Worldly Taste

Ding de Villa of GlobalCuisine and his take on the food business
By Cristine Antonette B. Catu

Exuding a classy vibe and offering the perfect ambience for any event, this distinctively named and designed restaurant at the Ground Level of Greenbelt 3, Makati City has a fascination all its own with its variety of Eastern and Western influences, exhibited in the interiors, flavors, and overall experience of the place.
Gourmet GlobalFoods, Inc. Chairman
Amado “Ding” de Villa [GS 1962, HS 1966, BSC-Accounting 1970], through his restaurant GlobalCuisine, offers a palatable gateway for people raring to get a glimpse – and a taste – of the world.
GlobalCuisine, which is the new face of what was previously known as Global Café, is an innovative restaurant concept that presents eclectic and sophisticated culinary offerings from around the world.
A glance at the menu would reveal a wide array of selections from countries like Thailand, Korea, India, Indonesia, China, Japan, Singapore, Greece, England, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, the US, Mexico, and of course, the Philippines. Its extensive menu caters to a wide variety of preferences, as its gourmet cuisine would satisfy even the most discriminating food connoisseur.
If you ever find yourself in this restaurant one day, take time to feast your eyes on the descriptions on the menu, for that alone could make your mouths water: Spicy minced chicken with basil – minced chicken with garlic, ginger and chili seasoned with Thai fish sauce, oyster sauce and tamarind sauce, and served with steamed rice and cucumber vinaigrette.… The list goes on as your famished stomach grumbles on.
Animo sits down with Ding de Villa to discuss his experiences as a basketball star of La Salle, his career and growth, and the palate-friendly good ol’ comfort foods and services that GlobalCuisine offers its market.
Animo: I’m really amazed with your resume... You’ve been the head coach of the basketball team?
Ding: My love of sports and experience in the La Salle varsity led me to coach the team of Philippine Air Lines and score them a championship at FILCOMIN Basketball League in Jakarta, Indonesia in 1989, and a third place for the Coca-Cola team the following year.
Animo: And what made you think of entering the food business?
Ding: The way I look at it, I got into this kind of business because I really enjoy getting together with friends, while enjoying good food and oftentimes, music. It was just a matter of establishing a good venue for it, where we can, at the same time, make our living. When everybody gets together here, we just have fun. I believe in having fun while you are working because if you do not have fun in what you’re doing, it will not yield good results.
Animo: It’s not worth when you’re not having fun…
Ding: When you’re not having fun, it doesn’t keep you going. So for you not to get bored in whatever you do, you have to be an entrepreneur and try to get into the things that you enjoy most.
Animo: Why food?
Ding: Because it’s a basic necessity. I prefer to go into businesses that have to do with the basic items that you need in life – the food [which is the restaurant], shelter [real estate, which is another of his ventures], and even clothing. Clothing or fashion is something that we want to interrelate into our activities here at GlobalCuisine or its future franchises…as part of a whole standard of lifestyle that we would like to promote. In fact, we are coming up with our own Global Food+Lifestyle Newsletter where we will feature not only updates about our restaurant, but also the latest in fashion, music, health and wellness, etc.
Animo: What makes GlobalCuisine different from other restaurants?
Ding: I think as of now, it’s the only one that specializes in international cuisine in terms of presenting various specialties. If you want to eat Chinese food, you go to a Chinese restaurant. If you want to eat Filipino food, you go to Barrio Fiesta. In GlobalCuisine, we have specialties from the Philippines, China, Singapore, Japan, Italy, France, Spain, Australia, Korea, Germany, USA, and other parts of the world. We have it all here [for customers of different nationalities] so when they browse through our menu, they won’t think of going anywhere else. I guess that’s the difference.
Animo: So are you open for breakfast until late up night?
Ding: Yes. We are open at 7 am daily until 12 am on weekdays and 1 am on weekends.
Animo: Can we hold meetings here?
Ding: We’ve been hosting meetings, seminars, and other functions here ever since, using mostly our mezzanine area. In fact, we’ve recently renovated this mezzanine into a more equipped function room, enclosed with glass for privacy, and with a brand new sound system and LCD projector with screen to provide a more complete service to our clients. Most of the companies hold seminars in hotels which could be very expensive. So we’re trying to make that particular area our niche. With a capacity of 50 people, they can hold their functions or events here for less.
Animo: How long have you been running this business?
Ding: We actually took over this business at the start of the year. Maybe we got it at the right time, but there were also birth pains for us. We’re nearing the end of the transition period so hopefully, we could get everything leveled out soon.
Animo: What do you enjoy the most in your work?
Ding: Of course, the food. I’m very proud of our menu. We are continually improving it so as to present more global favorites to our customers. Aside from the food, I enjoy this as a place where I can meet people and socialize with my friends. Food and entertainment is in my heart.
Animo: How about your relationship with your co-workers?
Ding: If you belong to my organization, you are treated like family. Without this relationship, you’re never going to work properly.
Animo: How difficult is handling the business?
Ding: It should not be if you should have professional people working for you. It is also a matter of mixing and matching approaches—like the use of networking and outsourcing, alongside your own people’s expertise—that’s how we handle things here.
Animo: Are you on top of everything?
Ding: When I do business, I always believe in getting the best people. All the people that are in our management team had spent a lot of years in the food industry. Hopefully, things will be better as we improve to serve our market. Our objective, of course, is to make money and to eventually go into successful franchising. We also intend GlobalCuisine to become the retail distribution outlet of its related company AsianFresh Product Corporation.

AsianFresh is our import-export company that currently carries Philippine products such as St. Peter’s fish [tilapia], fresh frozen and pureed mangoes, different kinds of nuts, especially pili and cashew, for export in target markets like Australia, Japan and Germany, and other parts of Asia and Europe. We are at the same time, bringing in and promoting certain Australian products to the Philippine market through GlobalCuisine and the new joint-venture effort, Global Mocha Blends, as “showrooms,” where Australian coffee, Australian rice bran oil [Best Field brand] and Australian meat [rib-eye and Billabong steaks] are feature ingredients of the cuisine. We are also looking for other foreign products, primarily Australian, for introduction into the Philippines and its target countries.
Animo: How did you structure GlobalCuisine?
Ding: We are structuring it with the distribution objectives of AsianFresh in mind but using a full-service fine dining restaurant set-up. In that, aside from being a restaurant, it also serves as showroom-type distribution outlet of our products for import and export. We have broken it down into five essential business units, basically: the main hall for regular dining and food service; the mezzanine that mainly serves as function room for different events; our veranda where we will have our garden lounge, or the Global Mocha Blends “Sydney Lounge,” serving coffee by Mocha Blends; our ordering station, which will be like a store within the store, where customers can buy products exclusively carried by GlobalCuisine and AsianFresh; plus the kitchen, which will be developed into a “revenue center” in itself by doubling as a culinary arts institute to train students in an actual commercial kitchen set-up. In line with all this, our goal is to widen our distribution by opening GlobalCuisine and Global Mocha Blends franchises in the same countries targeted by AsianFresh. Following the same model, the international outlets will market the products for export by featuring them in the cuisine, as well as making them available at the ordering station component of the stores.
Animo: What’s your specialty for the Filipino dish?
Ding: Tilapia. When you talk of tilapia, our problem is yung lasa ng lumot, right? We get our tilapia from a fish farm not like any other fish pond wherein they just put a net. Our fish are farmed in fish cages. Also, the food that they eat are feeds. Another thing, which not too many people know about, is the quality of water. This farm is in Talim Island [in Laguna]. It’s pretty far, yet, it’s not polluted.
Anyway, with our export-quality tilapia or St. Peter’s fish, we have developed a whole line of dishes, all made using a fusion of Filipino taste with influences from other countries. For example, we have pandan-wrapped St. Peter’s fish, St. Peter’s fish maki and sashimi, St. Peter’s fish burger, salad, St. Peter’s fish wrapped in taco bread with wasabi, and even barbecue.
Animo: So where do you get all these ideas?
Ding: I don’t know. I think I’ve been given a lot of opportunities in my career because I think out of the box. I’ve never been a traditional thinker. Somebody up there must really love me. I just think out loud and pick out what I think is going to work. Unfortunately, in our country, there are lots of good ideas that cannot be implemented. We have libraries of businesses. Other Asian countries are laughing at us because they have studied in IRRI and AIM, and most of them have managed to implement their feasibility studies. Filipinos seldom do. The Philippines is a rice-producing country and yet we import rice. We can’t even produce rice bran cooking oil. But if we’ll be able to produce it, we could earn from its distribution. Rice bran oil is one of the healthiest oils out there, which is an advantage.
Animo: Simple ideas?
Ding: You have to be different. You have to have a story to tell, otherwise, it will not work. An example would be hot pandesal, halos lahat ng kanto meron; but if you offer it, you have to make it different. For every problem, there’s an opportunity so if you don’t run the risk in competing globally, you will not know how to be truly competitive. I always believe in innovation. You have to create a product that could be considered a specialty to be able to benefit.
***
GlobalCuisine is at the ground floor of Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati City. Call 757-4906 and 728-1317 for inquiries and reservations.

Figuring it Out

Philippine Honorary Consul General Raoul Donato is back with a mission. In an ironic twist of fate, now it’s his turn to help his kababayans in getting their US visa.
By Cristine Antonette B. Catu

Former senior vice-president and assistant to the president of the sixth largest trading company in Japan-- Nissho Iwai American Corporation (NIAC), Raoul “Ray” Donato [GS ’55, HS ’59, BSBA & BSLA ‘65] rose from the basement to the executive suite.

The Donatos were among the most prominent families in Vigan, Ilocos Sur. The family had a power plant and transportation business back then. Mariano Donato, Consul Ray’s father, was the first Filipino graduate of Notre Dame in 1929. That inspired Consul Ray to study and work abroad. He finished his Master in Business Administration (MBA) in Executive Management at Pace College in 1968 and the Executive Program for International Management in St. John’s University in 1971. Then, he further pursued his studies in Columbia University in 1991.

Consul Ray went into global business in Atlanta, Georgia where he met some billionaires or the richest people in the world. As a matter of fact, he had a 3 hours vis-à-vis conversation with Wal-Mart’s Sam Walton, whose assets are worth twice as Bill Gates; befriended the “most powerful man in the sports,” Nike’s Philip Knight, Hollywood action film star Arnold Schwarzenneger, politics icon Jimmy Carter, and former president of National Council of Churches Andrew Young.

Success was not served, however, to Consul Ray on a silver platter.


Wrecked air-conditioning unit

After college, Consul Ray was on the brink of discovering what he wanted to do with his life. For seven months, he floated around--partying all night. He felt a torrent of rejection and hopelessness from his family, especially from his mother Carmen and his father Mariano.

His father sheepishly told him that he ought to do something about his life. “I’m going to give you a one way ticket and 500 dollars. And you can go wherever you want,” he says. Consul Ray was swallowed up in one gigantic thought: he needed to get a visa.

Incidentally, the air-conditioning unit in his room conked out. “I couldn’t sleep at night. It’s too hot.” That madman stuff propelled him to come to the States.


An inflammatory letter

The Estradas and the Limhucos, owners of the Far Eastern Travel Agency (FETA), advised Consul Ray to place his assets [as a requirement] to get a US visa. But he declined because he didn’t want to get his father involved. Consequently, he wrote a provocative letter to the president of the United States (John F. Kennedy) agitating on democracy and communism.

In his epistle, he said that “… I went to De La Salle College and I was trained by the brothers of the Christian school. I want to go to New York and Philadelphia because they have been telling me what a beautiful country it is. And now that I just want to see the country of what I was been educated for about 16 years, they rejected my visa…”

After a month, he received a buzz from the [United States] embassy notifying him that a copy of the inflammatory letter went to the Attorney General. It was referred to the Department of State, then to the Ambassador. Consul Ray sarcastically challenged the diplomat to make the processing of his travel permit rapid since the embassy stated with great consideration that they have a special door for him. That’s how he used De La Salle University and the Christian brothers. And that’s how he got his visa.


One way ticket plus 500 bucks

Consul Ray believed that there’s a limit in life but there’s no limit in life itself. “I live by today. I don’t live by tomorrow.” At 24, that was the mentality that he set when he left for the States.

Accidentally, he met Mr. (first name) Gamboa, father of his good friend Francisco “Boy” Gamboa, who was then bound to Milwoki to visit his daughter. When asked where he is going, Consul Ray answered that he was still figuring it out. It was a perfect timing for him because Mr. Gamboa suggested that they go together on their trip and in their lodge. To save some money, they got a roll-away bed in the hotel. (How did you meet Fr. Abaya?) Father Abaya, one of the Filipino priests in the community, noticed that he was freezing so he gave him a coat from the Salvation Army. That overcoat kept him warm for 20 years.

Mr. Gamboa said that he’s going to New York. At such point, Consul Ray blurted out “I’m going there too.” Consul Ray had his gangly eyed and brace-faced season of struggle as he needed to buy a ticket to go to New York. Perhaps still, it was the same arrangement--He had to carry Mr. Gamboa’s luggage, sleep in the hotel roll-away bed, and do some household chores.

He said in his straight polish to Boy Gamboa: “I just have 300 dollars left and I need to get a job right now.”

The next day, Mr. Gamboa talked to Mr. Yamasaki of NIAC [which specializes in the metal industry] and inquired if there’s any vacant position in the company. Since Mr. Gamboa is a valued client, Mr. Yamasaki gave Consul Ray a job in the mail room.

Consul Ray felt that his condition in abroad was getting better but he had another problem--his visa. He doesn’t want to violate the immigration rules so he went to the [immigration] department to arrange his visa. He found out that he needed two letters--from his corporation--and the company that he’s doing business with. He made himself a representative of Gamboa-Rodriguez [company] and Nissho. That shifted his visa from B1B2 to an E1.


From the mail room to the executive chamber

At the mail room, Consul Ray had to read and sort all the letters and documents sent to NIAC and then deliver it to the different departments along with the smuggled cigarettes from Washington which he supplied to the Japanese and Cuban bosses.

John O’nneal, head of NIAC’s Steel Department, passed away due to heart attack. Seeing an opportunity, Consul Ray approached NIAC’s manager and volunteered to take the job.

“You try me. I will take this job at a salary that is the same with what I receive at the mail room [even less]. Just give me the job in two weeks. If I can’t deliver, take me out,” he offered. He got the post and the E1 visa.

Looking back twenty five years later, he became the first Filipino to be nominated as the senior vice-president and officer of their corporation. For 39 years, he worked in the metals, energy, soft goods division and also interacted with the automobile, aluminium, and construction industry. Over the past 10 years, he developed strategic areas of acquisition and mergers for the company in areas of chemical, general commodities, food, plastics, and machinery equipment. Recently, he also engaged in the oil and gas business in the energy field. Thus, he was able to travel extensively worldwide.

Heralding a new era, the principal operating arms of the group, Nichimen Corporation and Nissho Iwai Corporation, were merged to form a new single entity called Sojitz Corporation on April 1, 2004.


From senior vice-president to honorary consul general

After retiring three years ago, Consul Ray became active in the Filipino community. He was always impelled in [Filipino] parties in Georgia. Anghel Aranda, whom he met in New York, gave him the idea to do pro-bono work for Philippine nationals in the Southeast area of the US. He vied for the honorary consul general position and made an amendment and platforms.

Meanwhile, Br. Rafe was paying a visit to then Foreign Affairs Secretary Raul Manglapus. Manglapus said “There’s this guy, Raoul Donato from Atlanta who’s bagging everybody that he should be the honorary consul. And his paper is stuck here. Is he related to you?” When Manglapus found out that Consul Ray was Br. Rafe’s brother, he approved Consul Ray’s application as an honorary consul general.

As an honorary consul general, Consul Ray provided assistance to his kababayans in securing their US visa. Most Filipino immigrants don’t have an idea about the visa’s structure so he’s reaching out to them with empathy.


Back to De La Salle University

What Consul Ray remembered about De La Salle is the foundation that the Irish-American Christian brothers (Br. Benedict, Br. Gabriel, and Br. Fidelis) have inculcated in him. These are the things that he wanted to do--his journey in going to the United States--and to the global businesses.

“All De La Salle people were like a club because there’s a link. It’s hard to get in and it’s hard to get out,” he says.

Among his old confidants in De La Salle were Henry Cojuanco, Monchoy Garcia, Raffy Rufino, Manny Rufino, Louie Esteban, Mac Fernandez, Micky Ortigas, and Fred Garcia. His bond with his classmates and the spirit of De La Salle were kept in years.

When asked on what he wants to do within the next 5 or 10 years, Consul Ray would say with a wince: “I’m still trying to figure out what I’m going to do in the next few years.”

Consul Ray is married to (name of wife) and blessed with 2 children, Christine and Alexis.

Philamlife's Joey Cuisia

Believe it. Jose L. Cuisia, Jr., former Governor of the Central Bank of the Philippines and SSS Administrator, wanted to be a Christian Brother. At least during his grade school years.
By Cristine Antonette B. Catu

In those days, school was a mere ten minute walk from home, and he was greatly influenced by the Brothers who were not only teachers, but also witnesses for religio, mores and cultura. The Brothers, he said, not only spoke these three words continuously, but actively lived them as well. He was inspired and influenced by the passion that radiated from the Christian Brothers so he was determined to become one of them himself.

With the passing of the high school and then the college years, although still inspired and still strongly influenced by the Brothers, the aspiration to become one of them would change.

The new dream was to become an investment banker. There was a great attraction to bond issues and IPOs, to mergers and acquisitions, and everything in between. He pursued his degree in LiaCom, and in 1967 graduated magna cum laude, receiving many attractive offers from multinational companies.

His resume would boast of his excellent academic records and a listing of impressive extra-curriculars which included positions as Editor of the De La Salle Green & White Yearbook and the ROTC Corps Commander, in addition to active participation in the Student Council and the Student Catholic Action group. As if to further prove his well-roundedness, there was even an inclusion of his sports commitment which was made to the junior basketball varsity team.

Young and idealistic, he joined Proctor & Gamble as a Management Trainee, before leaving for the United States to get his MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania as a University Scholar in 1968. He joined the Audit Department of Arthur Young & Co. in New York where he worked for 18 months before returning to the Philippines in 1972.

Despite the lure of commercial banks and other financial institutions, Cuisia would start as Assistant Manager in the local investment house, Ayala Investment & Development Corporation, eventually moving up to Senior Vice President within a relatively short period of six years.

It was while he was working with Insular Bank of Asia and America as Executive Vice President/ Chief Operating Officer that he was selected as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men for Domestic Banking in 1982. This would open bigger and more prestigious doors, including those of the SSS and the Bangko Sentral, for which he is very well known.

After seven and a half years in public service, he would return to the private sector, this time as President & CEO of Philamlife in 1993, bringing his discipline, financial expertise and broad macro-economic perspective to the largest life insurer in the country.

In these 13 years of his stewardship of Philamlife and its subsidiaries, Cuisia solidified the company’s industry leadership and profitability. Business World’s Top 1,000 for 2005 ranked Philamlife the 41st in terms of gross revenues and first among all Multinational Financial Intermediaries in the Philippines.

For Philamlife’s spectacular financial results and his contributions to the life insurance industry’s development, Cuisia was the recipient of the 2004 Raul Locsin Award for Chief Executive Officer of the Year and the first-ever Filipino recipient of the Asia Insurance Review’s Asia Insurance Personality Award in 2005.

It would be forgivable to think that Cuisia eats, sleeps and drinks only insurance and finance. How else can he manage to do everything he has? Well, nothing could be further from the truth. His current resume still echoes the well-roundedness his first ever resume possessed. He has directorships in business giants like SM Prime Holdings and Holcim, two listed companies in the PSE, while remaining active in non-profit groups such as the Philippine Cancer Society and Children’s Hour, all the while being Co-Chairman of the Board of Governors/Board of Trustees of the Asian Institute of Management and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Makati Business Club.

Cuisia is an advocate for good corporate governance and does so through his position as Chairman of the CV Starr Corporate Governance Chair in AIM which organized the Managing Corporate Governance in Asia Conference in Bali last year. He is also a strong proponent for corporate social responsibility and is chairman of the Philam Foundation that allocates its funds to education, healthcare, culture & arts and livelihood development projects nation-wide.

Cuisia competes in company bowling tournaments and is seen regularly at the Tower Club gym burning off calories during lunch-time and evening treadmill sessions. He manages to find time for his spiritual life and makes it a point to spend quality time with his family.

You will also catch Cuisia at many social functions - he is a popular figure at cocktail parties and business dinners, beside his wife, Vicky, or his many La Salle classmates that have been with him since the grade school days – Ramon Del Rosario,Jr., Perry Uy, Norman San Agustin, etc. If you’re lucky, you’ll also get to share an MRT ride with him and Richard Lee, both in green shirts, to support the DLSU basketball team at the Araneta coliseum. He’ll exchange some good-natured jeers with Richard Gordon, the Ateneo’s die-hard basketball cheer leader, while making sure the rest of the La Sallians on his side of the coliseum cheer the team to victory.

Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. – he may not have become a Christian Brother but he is religio, mores and cultura in living, breathing form. The Christian Brothers would be proud.

Electrifying Enigma

Edgardo Bautista nurtured Mirant Philippines, a private electric corporation, into profitability. Now, he is bringing it to its second and third bottom lines – the corporate and social responsibility (CSR), and the environmental stewardship, respectively. By Cristine Antonette B. Catu


Edgardo “Ed” Advincula Bautista [BS Mechanical Engineering, 1995] spent his preschool and elementary years attending Colegio Sagrado de Jesus in Iloilo City, his hometown. After graduating from elementary in 1948, he entered Colegio de San Agustin for his secondary education. He then graduated from high school in 1951. Bautista enrolled the following school year in the University of the Philippines in Visayas. However, he only remained for one year in the said university because in 1952, he decided to transfer to De La Salle University, still called back then as De La Salle College.

From 1952 to 1955, Bautista pursued his studies there, where his hard work paid off fruitfully -- he graduated cum laude in Mechanical Engineering. Not only did he graduate at the top of his class, but his capabilities also earned him the General Excellence Award and the Most Outstanding Graduate Award upon graduation. He even became an active member of the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers.

So adept was Bautista at his craft that he was rightfully chosen among all Philippine engineering graduates that time to attend the General Electric’s two-year specialized management and technical program in the United States of America. He also became an alumnus of Harvard’s Advanced Management Program.


Electric Dreams

Bautista jumpstarted his career with successful employments in blue chip companies such as Philippine Refining, Jardine Davis, Westinghouse Electric International, First Philippine Holdings, GE Philippines, and Mobil Oil. Hence, he gained all the necessary experiences he would need to be truly competitive in acquiring considerable achievements in power generation.

Looking back in the year 1987, Executive Order 215 paved the way for the termination of the National Power Corporation’s (NAPOCOR) monopoly in power generation and authorized the private sectors to generate and to provide electricity to the people. This was after years of static generation capacity resulting from a limited public infrastructure budget. Coupled with substantial growth and pent-up demand, this resulted in severe power shortages and daily brownouts, which commonly lasted for ten to twelve hours. In 1994, the Build-Operate Trans law further strengthened the entry of the private sectors in the electricity generation business. (Philippine Business, 2003).

Bautista then said, “The realization of the Power Reform Act objectives is seen by Mirant as an opportunity to participate in bringing about the objectives of the Power Reform Act – to ensure that reliable, quality electricity will be made available at a reasonable price. This has indeed given Mirant an opportunity to contribute to the welfare of the people as far as power generation is concerned.”

Thus begins the story of Mirant in the Philippines.

It all started more than sixteen years ago when Bautista became the president of Mirant Philippines, the country’s largest and most cost-efficient private electricity producer. For Bautista, this was not only an opportunity to help the country, but also a potential for a good, long-term business investment. With only six personnel that time, a small capital to start with, and loads of pioneering spirit, he laid the foundations of the power station in Navotas. Amidst the presence of several larger and more efficient plants around the Philippines, Mirant gradually became the country’s fastest top income earner by the turn of the century. A recipient of the 2004 Don Emilio Abello Energy Efficiency Award, Mirant has been considered by Platts Power Magazine as one of the top power plants in the world.

As such, being the leading power development not only in the country but also worldwide posed a lot of challenges. Bautista’s most repellent task was primarily to sustain the corporation’s efficient business leadership. He is proud to have formulated Mirant’s corporate sustainability roadmap. Plus, he was able to unfold the company’s core values. Given the chance by which businesses are now being evaluated by the people, Bautista decided to address four facets of company development: (1) developing business process for an effective and responsive business structure; (2) enhancing social conscience; (3) protecting and enhancing nature’s balance; and (4) and developing a committed and empowered organization.

Bautista remains strong in his conviction that the most important resource in a particular business is the people. Collaborating with an educational institution [Asian Institute of Management for Staff Training and Development], provided him and his subordinates a healthy working environment and a competitive compensation and benefits program that is considered as one of the best in the industry. Because of his efforts in organizational development, Bautista was supercilious to have been awarded as one of the top employers in the Philippines and to have received the Best Employers Award of Asia.


Three Bottom Lines

Why does Mirant spend so much money for its corporate and social responsibility [CSR]?

President and CEO Edgardo A. Bautista explains it in terms of what he calls triple bottom line – finance, social responsibility, and protection of the environment. The company judges its success based on Bautista’s novel triple-bottom-line philosophy. Normally, financial bottom lines are sufficient to define a company’s performance. In the case of Mirant Philippines, however, success is not singularly defined by mere profits.

Developed by Bautista himself, the concept emphasizes giving equal importance to attaining financial goals, leadership in corporate social responsibility [CSR}, and environmental stewardship.

Never forgetting to give back to the community and the environment, Bautista expanded his company’s initiative to include major corporate social responsibility projects such as Project Beacon, one of the biggest programs ever undertaken that redefined the concept of rural electrification.

Another was Project Amore in partnership with two NGOs, which sought to promote peace and progress in Mindanao by electrifying the remotest baranggays and bridging societal disparities.

Mirant also established the Carbon Sink Initiative, a reforestation project meant to promote an anti-global warming campaign. The corporation’s efforts being recognized by the World Bank and various award-giving bodies, Mirant became a leading force behind the CSR movement in the Philippines.

“It is true that blood, sweat, and tears were shed. We have to enter into all kinds of arrangements,” recalls Bautista. “We contract local manpower, we provide funding, and we handle the logistics. In remote areas like Tawi-Tawi, for instance, carabaos had to be harnessed to pull the cables.”

How he convinced Mirant’s American owners is a story by itself, Bautista relates. “CSR is part of the whole business,” he explains.

Mirant is one of the largest foreign investors in the country. It was the first foreign electric corporation to respond to the Philippine’s request for private sector assistance to meet growing electricity demands in the late 1980s. (BizNews Asia, 2005).

According to Antonio Lopez’s article, “Mirant has not one but three bottom lines.” He stated this when Mirant began to earn money; Bautista then introduced the second bottom line concept -- the social concept. The corporation consequently put up its CSR arm, the Mirant Philippines Foundation. After that came the third bottom line – sustaining the environment.

Basically, he explains, “Mirant is not a power plant. It is a factory that produces a product, which is energy. We can only survive if a considerable number of people continue patronizing what we can produce. We have to be the preferred supplier.”

“What differentiates us from the rest,” he points out, “is that we have two objectives. One is to meet the basic need – the immediate need of our customer. The other is to meet a need which we consider more important than the former – the development need.”


Corporate Excellence and Leadership

As Animo reminisces that memorable, very rainy evening, we can not help but think of all the people present there at the Distinguished Lasallian Awards Night. The scrumptious Spanish food and the exceptional music and entertainment rendered by the DLSU Chorale both served to enliven the event, but the occasion would not really have been complete without the gracious presence of Edgardo Bautista and his co-awardees.

Giving due recognition to what he has received, Bautista considers himself worthy of the award not only by what he had personally done, but also by what Mirant has accomplished through the years, the company that he was privileged to lead.

On top of that, Bautista is conceded for the true meaning of corporate excellence and leadership. It goes beyond the traditional financial measures and gives emphasis on its social, environmental, and organizational responsibility. Hence, it is only when these four important segments are successfully realized can he truly say that corporate excellence and leadership has been attained.

Confident that he has become true to the ideals of “Religio, Mores, et Cultura;” Bautista’s years in La Salle has truly given him the values that became his foundation for the development of the principles the DLSAA has recognized.

Victor's Victory

In spite of Victor’s academic record, his secret is neither intelligence nor brilliance.
By Cristine Antonette B. Catu

Boundless energy. A passion to pursue a worthwhile goal. Luck of being at the right place at the right time. Recognizing and grabbing the opportunity. These are the ingredients of Victor Percival Martinez Ordoñez’s [GS 1957, HS 1961, AB 1967, BSE 1968, MA 1970] victory.
Ordoñez started preparing for his career as early as his first encounter with Lasallian education. He earned his elementary and secondary diplomas in Taft, graduating as a gold medalist.
Family indeed knows best, for it was Victor’s parents who decided that he should study at La Salle, from preparatory until college. His brother Ernesto Ordoñez [GS 61, HS 65] is a Green Archer, too.
”Even before I first set foot on this campus at age five to enter prep, they had prepared me for school, like a sponge, ready to absorb everything La Salle had to offer,” quips Ordoñez.
Aside from his academic excellence, Ordoñez was also molded through engaging in extra curricular activities. He was involved in basketball and track and field-high jump. He was also a member of the school publication and council. Then, he became the captain of the College of Education debating team that championed during his post. But above his numerous memberships in student organizations, for Victor, it was Green spirit that he was most fond of.
”I enjoy my memories of being an avid NCAA basketball fan in grade school and high school. I went to the Rizal Memorial Coliseum regularly to watch the games and cheer till I lost my voice,” he quips with a smirk.

The Educator and his Education
In 1967 and 1968, Ordoñez went on academic overdrive and earned five of his seven degrees from La Salle and UST. He was only 23.
By 1970, Ordoñez had a bachelor of arts, summa cum laude; bachelor of science, summa cum laude, and a master of arts from La Salle and a bachelor of philosophy, cum laude; licentiate in philosophy, cum laude; doctor of philosophy, magna cum laude; and a bachelor in sacred theology, summa cum laude from UST. In the following years he pursued further studies at the University of Wisconsin, AIM, and Harvard Business School.
Through the 1980s and 1990s, Ordoñez was back to where he started, as an epitome of Lasallian excellence. He taught in DLSU, Xavier University, La Salle Bacolod, UCLA, and University of Hawaii and lectured at several prominent universities abroad including Harvard and Oxford. He also became Dean of the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod and DLSU-Manila’s Graduate Schools of Business and Education.
For Ordoñez, education was important in two senses: First, it gave him a good foundation for his professional life. Second, it was imperative to him as a chosen career path because he believes that nothing can be more noble than assisting in the formation and development of young people.
Since education is his main area of competence, he had the chance to study, teach, and consult at the best universities around the world. Name it. Oxford. Tokyo University. Cambridge. Stanford. Hong Kong University. Harvard. University of Beijing. Sorbonne. UC-LA. and Berkeley.
“But at no time did I feel that the basic education I received at La Salle was in any way inferior to theirs. I have worked with the best of their graduates. And on the foundation of what my La Salle teachers gave me, I was able to stand shoulder to shoulder with them and succeed,” shares Ordoñez.
Indeed, it was Ordoñez’s education that provided him an underpinning upon which he built the rest of his education. Learning and self learning became purposeful when he went to other institutions. Also, it gave him a solid foundation for his Christian faith. For ten years, as a Brother himself, he was shaped for a better perspective of life.
He is now a senior education fellow at the East - West Center in Honolulu and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Hawaii’s School of Education.

The Public Servant and his Service
Ordoñez’s decision to move into the government service was relatively unplanned. He was living in LA, but happened to be in Manila in February 1986, when the new Cory government took over. Two newly appointed ministers [Quisumbing for Education and Villafuente for Government Reorganization] asked him to be their deputy. After some vacillation and negotiation, he eventually accepted the bid. Subsequently, he relocated from LA, and looked forward to being part of a new government with a fresh start. Little did he knew, the shift from the private sector to the government sector and vice-versa would continue.
“I left government, shortly after a cabinet reshuffle during which a new Secretary of Education was named. It coincided with an offer from UNESCO for me to be Director of Basic Education in Paris, which I accepted,” he shares.
With his background tucked under his belt, Ordoñez became the acting deputy minister of the Ministry of Trade and later the Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Government Reorganization and was the Philippine’s representative in the UNCTAD/UNIDO Panel of Experts on Trade and International Cooperation. He also contributed to the private sector and rural development with several vice-presidencies and chair positions in local, regional, and foreign organizations.

The Artist and his Craft
Ordoñez also showcased his talent and love for the arts. He was the founding chairman of the Presidential Commission for Culture and the Arts; supervising undersecretary of the National Museum and National Library; vice-chairman of CCP’s Board of Trustees; and board member of the Philippine High School for the Arts, Batibot, Metropolitan Museum, and Nayong Pilipino, among others. He has dabbled as an actor both on and offstage and as a director, producer, and project developer for Filipino and foreign films. His novel “With Hearts Aflame” is currently in negotiation for a Hollywood film.

The Achiever and his Achievements
Ordoñez’s well-rounded and colorful career is peppered with innumerable achievements. Apart from his seven degrees by the age of 25, he also propagated the professionalization of educational management in the Philippines and Asia and oversaw DLSU-Manila’s transition from a male-only college to a co-educational university. He helped draft the education chapter of our current Constitution and navigated landmark education laws through Congress. He also spearheaded Education for All, a worldwide interagency campaign against illiteracy, and served as a spokesperson for agencies sponsoring the World Education Forum. From 1995 to 2000, he had the distinction of heading UNESCO’s largest office outside of Paris, the Principal Regional Office for Asia/Pacific in Bangkok, which easily made him the highest-ranking Filipino in the entire UN system.
UST made Victor its Most Outstanding Alumnus. The Jaycees in 1977 gave him a TOYM award, and Philippine Normal University and Leyte State University added two PhDs, honors causa, to his name.
Recognition comes in many forms, and there is none more genuine and treasured than recognition by one’s own peers. Ordoñez was one of the honorees in the Distinguished Lasallian Awards this year.
Ordoñez humbly dedicated his award to the people who were behind his formation. He thanked the teachers who became pillars of his Lasallian education. To name a few, they are Miss Alburo (Grade One), Brother Paul Hebert (Graduate School), Mr. Paras, Mr. Martinez, Mr. Fabella, Mr. Lara, Brother Frederick, Brother Francis, and his favorite - his Grade Seven teacher, Brother Fidelis. His college professors also had their share in Victor’s success: the now legendary Ariston Estrada, Waldo Perfecto, Mars Foronda, Brother Andrew Gonzalez, among others.
He also recognized the contribution of his professional colleagues. Ordoñez emphasized that he was lucky to have great bosses like Brother Gabriel and Brother Andrew of La Salle, Sixto Roxas in Bancom, Lourdes Quisumbing in the Department of Education, and Federico Mayor in UNESCO and to have been surrounded with outstanding teams, all of whom had encouraged him to live up to his potential and do his best in everything he undertook.
“I remember working as Director in UNESCO Paris and Bangkok with diverse individuals from over 35 very different countries and getting them to articulate coherent strategies and focus on specific goals in our campaign on Education for All. The aim was to lessen the 900 million illiterates around the world and try to put the world’s 110 million out-of-school children into classrooms or non-formal programs. They achieved a significant reduction in those numbers, until population growth erased some of their gains,” relates the former UNESCO director. “The simple fact is that if my teams had not been successful, I would not have been successful,” Ordoñez humbly recalls. “No one succeeds without a team. That is certainly true in my case,” he continues.
In the end, it was Victor’s exceptional determination that led him into being an educator, public servant, artist and achiever.
“I have had many kinds of jobs in many fields: education, banking, trade, movie production, international organizations, etc. I find the common element is management, that is, the ability to accomplish a specific task or goal, working with people, within a time frame and a budget. That skill served me well in all the above fields,” he says in a matter of fact manner.

Serendipitous Delights

So far, De La Salle Araneta University President received nothing but praises from the alumni because of his quiet yet efficient performance. By Cristine Antonette B. Catu

Almost in his seventies, this avid golfer, who comes on as diplomatic and awe-inspiring especially with his deep resonant voice, continues to enthrall and touch the hearts of many Lasallians. He’s a public servant with a passion to serve.
Meet Br. Rafael S. Donato FSC or Br. Rafe [GS, 1952; HS, 1956; BSE, 1961] in real life.
After a preparatory period in St. Paul’s College of Vigan, Br. Rafe left his native Ilocos in the late 40s and early fifties to begin his long and devoted stay with La Salle. He took his education at De La Salle College in Taft where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Education with English Literature as major in 1961. In the same manner, his older brother Doy graduated BS Commerce in Taft [1953] while his younger brother Ray [HS, 1959; DLSU, 1963] was also a Green Archer all the way from grade school to college. Br. Rafe became a Christian Brother in 1956 and is celebrating his Golden Anniversary this year.
“Vocation to religious life is not a one time call. It is ongoing and one’s response is on going as well, daily even. Renewed effort is the key to perseverance,” Br. Rafe shares solemnly.
But vocation to religious life runs in his blood. Earlier, the Brother was an active Catechist, a Sodalist, and a member of the Student Catholic Action. Moreover, his aunt Mother Rosalie RA was the first Filipina Assumption nun and his other aunt Sister Cecile OSB was a concert pianist and music teacher at St Scholastica’s Manila.
Another side of him that people don’t know is that he’s acquainted with many sports in college. Some of which are soccer, basketball, and track. “I contributed to our school paper,” says Br. Rafe, who was also the sports editor of their high school yearbook in La Salle.

Further Down the Steps
Br. Rafe was a scared second grade boy when he first set foot on the grounds of De La Salle Taft. Upon entering the iron gates, he remembers noticing an elegant-looking shield of green and white. Brother Edward or “Big Ed” wore military fatigue and Brother Anthony or “Big Anthony” interviewed him in their small office by the South Gate [now the mail room]. He was asked to add multiple columns without the use of paper and fingers.
Residing on Arellano Avenue just two long blocks to Taft gave him quick access to the school. The school itself was like his second home. His contact with the Brothers and the close ties he had with his classmates made more soberly but nonetheless exciting memories of his life as a student in La Salle.
“Papa finished at the Ateneo in Intramuros in 1919 and then graduated as an Electrical Engineer in 1923 at Notre Dame. Marquitos Roces says Papa was the first Filipino graduate of Notre Dame. Papa must have known of the Christian Brothers in the U.S. when he decided to send his sons to De La Salle. If he had stuck to tradition, I would have gone to Ateneo and I would not be here today,” shares Br Rafe without a tinge of regret.

Plunging into the Teaching Pool
In 1965, Br Rafe graduated on a Fulbright - Hays scholarship from Columbia University with a master’s degree in English as a Second Language and Linguistics. That same year he received yet another Fulbright grant, this time to travel to Europe and Vietnam. He consequently became the first Filipino brother to visit the Generalate in Rome.
Concurrent with his personal academic pursuits, Br Rafe held many teaching positions at La Salle Academy in Iligan City, La Salle Green Hills, and La Salle high school in Lipa during the mid-1960s. It was also around this time that he was a member of the Linguistic Society of America, the Linguistic Society of the Philippines, and the US National Council for Teachers of English. He was also very much involved in school productions and an active member of PETA. He directed the first ever off Broadway musical THE FANTASTIKS at La Salle Greenhills.
Br Rafe’s career as an educator skyrocketed in the 1970s when he became the first Filipino director of De La Salle Lipa and the first Filipino president of La Salle Green Hills. In 1974 after receiving another grant he obtained his Certificate of Advanced Studies from Harvard University and a doctorate two years later in 1976 with the project thesis entitled “Concept Ombudsman: A Theory of Change.”
Teaching positions and a first Filipino presidency at La Salle College Bacolod, where he also sat as dean of its Graduate School, followed. Not an apathetic Ilocano transposed to the South, he plunged into Bacolod socio-civic concerns of police advisory, youth development, and mental health and founded the Handumanan Science Foundation. Together with other administrators, he founded the Negros Occidental Sports, Cultural, Educational Association (NOPSCEA) and the NOPSCEA Foundation to improve the delivery of educational services in the province and enhance the cohesiveness of schools and administrators.
The country’s political climate during the late 1980s and early 1990s spurred Br Rafe to focus his efforts towards peace, progress, and nationalism. He was elected the first noncleric Chairman of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of Men in the Philippines at the time when the religious were at the forefront in witnessing the brutal violations of human rights under Martial Rule which culminated in the People Power uprising in 1986 and subsequently the restoration of democracy in the country. While Brother Visitor from 1983 to 1990, he founded the EDSA Ortigas Consortium (EDSOR) that promotes education for peace and justice and published several works on leadership, teaching, ethics, and professional competence. In 1990, he was one of the conveners of the National Peace Conference (NPC) representing the religious sector and, in 1994, became a British Council Fellow for Peace Studies at the University of Bradford, UK and, in 1995, a Research Fellow of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Truman Institute of Peace. In these latter appointments, he met, sat and discussed peace issues with a number of international peace advocates and researchers at forums in Northern Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands and Israel.

Mishaps… Squabbles…
Upon assuming the presidency of De La Salle University in 1991, Br Rafe was in the middle of the first DLSU – UAAP crunch. Just a few weeks in office, he got embroiled in a situation which deprived De La Salle University from an unprecedented number of basketball championships as a result of a UAAP board decision to nullify the game and ordered a replay against the better judgment of experts such as the referees, table officials, commissioner, BAP and FIBA. This incensed the Lasallain community. It was during this time that he appreciated the better judgment of the basketball players who decided not to show up at the scheduled replay.
It was also significant that his first class at De La Salle University was celebrating its Silver Jubilee
“I was in my practicum but my mentor Brother Gabriel never visited my class and I learned by doing and shouting many unruly boys in 7C. I developed pharyngitis and had to see Dr. Emmanuel Almeda twice a week for my treatment. But my beloved 7C who have once again renewed their relationship with me and made my life as a Brother meaningful,” shares the Brother.
For over 50 years, his perseverance as a Brother is largely on the notion that kids like them needed a teacher like him.

Efforts – Small Undramatic Steps
Br Rafe sailed to more success when he went to Lipa. He was president for eight years of DLS Lipa and principal architect of its expansion. Pioneering the Foundation for Sharing Lasallian Education, with the help of his classmates and of some Manila-based Lasallians, he was able to make 26 underprivileged Batangueños in various college courses.
It is important to note that to date, the Foundation has graduated 35 college students in Lipa at a cost of P5M and many donors or sponsors in the likes of Danding Lucero, Bobby de Ocampo, and Tony Sumbingco, who took over the leadership of the Foundation, have heartfully given these scholars a job upon graduation to start them off into a career.
Br Rafe made such a difference that he was adopted as a son of the city in 1996 and after his tenure was bestowed the title of President Emeritus of DLS Lipa.
He has served as chair, vice-chair, or president in practically all Lasallian schools in the Philippines with the possible exception of La Salle College Antipolo. He is a professor-on-call in DLSU-Dasmariñas, De La Salle Lipa, and DLSU-Manila’s College of Education. Br Rafe is the current auxiliary brother visitor of De La Salle Brothers – Philippine District. “Recycled,” he says since he was Brother Visitor for 7 years in the 80s.

Honoring one of the Pillars of La Salle
Looking back at the daunting challenges that came his way, he can easily say that a major key in success is to keep looking for solutions to problems and not to give up easily when the challenges get to become too heavy.
To succeed, Br Rafe knew he had to work extra hard, to be consistent, and to live a Christian life. It was the only way to get ahead as one of the pillars of La Salle institution in the Philippines. “Education is a very important mission of the Church and our participation in it according to the charism of the Founder St. John Baptist de la Salle makes it a driving force,” opines the Brother.
It may all be worth it when they do make the cut for this year’s Distinguished Lasallian Awardee… “I feel very honored to be among so many alumni who have done well in life as a result of their Lasallian education. There are many more who are doing very well but doing it so quietly and competently that only a few know of their life and accomplishments. These alumni are the ones that give me inspiration and indicate that our educational philosophy is embedded in wisdom,” Br Rafe later advises.
“These are the serendipities of my life as a Brother and as a graduate of this university. The discoveries either by accident or sagacity have been a source of wonderment and a continued well of energy to inspire me not to be weary in doing well (St. Paul) and do more for others as we continue the arduous task at Nation Building”, he candidly says.
By being open to discovery, one discovers in a delightful way new experiences. The life of a Brother and the activities that are involved in it can open layers of serendipitous delights. The people that one meets open up whole new worlds and vistas of vicarious experiences.

Oscar Hilado: Soaring High Beyond the Horizons

His unwavering passion never ceases to touch and inspire lives each and every day.
By Cristine Antonette B. Catu


“ When I received word that the De La Salle Alumni Association (DLSAA) had selected me as one of the Distinguished La Sallian Awardees for 2006, my immediate reaction was one of complete surprise. Surprise because I am not even an alumnus of DLSU. I graduated in 1958 from what, in 1958, was a rather obscure La Salle Bacolod. In my time I thought it was a second tier La Salle.”

Oscar J. Hilado’s (USLS, BSC, 1958) induction to La Salle’s Distinguished La Sallian Awardees is a fitting tribute to this man who significantly led PHINMA’s expansion to over 30 affiliated companies, into diverse industries such as cement, steel, paper and packaging, mining and oil exploration, energy, agriculture, trading, property development, consulting, and insurance brokerage during a career that spanned 40 years.

From his humble beginnings in Bacolod City to heading one of the country’s major business groups today, it is clear that Oscar Hilado was definitely made for success. After earning both his grade school and high school diplomas from Casanova School, he attended La Salle College in Bacolod and graduated with a BS Commerce degree in 1958, with highest honors and a gold medal for general excellence.

Hilado recalls the times when he was just breaking into his teens. Studying under, and living in the company of the Brothers, particularly Bro. Leander Fidelis, Bro. Francis Cody, and Bro. Jeffrey are his fondest memories in La Salle Bacolod. For Hilado, his four tough years in college of striving for excellence was challenging… but fun. Dynamic, creative, and a born leader, he was inclined into a complete menu of activities – academics, sports, student governance, school publication, and student catholic action.

Hilado’s versatility is amazing. He was a lawn tennis, table tennis, and handball player rolled into one. Believe it or not, this Student Council President displays his unique style of leadership…as well as his subordinateness…as he touches the lives of his batchmates, emphasizing unity, a legacy he always wants to hand down. A faithful servant of God and a Christian model, Hilado was the president of the Student Catholic Action. At the same time, he was the editor-in-chief of SPECTRUM, La Salle Bacolod’s school paper. Often, Hilado was seen with a pen in his hand, writing his heart out in pieces that affirms the author’s zeal and values.

If there is one mentor that had a really profound influence on Hilado in school, it would have to be the smiling Brother – Bro. Leander Fidelis, who passed away at age 87 on June 12 last year. Bro. Fidelis was the college dean and his Religion teacher then. As he looks back during his moments of doubt and worry, he recalls how the Brother would always tell him “Don’t worry, Oscar, nothing in this world happens except that God wills it, or that God permits it.”

Hilado passed the CPA exams after graduation in 1958, and worked for a British sugar trading company in Bacolod for two (2) years. “Bro. Fidelis was my pillar of support when, two years after college and in one moment of reckless imprudence, I decided to seek admission at the Harvard Graduate School of Business,” recounts Hilado. He went as a Fulbright Smith-Mundt scholar under the Fulbright program, one of the US’ most competitive and prestigious scholarships, and a Harvard grant.

The smiling Brother also taught him typing very well so that – he quips -
“If he failed to make it to the Harvard Business School, he might end up as a rather good stenographer!”

With Hilado’s infectious smile and uninhibited warmth, indeed, the smiling Brother had really left a deep impression in his life.

Two years after earning his MBA in 1962, he joined the Philippine Investment Management (PHINMA), Inc., and in twenty years, became its president. Hilado professes that he was lucky to have met Amb. Ramon V. del Rosario in 1964, because it was the ambassador that gave him the opportunity to succeed.

He stayed as President of PHINMA for eight years – from 1986 to 1994 – and during that period chaired DLSU-Manila’s Board of Trustees for 4 years, received the St. La Salle Award for Outstanding Alumni from the University of St. La Salle Bacolod, the MAP Management Man of the Year award in 1991, and in 1996, the Outstanding Fulbright Award for Business Management. He was also honored with a doctorate in business management Honoris Causa by De La Salle University in 1992. Hilado was Vice-Chair of the Philippine Business for Social Progress from 1981 to 1999, and president of the Management Association of the Philippines from 1993 to 1994. In 2003, University of St. La Salle (Bacolod) also conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa.

After his term as President of PHINMA, he moved on to become the company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Presiding over the expansion of PHINMA to over 30 affiliated companies in diverse industries in a period extending over 30 years was a challenging task. Driven by a passion for expansion and diversity, his formula for success, when asked, replied: “Friendly and trusting investors. Hardworking and loyal staff. Competent and dedicated associates. Inspiring and exacting boss. A supportive family.”

“To lead effectively, one needs to lead by example. You can’t expect people to work 12 hours a day, if you are the last man to come to the office and the first one to leave; you can’t ask them to be honest if they see you as being a cheat. Also, to lead is to learn from mistakes, and to have the courage and energy to bounce back from setbacks.” asserts Hilado.

If growing the company was a challenging task, presiding over the restructuring of the Group after the Asian crisis of 1997, to preserve its value, and to protect the work of a lifetime, was at once an exacting and emotional experience, as restructuring included the divestment of some prized assets; but it was also a stimulating exercise and eventually, a fulfilling and rewarding work that capped his professional career.

Asked if awards placed undue pressure on him, Hilado replied: “No, because I do not live for the purpose of winning awards. I look at awards as recognition for what you do and what you are, and seen to be. I don’t try to fit myself into a mold,” said the successful businessman who has recently relinquished the position of CEO, but remains Chairman of PHINMA.

As Chairman of PHINMA, Hilado also chairs the Board or Executive Committee of most of its subsidiaries and affiliates. He also chairs the De La Salle University Science Foundation, is a member of the National Mission Council of De La Salle Philippines, Inc. and a member of countless other civic and professional groups. He is also the honorary consul of Ecuador.

As he winds down his professional career, Hilado wants to devote more time to travel, to philantrophic work – particularly for the homeless, for talented but financially disadvantaged students, and for the handicapped – and to what he calls the great passion of his life – TENNIS – playing it, and helping in the development of the sport in the Philippines.

Pardo's Way

“With courage, you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity.”
By Cristine Antonette B. Catu

This is the maxim that Jose “Titoy” Pardo [GS ‘52, HS ‘56, BSC ‘60, MBA DLSU, ’63) lives by. For someone who has made a name for himself in the corridors of power both in government and business board rooms, Pardo remains a well-grounded man--- proof of strong Christian values inculcated early on in childhood and a sound academic foundation.
Pardo earned his bachelor’s degree in 1960, majoring in Accounting. A La Sallite from grade school to college, he again chose the University for his MBA , earning the distinction of being the first-ever MBA graduate under the Harvard-DLSU Graduate School Advisory Program.
Then made to select between the two schools, Pardo chose La Salle, believing that the long and winding road to success begins and ends here. It is not just the adherence to a cutting-edge system of education nor the continuing pursuit of evolving technology that distinguishes La Salle from other institutions, but rather the uncompromising commitment to the principles of honesty, integrity, and honor that truly defines the modern day Lasallian.
“A treasured memory which is common to all grade and year levels is the anxiety that comes at the start and end of a school year… hoping to excel if not to cope with one’s studies, ‘breaking bread’ with old and new classmates as well as meeting the expectations of our professors,” recalls Pardo of life in La Salle.
During his student years, Pardo’s almost inexhaustible energy is not limited to the four walls of the classroom. He also displayed his superb athletic form as member of the NCAA Swimming and Water Polo teams of La Salle. After La Salle came a love for the sport of Tennis and now Golf. The golf course has now become a vast playground where he can show off his improving handicap or settle business concerns outside the boardroom.
Not one to settle for anything less, Pardo’s love for animals later on earned him a distinction in Dog Breeding. Pardo has won two Phillippine Championship titles, one for a Doberman and the other, for a Miniature Pinscher.
In true-green form, Pardo is a dyed –in-wool Green Archers fan. Together with some of the biggest names in business, government and the academe, he has become a fixture at the UAAP games, cheering on his team.
In 1967 he was given recognition in the form of a fellowship grant to the US on the Development of Small and Medium Scale Industries. This was immediately followed by an observation grant, this time to France, on the Promotion and Financing of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises.
At the height of a raging political and economic storm that followed the assassination of Ninoy Aquino in 1983, Pardo put up 7-Eleven and Wendy’s in the Philippines. While some friends and business associates held back on investments and even brought their money out of the country, Pardo’s family decided to invest in both business ventures. His advice to budding entrepreneurs…”When in doubt, JUMP! Remember, the man who makes no mistakes ends up not making anything.”
A true businessman and entrepreneur, Pardo went on to become the president of the Philippine Seven Corporation, the country’s 7-Eleven licensee, and Wenphil Corporation, the country’s franchisee of the Wendy’s International. Today, both companies are among the largest retail businesses in the country.
In the year 1972, Pardo garnered such prestigious awards – the President Roxas Memorial Award and was adjudged one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Awardees.
One of Pardo’s defining moments was when he was tapped to be the Secretary of Trade and Industry with concurrent Chairmanships of the Board of Investments (BOI), PEZA, GTEB and the National Development Company (NDC). On his 1st year as DTI Secretary, he was elected Chairman of the ASEAN Trade Ministers.
His calling for Public service then brought him to the position of Secretary of Finance and concurrent to this came various positions in such prestigious banking and financial institutions like the Asian Development Bank as a Member of its Board of Governors, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as Governor for the Philippines. Pardo likewise served as Chairman of the Land Bank of the Philippines, PDIC and also of the Trade and Investment Development Corporation.
Pardo takes particular pride in having served as the private sector representative of the Monetary Board of the Central Bank from 1993 to 1994 during the term of President Fidel Ramos. He was then President of the influential Philippine Chamber of Commerce (PCCI). Then came the new Bangko Sentral when he was again appointed this time by President Estrada as Member of the Monetary Board from 1998 to 2001.
Today, Pardo displays the same zeal in the field of Banking as the Chairman of the Philippine Savings Bank (PSB) and a director of the Bank of Commerce. He is likewise a member of the Board of Directors of some of the biggest companies in the country such as J.G. Summit, Coca Cola Corporation and SMC Pure Foods.
Honing his management acumen in broadcast and television communications, he was a past Chairman of the Philippine Multi-Media Systems Inc. (PMSI) which is the company behind Dream TV and a former director of GMA Network. Pardo is currently chair of ABC 5, Director of Radio Veritas and also a director of Mabuhay Philippine Satellite Corporation.
As his involvements in the Foundation for Sharing Lasallian Education, Museo Pambata Foundation, the Learning Center, and Punla Foundation will show, Pardo has not forgotten his passion for education, particularly for the poor. He has also given back to his alma mater by serving as chair of DLSU-Manila’s Board of Trustees. For quite some time, Pardo was also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Assumption College Inc. (San Lorenzo) and is now doing the same for Assumption Antipolo.
Through the years, Pardo has been recognized for his various involvements--- Honorary Fellow of the Asian Productivity Organization, Founding Fellow of the Development Academy of the Philippines, and Outstanding Alumnus of De La Salle Professional School’s Graduate School of Business. In 1983, he became a Papal Knight of St. Sylvester and in 2000, a Man of the Year of the Catholic Educators Association of the Philippines and doctor in humanities, honoris causa, of the Gregorio Araneta University Foundation.
Asked for the secret of his success, Pardo mentions leading a balanced life—that which is in service of God, country and fellowmen.
“Equally important and worthy of mention is my post-graduate degree where I earned my only Summa Cum Laude honors and this is in the prestigious School of Married Life. This is a life long program I continue to journey with my wife, Marilyn, and I am proud to say that I have already done 46 years,” shared Pardo in his speech during the Distinguished Lasallian Awards Night.
There is no single life’s strategy that can guarantee success. Though many books have been written to develop and improve skills, and even sharpen character traits so that one can make it in today’s competitive world, the ability to succeed lies in one’s sheer determination and positive outlook in life. Nature does not reveal the secrets to a well-balanced life; it only responds to our methods of questioning.
In Pardo’s case, it is believing that leadership is not just a position, it is action with vision. Nothing is impossible if one puts his mind, heart, and energy behind any goal.
“Once clear in my mind what I want to do, I put “P.O.M.P.” in place. I plan; I organize; I manage; and I pray as I make things happen to bring me closer to my goal,” reveals Pardo.
Looking back. Pardo recalls one summer in high school when he chose to do something different. As teenagers like him were looking forward to vacation—going abroad or hitting the beaches, Pardo chose to spend summer as a delivery boy. This particular experience not only showed him the value of hard work but also perseverance.
”I signed up with PLDT to deliver their thick and heavy telephone directories on a house to house basis. I was paid 50 centavos for every directory I delivered. A collateral benefit came by way of exercise, I had to lift the heavy directories while walking for hours to deliver these,” recalls Pardo.
His advice to his fellow La Sallians is that they continue to dare, excel, and make a difference, but never forget to care and share.
Through all these, Pardo admits that the charism of St. John Baptist de la Salle has shaped and influenced his professional, business and public service decisions.
Indeed, Pardo’s act is a tough one to follow. But yes, it can happen and it can be done. This exemplary La Sallian did it his way. And made us all so damn proud!

Six Accept DL

Read this in no particular order. An engineering power player. The top honcho of the largest life insurance company in the country. An educator who served in all, but one, Lasallian school in the Philippines. A business success story. An actor heading the country’s body for culture and arts. Last but not the least, an entrepreneur who served for the government and an education advocate. What do you get? A cocktail to honor them and enlist them to be a part of the club of distinguished Lasallians.

Last May 15, six notable Lasallians in different fields were conferred to the Distinguished Lasallian Awards at the DLSU Marilen Gaerlan Conservatory. The six were Edgardo “Ed” A. Bautista, Jose “Joey” L. Cuisia, Jr., Rafael “Rafe” S. Donato FSC, Oscar J. Hilado, Victor “Vic” M. Ordoñez, and Jose “Titoy” T. Pardo.

All the awardees were present but one – Cuisia was not able to attend because he was in New York to attend his daughter’s graduation in Columbia University. Instead, Justine Cuisia, his youngest daughter, attended and delivered the speech in his behalf. Current DLSAA President Jay Gervasio commenced the evening with adelightful preface, acknowledging the day as also being the feast day of St. John Baptist de la Salle.

Before the awarding, there was a mass held and was led by Fr. Pat Lim, a DLSU alumnus.
The evening's Master of Ceremonies was Henry Atayde, 2007 Homecoming Chair, who lent a jovial air to the evening's otherwise solemn atmosphere. Dinner was peppered with lovely renditions from the DLSU Chorale Alumni, who provided for the night's musical entertainment.

Lito Tanjuatco, chairman of the DLSAA delivered the Invocation and his Welcome Address.

Mr. Edgardo Lucero [DLSAA Vice-President], Mr. Manny Blanco [DLSAA Vice-President for Honors and Awards], and DLSU-Manila Executive Vice-President Dr. Carmelita Quebengco presented the awards to the six.
Br. Armin Luistro FSC, DLSU-Manila President, gave the closing remarks. It was followed by the singing of the Alma Mater Hymn led by the internationally acclaimed DLSU chorale. The event also serendipitously coincided with the 71st birthday of awardee Ed Bautista.


The Distinguished Lasallian awards are given to selected Lasallian in recognition of their exemplary efforts to serve as inspirations to their colleagues and fellowmen. This award is the highest and most prestigious non-sports award given by the DLSAA.

Any Distinguished Lasallian awardee must have been a qualified alumnus for at least twenty [20] years prior to selection and may receive the award only once.

This award honors a Lasallian who has achieved multiple and earned distinction and unusual positive recognition for their vision, leadership, management, and integrity in their chosen fields, professions, or public service, reputed nationally or internationally, and those who serve both as professional and personal role models for Lasallian students and other Filipinos.

For the past 55 years from 1950 to 2005, the DLSAA has given 126 Distinguished Lasallian Awards or their equivalents for their exemplary professional achievements.

Beyond the League

The Queens of the green turf still living and kicking despite UAAP’s schoolwide boot
By Cristine Antonette B. Catu


“It’s a different feeling for the athlete compared to the coach. The coach doesn’t have to be the best in everything that he could do. Well, I’ll try to do milestone in this career because no one had ever done this in football history. I knew I had not been bragging because I believe we will come up victorious. We’re really preparing for the future. I don’t like to wallow what I finished and all the tournaments that I’m joining. It’s a job. It has nothing that I’m excited but it looks like differently in the player.”

These were the words that came out of multi-titled De La Salle University (DLSU) women’s soccer coach Hans Peter Smit’s mouth on focusing his lady wards for the future after wiping the opposition en route to several national collegiate titles in the country.

Who would contest the Lady Booters feats? Four consecutive diadems in the Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). Seven straight University Games crowns. Reigning and defending ADIDAS Futsal, National Capital Region Football Association (NCRFA) Women’s Open, Alaska and Zobel Cup title holders. In the athletic (academic) year 2006-07, these titles are on the bag one again. Chalk up one each for these upcoming battles. Uh-oh, not yet.

However, a lightning beam (the order by the UAAP board to suspend DLSU from competing in Season 69) aimed to stab every heart of every Green blood, standouts and student and alumni enthusiasts living today, struck in full force. And with this unfortunate event, the Lady Booters jive for five in Season 69 was left in peril.

Though there are juniors and seniors that felt bad about it, Smit maintained to his wards that UAAP is just another tournament for them and records done by the team would not be shattered for a very long time. He believed that it would be hard for another team to upheave this record.



Focusing his wards

Focus. Focus. Focus. – That’s what Coach Hans Smit had been constantly reminding his players in preparation for the UAAP.

“We will have to do more because everybody wants to be on top. It’s not easy to be number one now because everybody would like to bring you down,” explains the coach. “The preparation is only secondary,” he continues.

After steering the team to its fourth straight soccer crown in Season 68, Smit did his best to keep Greenies focused on the game and not get too caught up in its magnitude.

The players are all in high spirits with the inclusion of eight rookies who amused the crowd in a higher standard, thus, making the team more competitive than last year. They are looking forward to another year of training and being a family again after two months break.

Led by 2005 South East Asian (SEA) Games stalwarts Clarissa Lazaro and Samantha Bermudez, the Greenies dominated every match en route to a successful defense of the title they have won four years back.

Determined to stem the tide of history, the Greenies had nothing to lose and had everything to gain. Hence, the Green and White were itching to pay back with interest because once they are down and pinned against the wall, they [players] would always come fighting back.

Their preparation is nothing out of the ordinary. The team will barely maintain what they have worked together, howbeit, more assertive this time.


Departure of reliables

In every team, one cannot erase the fact that a reliable would bid farewell to the team. It’s like a loss of a loved one. But for Smit, it is a continuous development as he continues to search for aspiring Lady Booters in the future.

KC Hernandez has graduated college. Aside from this, there are two graduating players from last year’s roster – Chessa Ibarra [graduating 1st trim] and Trina Martirez [graduating 1st trim]. One of the rookies, Gia Yusi [3rd year], will continue her Culinary studies in New York and Patty Silva might have to quit because of program problems.

Knowing this would happen to the team, early this year, Smit mapped out a contingency plan for the good of his team. He prioritized on the recruitment and training of players that have ball carrier potentials.

In an interview with Coach Smit, he brings up that almost all of the juniors are potential team captains. DLSU Women Soccer Team is very fortunate to have the bulk of the best high school players in their time. It will be fun seeing them develop to make another strong contender for the future. He will pick after ‘06 –’07 season is over the next team captain, keeping an eye on anything that can happen in a year.

“It’s not perfect season all the time. But of course, the most difficult thing to do is to do what we did few years back. Other than that, these are girls…These are really girls. Oh! I have one tomboy [he chuckles]. They’re all real beauty, brains, and they play hard ball,” opines Smit.


Titles… titles…

The Lady Booters annexed the Metro Manila Girls Football Association [MMGFA] crown, the first ADIDAS Futsal League and bag the Unigames titles for the seventh straight time. Aside from that, they were the bridesmaids of the Alaska Cup soccer festival.

What’s next? Smit’s team will be defending the regular MMGFA and 2nd ADIDAS FUTSAL Championship which will start on May 28. University Games will be going for their eight straight title, and the ninth in ten stagings. There might be the National Capital Region Football Association (NCFRA) Women’s Open Championship won by the Lady Archers in their last staging of the tourney.

Moreover, there will be a string of football festivals in between the regular tourney’s like Alaska Cup and Zobel Cup which will also be defending in November this year.


Father to the bouncing kids

The boss of the team takes care each of the members as his own kids, even stricter than these ball carrier’s parents. He makes it a point to treat his players as different individuals and different personalities but with the same objective. They work professionally as they can even if they were just a collegiate team. “As long as the respect is there, it’s easy to get along with your players. I respect them first so they reciprocate with the same respect given to them. Well, it’s not all about football but about relationships. Without a relationship, you have nothing,” he candidly says.

For this guy who possesses the uncanny ability to make all wrongs always right, the four-peat will just be a bonus. The five peat? As of now, he doesn’t need that added question to himself.

“Don’t lose hope because nothing is definite! Always be positive even in adversity and things will turn out just fine! As they say, LIFE GOES ON BEYOND UAAP,” concludes Smit.

Rumble with the Champs

It was an old dilapidated edifice at the 5th floor in a known village in Makati. No signage. No air-conditioning units. Abaft. The place was not even on the main road. This was just a gym only being passed by people from across the building.

Then, people started walking, drifting, and dropping by accident. And through word of mouth, it became known to many. Inside the gym, people strive to learn punching. Assisting you is a trainer, who just wears maong shorts. Everything was just fitness in a box.

This was the scene six years ago. Now, it has blossomed into one of the well-known fitness gyms in the Philippines. This is RED CORNER FITNESS AND BOXING GYM.


Round 1 - The Protagonists

Red Corner opened its doors to people its first branch in Salcedo Village in Makati sometime December 1999, and started offering professional boxing training as an alternative fitness and routine program. Howbeit, boxing is more popular than any other martial arts and is just a fighting second behind basketball in the country. Thanks to the exploits of Filipino ring sensation Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao, whom we all know tormented two of the best [pound-for- pound] Mexican gladiators in the present era - Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, the widespread influx of boxing as a training and fitness routine, sprouted like mushrooms.

Vincent Edward Nievera Barreto (DLSU Batch ‘88, Bachelor of Science in Business Management), Joseph Fuentes Pagulayan (DLSU Batch ‘88, Business Management), and Randolph Ignacio Nonato (DLSU Batch ‘90, Accountancy) are behind the name Red Corner Fitness and Boxing Gym. Red Corner was taken from one of the corners [blue corner, red corner and two white corners] of the boxing ring. The animus of the Red Corner is stereotypically known as the champion’s corner, whereas the blue corner is the challenger's corner. So, it is an automatic symbol in relation to boxing.

"Basically, we just want to give a systematic program wherein a person who's really a fanatic would really learn the sports. I would also use the analogy of Oscar de la Hoya who doesn't have enough fitness shaping body but he found somebody else - the ring. It's actually the same training he undergoes. So by using that particular analogy, we'd always see this significance on how boxing has an effect on a person's metabolism [somebody's fitness] and use that as a platform to elevate the sports," Pagulayan relates at length.


Round 2 - Crisp Blows

Red Corner was the first boxing gym in Makati. Currently, there are six gyms available to a certain sector of society to bring fitness closer to the boxing enthusiasts. The main branch is situated in Hotel Intercontinental Manila. To help you locate the different branches of Red Corner Fitness and Boxing Gym, you may walk off CLUB650 Sports Complex, - Libis Quezon City, 2/F DnK Gym BF HOMES Village Paranaque City, Panay Ave Quezon City, 5/F, Holiday Inn Galleria Ortigas St. Pasig City, or Waterfront Hotel, Lahug Cebu City.

Red Corner houses the training of URCC [Universal Reality Combat Chambionship] fighters. It offers boxing as the core program headed by 1992 Barcelona Olympics bronze medalist and National Mens' and Womens' Boxing Team coach Roel Velasco.

"Well, I personally wanted boxing. And at that time, there was no available gym. I found out to a friend of mine that boxing was very popular in houses, instructors going to houses, and punching bags are really hot selling items in sports," shares Nonato.

The type of market that the boxing gym is bringing are those of influential society - Boy Martires of Smart, former senator Orly Mercado, Studio 23 “Kabarkada Mo” host Chinggay Andrada, and some of the celebrities. In the same way, these entreps are attracting new prospects – the women, as they comprise 85% of the general public. Women have to be invited because it leads to a more intimidating action when they blast “Oh! He can do it, I can do it well.” Besides, they want to be of equal power or to be superior to men. Everybody wanted the challenge and so these females started shifting from taebo to actual boxing.

Through the years, people [competitors] are flinging to imitate Red Corner that's why they started bringing haven for mixed martial arts. Wrestling program was another type of competitive activities introduced by another La Salle alumnus - Alvin Aguilar. It was sometime in 2001 crossing over 2002 when Red Corner offered services [classes] that include Punchbag Aerobics, Copoeira, Brazilian Jiujitsu, Arnis, Muay Thai Kick Boxing, and Sports Conditioning. Plus, other boxing gyms, particularly Fitness First, once held on their niche. They ordered equipment from Red Corner because they recognize the importance of having boxing as a service when it started to gain popularity.


Round 3 - Green Counters

Aside from managing one of the country's top sports arena - Red Corner, these multi-skilled Lasallians are such a fanatic of UAAP games. They don't recognize any other schools. "It’s more of what you want, the values that you want. A lot here in Red Corner are very much related to what we have in La Salle, but for being in business, you have to win yourself for everybody else," Pagulayan enthuses.

Pagulayan attended high school in La Salle Green Hills and graduated from De La Salle University with a degree in Accountancy. There, he was able to share his expertise as a team leader [President] of any club which was carried until his college years. He's pretty much involved in sports such as karate, soccer and basketball to vary his day-to-day routine. But when he reached college, all he wanted to pursue was sports. At present, he is training with the Taekwondo National Team.

A thoroughbred La Sallian from elementary to college, Barreto may be considered an artist and athlete by heart. But he is no newbie to sports and theater arts. Barreto was a member of the Harlequin Theatre Guild and was part of the training team of football varsity while in high school in La Salle Green Hills (1984) and college in De La Salle University, where he graduated in 1988. This chap played every bit of sports in this world. Name it. Track and Field. High Jump Relay. Basketball. Badminton…”I get away from ROTC. That was basically because I’m not interested,” he confesses. Luckily, he qualified for the DLSU Shooting Team [college]. Barreto was into stage plays and hard ball until he heard the sound of the punching bag poking and was immediately drawn into it. Now, he is the President and CEO of Red Corner Fitness and Boxing Gym.

Meanwhile, Nonato is a sports buff himself. He used to be a varsity [volleyball] player for La Salle in grade school and played basketball in high school. On top, he brings with him a wealth of experience in the whole range of communications work and sales, including, but not limited to, public relations, advertising, and special events and risk management. The forever smiling and dynamic green-blooded entrepreneur, who was teased “Mr. La Salle” had gained popularity when he headed and reinvented the DLSU Cheering Sqaud from 1988 to 1992, is now focusing on the general management of Red Corner Fitness and Boxing Club. When he got inclined to Red Corner, he makes it a point to maintain a healthy lifestyle [fitness body building].

Pagulayan's loyalty to the school remains strong. "When I was already in high school, I found out that you could be a good athlete, yet, you could be a very intelligent person. Academics and sports make up well," he shoots back.

He expounded that he [Pagulayan] aspired to be exactly well-rounded physically, emotionally, and spiritually. "In La Salle kase bata pa lang kami, tinuturuan na kaming maging well-rounded. We were taught how to stretch... to run... being gentleman... opening the door... a hanky in your pocket...," he humbly explains.

It was only after college when he started acting differently. Academics and athletics are still searching for common ground. But one message is beginning to emerge loudly and clearly - Academics and responsibility are different hence it was not easy for him to be smart and athletic at the same time. He needed to step down from athletics in order to focus on his thesis.

Speaking from experience, he found out that the real world needs you to learn things fast and achieve things faster. "People don't wait for you in the real world and don't take a snap in order to gain this knowledge. That is what I believe would been a good training for me in La Salle. Also, the system of not even having summer because when you graduate, there is no summer," he says more seriously.


Round 4 - Going for the Kill

People used to think that Red Corner is a multi-national company. Well in fact, it's a purely, and proudly, Filipino company. The clandestine of Red Companies is that it could look excellent, and at one fell swoop, it could perform at a certain level. That's why these green fellows want to become the "Jollibee of Fitness" than to become Burger King and Mc Donalds. Their goal is to be able to establish a mode of excellence in this particular field in the fitness industry and to provide venue for par excellence amateur boxers.

In the future, Barreto, Pagulayan, and Nonato want to realize their dream of becoming the first group to establish the brand [Red Corner] in other countries and to champion everything that is Red Corner and everything that is very Filipino as well. In fact, plans of going international are already on their heads. Currently, they plan to have a franchise especially in Japan and Singapore thus, introducing a new culture to jive with Filipino pride. They wanted to upgrade from level one boxing which would help the franchise's expansion. According to them, this would take a little bit longer because they want it right.

Pagulayan stressed that he used to save everything that he's learned in La Salle. For him, value is actually the most important in the survival of the business because it's their training in La Salle that pushes them forward. What will drive these green fellows for tomorrow is what they believe and that has a lot to do with where they came from.

To conclude, Pagulayan emphasized that it is all about coping, learning the ropes, and learning things that will bring them to the goal they want to achieve. One is to reestablish Red Corner in more hotels and in the future to be global product, which is another program that they want to achieve.


Red Corner Gym's main branch is located in Hotel Intercontinental Manila, Ayala Ave. corner EDSA, Makati City. Tel No.: (02) 867-8059. For more details, log on to http://www.redcornerboxing.net/

Gilbert Remulla's Final Punch

Rep. Gilbert Remulla is not about to give up the fight – both in and out of Congress
By Cristine Antonette B. Catu

He could well be preparing for a boxing match: his gloved fists throwing punches as he circles the entire ring. And if that wasn’t enough, he proceeds to the speed bag for another 15 minutes before squaring it off against the heavy punching bag near the left side of the ring. He finishes the workout with abdominal exercises before cooling down. No, it’s not Manny Pacquiao wannabe, but a familiar face nonetheless. One is just not used to see him this way.

It’s 10 am on a Monday in Gold’s Gym Glorietta 3 and Rep. Gilbert Remulla is venting out his ‘frustrations’ at the gym’s Ringside Boxing Club. “I realized it’s the best stress-buster. And it works, because after boxing, I’m calmer. Of course, binibiro ako ng mga kasama ko rito, ‘May pinaghahandaan ka ba sa Kongreso?’ Well, it may be true!” he laughs.

The gentleman from the second district of Cavite has a lot to be frustrated about. A former broadcaster himself, Remulla admits that his former job did not prepare him much for his new role now.

“When you’re in media, you only get an understanding of how [politics] works. It’s news for all its purposes. But if you’re in politics, you will know how it really works. The more you know about how the system works, the more difficult to know what it takes to change it,” he relates.

“The reason why I’m sticking with what I’m doing in the opposition is because we have to start somewhere. Changes need to be made. Even though we’re not given the perks of being allied with Malacañang, it’s okay,” he adds.

It is reward enough, he says, when strangers come up to him to congratulate him for the fight he is carrying.

As with Remulla’s education, it is important to note that having come from La Salle before entering Ateneo and having gone immediately after to the country's state university, UP-Diliman, what really differentiated the Ateneo is the school spirit that was imbibed in the Congressman.

“Among the 3 schools I attended in the country, it is the Ateneo pride that is most pronounced,” he confesses.

In 1984, Remulla entered the Ateneo de Manila High School. Rolling up from the arch-rival La Salle, his first day of school in June [1984] will always be memorable. With a thump in his ears of heartbeat, he felt being a stranger in a strange land.

In the dance of feeling, their high school parties and soirees were relentlessly fun, if not educational. “The various kalokohan of typical of high school students - too many to mention - are always brought up and laughed about during our class reunions,” disclosed Remulla.

By the same token, the Blue Eagle also considers being part of the Prada Basketball team during his 3rd and 4th year, one of the highest points of his stay in Ateneo.

” I was in section G all throughout my stay at the Ateneo High School. The friendships that I developed in my alma mater are still very active today - my immediate set of friends from section G - Paulo Garcia, Butch San Agustin, Luigi Nunez, and BJ Afable, David Ong, RJ Reyes, Atty. Noel del Prado. The wonders of e-mail and our class e-group [administered by Bobby Villaroman] makes all of my classmates just an email away,” he shares.

Having spent these years of self discovery between childhood and manhood at Loyola Heights shaped the Jesuit-educated liberal mindset he has today.

“A very difficult value to practice - though always attempted and at times successful - is the value of selflessness. Being a "man for others" that the Ateneo strives to make its students can be very trying in these times of political crisis, especially for a politician. Thinking of the country as a whole, and not just one's self, is what is needed in out country in order to get ourselves out of the economic and political rut we are in and to salvage our state of moral bankruptcy,” the Atenean politician later tells Blue Blood.

In the vicissitudes of life, Ateneo taught him the universal values of integrity and hard work. His learning experiences as a member of the varsity team, a class officer and a plain student in such a formative part of his life necessitated the need to work hard and realize that there are certainly no short cuts in life.

After college, Gilbert went on to become a reporter for ABS-CBN and that stint lasted for 7 years. “I felt that I can do something more. I got tired of the routine of waking up at 5 am for a show, going out to the field, then back to the office to write my story and going home at 9 pm every day. I had no life,” he admits. “I wanted to do something else and I just felt that I have reached my potential in media, so I looked for another outlet.”

Politics is not new to Remulla as his father was former governor of Cavite himself.

He need not look far. After receiving his father’s blessing, he ran for Congress in 2001. He is currently in his second term as representative.

“Congress can be comfortable—you have breakfast meetings, lunch meetings, and fiestas to attend. You’ve gained 20 pounds without knowing it,” Remulla confesses.

He started working out at Gold’s Gym in November 2003 and makes it a point to work out at least six times a week. At first Gilbert was just running on the treadmill and lifting weights like everyone else, but when Gold’s started to offer boxing classes, he decided to try it out—and he enjoyed it.

“Of course, I’m too old to spar. What’s important is that I get to exercise. It’s a good cardiovascular and core workout. I would recommend it to everyone,” he explains.

Working out, he says, makes him feel good. “It helps me sleep better at night. It helps me think better,” he says.

When he’s not battling it out in Congress or at the gym, Remulla spends his time with his wife Georgia, a pediatric dentist, and their two daughters. He admits to being a gadget geek (“I just got a digital SLR camera!” he says excitedly), aside from being a music aficionado. He plays the guitar and the piano.

“Of course, being a politician you have to know how to sing, bad as it may sound. It’s one of those things people look to see if you can do. Filipinos are very musical people, so when they see that you can sing and or dance, may affinity na kaagad, says Remulla, but is quick to add, “I don’t dance though.”

His constituents need not cover their ears though, as Remulla has had good training in his younger years, joining workshops at Repertory Philippines and was into theater in his grade school and high school years.

Remulla is also very much into sports, particularly basketball. In fact, he had injured his left knee recently while playing ball with friends.

“I try to be competitive in whatever I do. I’m not happy just running up and down the court. I have to man the post, I have to defend. Kaya nagkaganito [ang] tuhod ko,” he shares.

Injured knee or not, it is the same competitive spirit that keeps him and his colleagues in the thick of the fight.

“Being in Congress, you have to talk about priorities of government and policies that are needed to move this country forward. Unfortunately now, we are not discussing policies. We are talking about a general policy of right and wrong. That’s where we’re stuck at right now, unfortunately,” says Remulla.

“I don’t think it would be forgivable for us to go with just moving on. It’s wrong and I don’t want to show my two kids that it’s okay to lie, cheat and steal. It cuts across the whole society whether you’re from the upper, middle or lower class. It’s a universal truth that you have to fight for what is right, and fight against what is wrong. There’s always hope, there’s always a silver lining. It may not be now, but it should come around 2010,”