine commerce.

It was from Himmel and, later, Fortune Tobacco Corp., that the Lucio Tan Group of Cos. (now publicly listed as LT Group Inc., or “LTG”) expanded into agribusiness; airlines and related services; banking, finance and securities; brewery; chemicals; distillery and alcohol; education; food; hotel; real estate; soap manufacturing; steel fabrica-

tion and construction; and tourism and travel services.

Since Himmel was established, Tan set his sights on the pursuit of quality and profitability that was to shape the vision of today’s LT Group Inc. With its achievements, it could be said that Himmel— more than a corporate success—is one man’s vision which he dreamed and put into action at the young age of 25.

L3

When I Was 25

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Thursday, October 8, 2015 M1

I

B J P S |

Special to the BusinessMirror

F I were to name a man who had seen it all, my first thoughts would go to National Artist for Literature F. Sionil José.

Continued on M2

F. SIONIL JOSÉ

YOUNG AND AT WAR

M2

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Business

Thursday, October 8, 2015

F. SIONIL JOSÉ: YOU

“The future will always belong to the young.”—N A

 L F. S J Continued from M1 Born on December 3, 1924, his life as a teenager and young man in his 20s was pockmarked by a war no Filipino was prepared to face, let alone fend off.

On December 8, 1941, 10 hours after the bombing of America’s military installation at Pearl Harbor, Japan’s war campaign moved to Southeast Asia and reached Philippine shores. It was probably one of the bloodiest and most destructive wars ever to fall on the Pacific.

The initial bombardment and charge of troops caught American defending forces by surprise.

The blitzkrieg proved difficult for Gen. Douglas MacArthur to repel, forcing him to declare Manila an Open City upon the advice of Philippine Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon to avoid further destruction.

Numbering only 80,000, more than half of which were Filipinos, the defending soldiers pulled out of Manila into Bataan and Corregidor, where they tried to

hold off the advancing Japanese army. By sheer force of numbers, the invading troops seized one city and province after the other.

Shortly after the New Year of 1942, Manila fell into Japanese hands. Three months later, the soldiers’ last stand in Bataan was, likewise, overwhelmed.

The 80,000 defending troops were forced to march the 105-kilometer distance between Bataan and a prison camp somewhere north in what is now called the Bataan Death March. Close to 10,000 people died in that march.

At the time, F. Sionil José had reached his teenage years. At 17, his high-school days were anything but ordinary. One can only imagine how Filipino students would cross highly militarized zones, covered from corner to corner by heavily armed uniformed soldiers of the imperial forces of Japan.

In an interview with the BusinessMirror, the future National Artist for Literature said he and his family chose to straddle

between Manila and his hometown in Rosales, Pangasinan, on account of the invasion.

“I was a high-school senior at the Far Eastern University when war broke out. I had to go home to Rosales and that was where I was when the Japanese arrived. During the Occupation, I alternated living in Rosales and in Antipolo Street in Santa Cruz. I brought rice from Rosales to Manila for a rich cousin, who also took care of us during the war,” he said.

His trips to his hometown were in no way free of risks. While his jaunts to Rosales proved beneficial in terms of their family’s daily supply of food, he had no choice but to run the threat of facing the Japanese upon his return to Manila.

Such a precarious situation arrived one day, leaving Sionil José in mortal fear for his life.

“I was slapped by the Japanese several times, and sometime in 1943 I was beaten up by them.

I was transporting rice from Rosales to Manila and was stopped in Moncada, Tarlac, where I was to board the train to Manila. I thought that day was my last,” he said.

More than anything else, it was his dream of one day becoming a doctor that was cut short by

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M3

UNG AND AT WAR

a war no one wanted. Years passed and, with it, his chance for a premed education at the University of Santo Tomas.

“In June 1944,” Sionil José related, “I enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas in Intramuros taking a premed course.

In September of that year, American carrier planes raided Manila for the first time, and school immediately closed after that.”

Continuing clashes between American forces and Japanese invaders pushed many a Filipino household to the brink of hunger. Food had become scarce, considering that much of the city had been left in ruins.

The guerrilla war, too, spearheaded by the Filipino underground movement, contributed much to Japan’s brutality against Filipinos. With a makeshift government supported

by Japan and whose President—Jose P. Laurel—gave little or no support, everyday life took on a grim appearance for much of Manila.

At the tail end of 1944, a huge parcel of the city had succumbed to further devastation. The Josés had no other choice but to return to Rosales, Pangasinan. Without money and any means of transportation, he and his family walked to their hometown.

“In late October or early November of 1944, a cousin, my mother and I walked all the way from a starving Manila to Rosales, Pangasinan. The trip took one week.”

The war had taught the young Sionil José a thing or two about character and ethical standards. The brutality of the soldiers forced many Filipinos to join the ranks of Japanese troops fighting Filipinos. Collaboration was so real to him that he retold the story in many of his novels.

He said, “Collaboration is a very important issue for us for the simple reason that so many of us collaborated with the enemy and the colonizer. This is treason. Maybe, as a political issue, it was settled when the Japanese collaborators were granted amnesty and some were elected to high positions. But as a moral issue, it rankles to this very day. And what about those who collaborated with Marcos? At the root of our problem as a people is ethics. Are we ethical or are we not?

Ethics—justice—is the foundation of just societies.”

In his novel Ermita, Sionil José points out the effects of Continued on M4

When I Was 25

M4 Thursday, October 8, 2015

Continued from M3 ethical decay in the way society supposedly functions as protector of the innocent. One doesn’t need to experience the brutalities of war to suffer under an unjust society. Greed in its leaders is all that is needed.

“Ermita is not just about the Occupation, it is also about the decay of ethics in society, and World War II illustrates this decay.”

Which is why Sionil José had,

time and again, pointed out the importance of knowing and understanding history in both its context and relevance. As a young man, his interest in the history of this country had saved him from misinterpreting events and having a shallow perspective on life. The more history we know, it seems, the more we will be saved from a crucible of errors.

“History is important,” Sionil Jose stressed. “Writers are important in the sense that they give us knowledge

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of our history—journalism is history in a hurry, and literature is history that is lived. Writers reinforce memory—there is no nation if there is no memory. I do not know enough of our young if they appreciate our history. I think they do.

I never thought I was different from my contemporaries. I had friends, but I liked being alone, reading, or simply wandering. And wondering [...] I never thought at all that someday I will reach that status that you

ascribe to me. I just wrote and wrote.

I did not want to be a writer—my ambition was to be a doctor.”

Today, at 91, Sionil José has yet to turn from his perspective on history. It had broadened his horizons in ways that allowed him to pen his novels with substance, not mere and empty words.

Luckily for those of us who have read his novels, we were treated to a style of storytelling that has the gumption of a man who has seen it

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all. This puts a lot of this country’s past into perspective, more so our role in this drama we call nationhood. Our sense of nation will never be complete without a clear retrospection from where we came.

This, clearly, is F. Sionil José’s hope for the young: that they find their true worth in the lives of young men and women who have lived and died before them. Many like Jose Rizal, Graciano Lopez Jaena, Andres Bonifacio, Gregorio del Pilar, and

Generals Emilio Aguinaldo and Antonio Luna fought the invaders while in their 20s, and died hardly reaching the age of 40. They were young, vigilant and constantly at war.

“The future always belongs to the young. It is theirs to shape anyway they like. I hope they will do it bearing in mind that we have a revolutionary tradition, and that we are a heroic people. The stalwarts of the 1896 generation were all very young,” Sionil José said.