Notable Alumni

Andrew Tan
-Chairman, President and CEO - Megaworld Inc., Empire East Realty, Distributors ng piknik, Mcdonald's(not sure kung sya pa ba o anak na nya)-Golden Arches Development , Emperador Brandy and the Bar)..formerly 4th richest filipino (Forbes Magazine, 2009), Marriot International

Don Manolo Lopez
-Current Chairman of the Board of the Lopez Group of Companies, Former President and CEO of ABSCBN, Former Chairman, President and CEO of Meralco, Skycable, Rockwell Land holdings, Benpres Holdings..

Gilberto Duavit, Jr.
-Former Congressman, VP and COO GMA Network, President and CEO Kapuso Foundation
formerly 7th richest filipino (Forbes Magazine, 2009)

Carlos Ejercito
-Former President and CEO of Unilab, president of other companies, Current Vice Chairman of Unilab, President and CEO of Unilab International

Delfin Samson
-Former President and CEO of Unilab

Howard Dee
-Former President and CEO of Unilab, one of the four founding father of Unilab, creator of the Unilab Creed, former Ambassador to the Holy See

Sonny Co
- Vice President for Ethical Marketing divisions of Unilab

Hermogenes Pobre
-President and Publisher of Manila Bulletin

Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua
-Chairman, Fortune Insurance, Eternal & Citystate Group of Cos.

Vicente R. Ayllon
-Chairman-CEO, The Insular Life Assurance Co. Ltd.

Rizalino S. Navarro
-Chairman, Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation

Charles Basuel
-Owner of Genace Pharma Incorporated

Oscar L. Jornacion
-Chairman and President Tri-media Group of Companies Los Angeles, United States of America

Virgilio S. Cruz
-President, Vercore International Services, Toronto, Canada

Veneranda M. Tomas
-Senior Vice President & Director for Audit San Miguel Corporation

Romulo R. Agatep
-President-CEO, Teleglobal Corporation

Menardo G. Mateo
-President-CEO, Philips Group of Companies, Philippines

Jesus L. Arranza
-President, Federation of Philippines Industries Inc.

Remedios Macalincag
-Member, Board of Directors, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. President and CEO Development Bank of the Philippines

Edgar B. Arcilla
-President-General Manager, Mouver Ads Inc.

Jerry S. Isla
-Former Chairman-Senior Partner, Isla Lipana & Co.

Patricia Arches
-President, Mccann-Erickson

Josue Camba
-President-CEO, New Millennium Investment Corporation

Ricardo Chua
-President, Chinabank

Susan Figueras
-President, Insular Life Savings and Trust Co.

Arsenio Bartolme III
-President, Urban Bank
Antonio Cabrera
-Former President-CEO, Agro Novartis

Efren Tanlapco
-President, Trust International Paper Corporation

Cezar Quiambao
-President-CEO, Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corporation

Alicia Reyes
-Chairman, PAGCOR

Reynato Sarmiento
-President, Real Bank

Eduardo Villanueva
-Former President-CEO, Digital Communications Telecom Philippines

Benjamin Yambao
-President-CEO, Manila Banking Corporation

Wilson T. Young
-President-CEO, Tanduay Distillers Inc.

Anthony Que
-Chairman-President, Sinofil Group of Companies

Cesar Reyes
-President, Dream Broadcasting System

Danilo Ferrer
-President, Thermonics Ferro Inc.

Elena S. Lim
-Chairman Emeritus, Solid Group Inc.

Adelita Vergel de Dios
-Former President, Philippine Savings Bank

Manolito Co
-President-CEO, Aventis Pharma Inc.,

Adelita Vergel de Dios
-Former President, Philippine Savings Bank

Yung owner and founder ng:

Plato Wraps
Tea Square
Lapid's Chicharon
Center for Pop Music Philippines
Brown Madonna Publishing House

Showbiz, Radio, Music, Media

Christopher de Leon, Joey de Leon, Charito Solis, Fernando Poe, Jr., Rez Cortez, Ricky Lo, Deo Macalma, Claire dela Fuente, Imelda Papin, Janina San Miguel, Elwood Perez, Vivian Foz(UERM Dentistry), George Canseco, Roel Vergel de Dios, Mon Tulfo, Erwin Tulfo, Buds Buado, Nene Tamayo, Jennifer Lee(Viva Hot babes), Sabrina M., Xian Lim, Nene Tamayo, The Alamid Band, Jay of Kamikaze, Jansen - model ng nescafe, sprite(remember yung sumasayaw magisa sa gym sa harap ng maraming tao, CDENT ALumnus), Quinito Henson, Vicky Morales(UE HS)

Current NBI Director Gatdula

General Jovito Palparan

Atty. Virgilio Garciliano

Atty. Romulo Macalintal

Atty. Demetrio Demetria

Atty. Persida Rueda Acosta

Yung 2 head ng political clan sa Abra na nagbabarilan, si Bersamin at Valera(parehas UE Law)

Present PNP Chief General Raul Bacalzo is also a UE College of Law Alumnus.

wow astig

Del Reyes De Guzman
-Former Congressman 1st District of Marikina
-Present Mayor Marikina City

I've managed to talk with a person from the Marketing Department.

I've told her about the cheering issues. I also ask her why is that Christopher de Leon was not mentioned in the Diamond Jubilee Awards and the same with Don Manolo Lopez(though I already knew the case with Don Manolo Lopez).

This is her reply:

Thank you love, for your loyalty to UE. UE appreciates alumni like you. I will forward your email to the Alumni Coordinator and to the Executive Director of the Marketing Dept., and the Dir. of the P.E Dept for the UAAP cheers aspect.

If I may say so, if we had a better coach in the UAAP season 72, we would have won the championship. I credit the 2nd place win to the players themselves and the assistant coaches. The players carried Chongson, not the other way around.

We always credit Christopher de Leon as a notable alumni, and we always mention him when we enumerate notable alumni, however, we have not heard him acknowledge that he is one. He studied only for a short while at the UE School of Music and Arts at the UERM campus. You see, I Love UE, those being awarded specific awards are nominated by their peers and are deliberated upon by a board of judges, who are former awardees. Nobody has nominated him yet. Christopher is not the only alumnus from the silver screen - Joey de Leon is one, and many more. Manolo Lopez was considered as one of the 60 most outstanding alunmi. When we informed him about his receiving the award, he declined. He said, there are others who are more deserving. But I give him credit as he proudly announces that he is a UE alumnus.

Any help from an alumni is most welcome. Your small way is already a big way for us. There is a welcome treat for the UE graduating students today at 6 pm tendered by the UE Alumni Assn. Please come. Look for Jocelyn Malanum, the UE Alumni Coordinator. She is also with the Marketing Dept. Tell her I referred you. I, however, could not make it to the affair tonight as I am preparing for my flight tomorrow.

Thank you so much and keep up the good work.
I suggested to her that we should retire the jersey numbers of the Great Warriors who played the game.

I also asked her if Quinito Henson is a UE Alumnus to settle this once and for all.

icemint wrote:I've managed to talk with a person from the Marketing Department.

I've told her about the cheering issues. I also ask her why is that Christopher de Leon was not mentioned in the Diamond Jubilee Awards and the same with Don Manolo Lopez(though I already knew the case with Don Manolo Lopez).

This is her reply:

Thank you love, for your loyalty to UE. UE appreciates alumni like you. I will forward your email to the Alumni Coordinator and to the Executive Director of the Marketing Dept., and the Dir. of the P.E Dept for the UAAP cheers aspect.

If I may say so, if we had a better coach in the UAAP season 72, we would have won the championship. I credit the 2nd place win to the players themselves and the assistant coaches. The players carried Chongson, not the other way around.

We always credit Christopher de Leon as a notable alumni, and we always mention him when we enumerate notable alumni, however, we have not heard him acknowledge that he is one. He studied only for a short while at the UE School of Music and Arts at the UERM campus. You see, I Love UE, those being awarded specific awards are nominated by their peers and are deliberated upon by a board of judges, who are former awardees. Nobody has nominated him yet. Christopher is not the only alumnus from the silver screen - Joey de Leon is one, and many more. Manolo Lopez was considered as one of the 60 most outstanding alunmi. When we informed him about his receiving the award, he declined. He said, there are others who are more deserving. But I give him credit as he proudly announces that he is a UE alumnus.

Any help from an alumni is most welcome. Your small way is already a big way for us. There is a welcome treat for the UE graduating students today at 6 pm tendered by the UE Alumni Assn. Please come. Look for Jocelyn Malanum, the UE Alumni Coordinator. She is also with the Marketing Dept. Tell her I referred you. I, however, could not make it to the affair tonight as I am preparing for my flight tomorrow.

Thank you so much and keep up the good work.
I suggested to her that we should retire the jersey numbers of the Great Warriors who played the game.

I also asked her if Quinito Henson is a UE Alumnus to settle this once and for all.

> about the players carrying chongson etc etc, not cool... this may become an issue if spread publicly

> about Christopher de leon... its up to him...

> about Quinito Henson... NICE.

> about Don Manolo Lopez, hats off to him. But it'd be nicer to see Him receive an award.

> If Im not mistaken, the vice president of Chinabank's PCCI-Systems Development is an almunus. Her name's Editha Young. But this needs confirmation.

Marami tayong Alumni in the Banking Industry. I believe I have read her name somewhere.

Siguro maganda kung tayo din magnominate ng nga candidates for recognition as outstanding alumni ng UE. I nominate natin yung mga hindi napapansin para mas mapamahal sila lalo sa UE.

Actually I did nominate Don Manolo Lopez for the 60 Outstanding Alumni for the Diamond Jubilee celebration. But as we can read, he declined for the said award. Sayang..

Congratulations to PNP Chief Nicanor Bartolome for being the Most Outstanding Jubilarian Awardee, batch 1976.

PNP Chief Nicanor Bartolome replaced the Retired General Raul Bacalzo who is also a College of Law Alumnus.


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Tinignan ko yung mga workmates ko sa FB group ng division namin ng Unilab. Ang dami palang taga UE, isa sa mga notable ay sina:

Reynaldo Dalupan - iaapporach ko nga to minsan hehe anak siguro to ni Francisco Dalupan, batch 78

Rj Dizon - former UE Red Warriors..di ko alam kung taga ue din yung kambal nya

Jay Salazar - current general manager namin, batch 73

marami pang UEnians na high-ranking sa Unilab. Lufet talaga ng UE!

UE Warriors noon, Unilab Warriors ngayon!

Years back, top CEO could only afford ‘espasol’ for lunch
By Stephanie Dychiu
Philippine Daily Inquirer

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(Carlos Ejercito was the third Unilab President and CEO from UE, the first one being the Former Ambassador to the Holy See Howard Dee. He was also one of the 4 Founders of Unilab, he was also the creator of the Unilab Creed; The second one was Delfin B. Samson.)

The Philippines may have scored zero on the medal tally in Beijing, but there is one Olympic title it can claim for itself?guardian of the bellies of the world?s greatest athletes.

If no untimely bout with diarrhea thwarted a sportsman?s dream of victory at the 2008 Olympics, it was thanks to an oral vaccine for cholera made by a Filipino pharma. Carlos ?Do? Ejercito, president and CEO of United Laboratories (Unilab), gives the inside scoop: ?In the last Olympics, China had a marathon runner whom they thought would win the gold medal. But he got diarrhea. Natalo. So, this time, all of China?s athletes took this vaccine so they don?t get diarrhea or cholera. And because you cannot have a cholera epidemic during the Olympics, all the food handlers in all the restaurants of Beijing had to take the vaccine. We supplied it.?

This Olympic caper is but the latest in the storied history of Unilab, a company that has been around for so long and has grown so large, most people forget it is a homegrown business that began as a corner drugstore in Binondo just after World War II.

From Binondo to Beijing

The late founder Jose Y. Campos first tried making his own products in the 1950?s with the vitamin Tiki-Tiki. It was called ?United American Tiki-Tiki? to ride on people?s postwar craving for all things American. Today, even without the ?United American? tag, Tiki-Tiki remains one of the strongest vitamin brands in the Philippines.

If Campos was the driver of the shift from retailing to manufacturing, Do Ejercito is the force behind Unilab?s expansion to complex prescription drugs and overseas markets?a move that quintupled the company?s business in the last ten years. Ejercito is one of the 50 Filipino CEOs featured in the book ?Extraordinary: Stories for Aspiring Leaders? published by the Management Association of the Philippines.

He recounts the circumstances that led him to change the path Unilab was on. ?Until about ten years ago, if you looked at the product portfolio of Unilab, we were very strong in over-the-counter drugs, but we were not very strong in prescription drugs.?

When Ejercito became President of the company in 1998, he had to contract with foreign companies so Unilab would have products to sell. ?It was so difficult. Para kang nakikiusap lagi. We needed to expand our capability in R&D (research and development), so we could produce our own prescription products.?

When an executive from a multinational pharma told him they did not consider Unilab a serious competitor, Ejercito decided it was time to make the move. ?Our total business then was only P6 billion. This year, we are breaking P30 billion.?

Unilab has also established profitable operations in other Southeast Asian countries, China, and India. It has become, as Ejercito puts it, a multinational in its own right. ?There is no other pharma company in the world in a free market where one company has 20 percent market share, and we have it here,? he says of Unilab?s standing in the Philippines.

Unilab?s rise from corner drugstore to major Asian player is extraordinary, and Ejercito?s personal success story is no less exceptional.

Self-made man

The 63-year-old CEO was born to very poor parents in Cavite, the sixth of 13 children. None of his five older siblings finished college. ?I was four years old when I was in grade one,? recalls Ejercito. ?I was so tiny, very skinny. Gutom lagi eh. By 10 years old, I was in high school, then at fourteen, I started college at the University of the East.

?Our house was a small shanty in front of Cavite High School. I had to earn my allowance for the day. I would go to the market, buy recados for pancit, for halo-halo, then cook it. I?d open my tindahan, and then students would come. I would get about 90 centavos. Seventy centavos would go to pamasahe. I?d have 20 centavos left for a bottle of Coke and espasol. That was my lunch, my dinner?espasol. That?s why now, when my wife brings home espasol, I don?t want to see espasol!? Ejercito laughs.

By age 18, Ejercito graduated cum laude with a degree in accounting. His first job was junior auditor at a small firm. ?I earned P2 per day for half a day?s work. I lasted two weeks. I was making more money in my small tindahan in the province.?

He then joined the accounting department of Procter & Gamble. ?I was there for about one-and-a-half years, then I decided accounting wasn?t really the work I liked. By then, IBM was opening. I joined as a systems engineer.?

After five years, he decided to move again. ?I was becoming very technical. I was the industry specialist for banking, connecting these branches to the head office computer. Sabi ko, being a specialist is the longest route to the top. So, I moved to Citibank. It was my account eh. Kinuha naman ako,? he laughs. ?I stayed thirteen years.?

Ejercito rose all the way to country operations head of Citibank in the Philippines. After that, there was nowhere else to go except a foreign assignment. He was offered various positions in Hong Kong, Japan, London and New York, but his children?s flat refusal to move kept him in the country. He joined Unilab instead.

Ten years and many successes later, he still daydreams about future healthcare projects. ?I want to put up a manufacturing plant to produce our oncology, or cancer products. ?Yung mga chemotherapy. Right now, we are importing that as finished product, and we?re having difficulty with sourcing. I also want to get into vaccines. Most countries would want to have their own vaccines, for security. Even countries like Vietnam have their own vaccine plants.?

The biotech field is one area Unilab has its eyes on. ?The future of pharmaceuticals is in biotech, not chemical,? says Ejercito.

?The products you see now are all chemical-based. Biotechnology works on the cellular level, on the tissue, the DNA. We?ve ventured into that. We set up a plant in China and it?s a profitable business. We produce two products. One of them is the human growth hormone, which is used for children of short stature.?

The other product is the oral vaccine for cholera used by athletes and food handlers in the Beijing Olympics.

After more than 40 years managing various companies, Ejercito cites three reasons for failure in leadership in the book ?Extraordinary: Stories for Aspiring Leaders??1) developing a superstar complex; 2) not being able to gain people?s buy-in for a decision, then using rank to ram it down; and 3) not knowing how to manage down.

?The companies that stay very long, that live very long, are those that are aligned with society,? he remarks. ?Their very existence is in the interest of society. We are here to stay for a very, very long time. By aligning ourselves with the needs of society, we hope society will appreciate us, and that will improve the chances that our company will survive for many generations.

Former QC police chief is new NBI director
By Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News

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MANILA, Philippines - Former police director Magtanggol Gatdula has been named the new chief of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. announced the change at a dinner party with Malacañang Press Corps Thursday night.

Gatdula will take over from NBI director Nestor Mantaring.

Gatdula retired from the police force June 3 after being head of the Directorate for Information, Communications, and Technology Management of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Prior to this, he was Quezon City police chief from 2006 to 2009.

He served for 37 years in the military and police after he graduated from the Philippine Military Academy in 1976 with PNP Director-General Jesus Verzosa.

He entered military and police service with the Philippine Constabulary, and later joined the police force as it was separated from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Gatdula is a lawyer. He passed the bar examinations in 1984 after studying law at the University of the East. He also finished a masters degree in Public Administration and a doctorate in Peace and Security Administration.

He also graduated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. He took other law enforcement courses in the United States, Australia, Thailand, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom and Singapore.

He was a deputy chief of the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force led by then police officer and now Senator Panfilo Lacson.

His association with Lacson, a known Arroyo critic, was perceived by others to be the reason why his promotion from Senior Superintendent to Chief Superintendent took more than 10 years.

Atty. Gilberto Duavit Sr. to speak at UE grad rites
A former director and former chairman of the Republic Broadcasting System (now GMA Network, Inc.)
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Atty. Gilberto M. Duavit Sr., a former congressman of the First District of Rizal, will be one of the speakers at the commencement rites of the University of the East (UE) on April 28.

The rites will be held at the Plenary Hall, Philippine International Convention Center, CCP Complex, Pasay City at 2:00 p.m.

Atty. Duavit, a UE 60th Diamond Jubilee Most Outstanding Alumni awardee and an active member of the Tau Lambda Kappa, will address an approximate 688 graduation candidates from the
UE Graduate School;
UE Colleges of Law and Dentistry, and
UE Caloocan’s Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Engineering and Fine Arts.

UE College of Law Dean Amado D. Valdez will introduce Atty. Duavit to the graduating class.

Also a guest of honor and commencement speaker is business executive Rene E. Cristobal, also UE 60th Diamond Jubilee Most Outstanding Alumni awardee.

Cristobal will speak before an estimated 1,021 candidates for graduation from the UE Manila campus’ Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Business Administration, Computer Studies and System, Education and Engineering.

Cristobal will be introduced by Dean Veronica N. Elizalde of the College of Business Administration-UE Manila.

Cristobal is scheduled to deliver his speech at 9:00 a.m. and Duavit at 2:00 p.m. on April 28.

Pillar behind GMA's success

Atty. Duavit, a former director and former chairman of the Republic Broadcasting System (now GMA Network, Inc.), is one of the pillars behind the success of the GMA Network.

Atty. Duavit obtained AB, 1954 and LLB, 1958, from the UE.

An outstanding public servant, he was cited in the 9th, 10th and 11th Congresses as one of the Ten Most Outstanding Members of the House of Representatives, representing the 1st District of Rizal Province.

He was twice awarded the Presidential Merit Awards and chosen Most Outstanding Government Employee in his early years as a civil servant.

He helped draft the 1973 Constitution as a delegate to the 1971 Constitutional Convention.

Atty. Duavit was a mambabatas, representing Southern Tagalog Region in the Batasan Pambansa in 1978 to 1984.

He has served as President of the University of Rizal System-Development Foundation, Inc. since 2004.

Socio-civic leader

Meanwhile, Cristobal is known as a socio-civic leader who plays different roles in the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP):
governor and vice president, specialist on overseas employment and sustainable development, and
chairman of the corporate social responsibility committee.

A POEA-DOLE Hall of Fame awardee, Cristobal is co-Founder of the Association for Professionalism in Overseas Employment, Inc.

Cristobal is a 1955 UE graduate of BBA Economics, Cum Laude. He is also President and CEO of the DCL Group of Companies that engages in international trade and deploys Filipino professionals and technical personnel mostly to European and American principals, contractors and ship owners.

Vicente R. Ayllón: Paragon of a Patriarch behind Insular Life
By Alfred A. Yuson (The Philippine Star)

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Vicente Ayllón, Insular Life chairman and CEO: He has devoted 54 of his 78 years to this distinguished institution.

At 78, Vicente “Ting” R. Ayllón still presides as chairman of the board of The Insular Life Assurance Company, which celebrates its 99th anniversary this month. Longevity works in parallel great directions of purpose.

Not too many corporations in the country can lay claim to being on the cusp of a century. It has certainly helped that Ayllón, who joined the company when he was but 24 years old and Insular Life still had its building on Escolta, has devoted 54 years of his life to this distinguished institution.

His first job was as a junior clerk, higher only than being a messenger. He thus learned the ropes the hard way, rising to become a senior clerk, then a supervisor. Hitting his stride while handling group insurance, in charge of attractive large companies such as Shell, Caltex, and Pilippine Manufacturing Company or PMC, he was rewarded with a promotion to assistant manager.

When the company opened an office in Barcelona, he was asked to go along with two other Spanish-speaking executives. After all, he had studied under the Spanish Dominicans at Letran, and spoke Spanish with his mother at home.

In 1977, he became Insular Life president. Ten years later, Insular Life mutualized under the presidency of the man who is credited for having created the Greenbelt in Makati, opened up Buendia Avenue, sold the last properties on Legaspi Village, and put up Salcedo Village. It became a mutual company, no longer part of the Ayala Group. Since then, it has continued to grow from strength to strength.

Now Ting fondly looks back and says, “While the Insular Life of today is very much different from the Insular Life that I joined more than 50 years ago, it has kept the timeless values that guided our forefathers in the company. We encapsulated these into what we call our four core values: commitment to excellence, integrity in work, respect for the individual, and upliftment of the Filipino.”

This captain of industry who has steered the company through good and bad weather well into the 21st century adds that Insular has learned many valuable lessons in the course of its corporate life.

“We of the current generation of employees owe a lot to those who came before us, who handed from one generation of employees and agents to another the values of integrity, prudence, word of honor and hard work. We try to maintain a quality of life for our people within the work area and in their respective family lives, even as we impose high standards for ourselves and the company.

“We are far from perfect, but through all the challenges, we are able to rise and move forward, because we keep our focus fixed on whatever is good and fair for our policyholders and the public. Prudent and fundamentally sound investment policies, firm underwriting guidelines, and strong actuarial basis have always been the foundation of Insular Life’s management practice. And all these translate to a strong and stable financial position with assets amounting to P60 billion, and net income of P2.1 billion in 2008.”

Despite being one of the few Filipino corporations to knock on the doors of a century-mark milestone, while remaining to be the largest and most trusted Filipino life insurance company in the country, Insular has generally refrained from advertising itself in mass media. Ayllón explains:

“In the Philippines, life insurance continues to be a product that is not bought; it must be sold. And to sell life insurance, you need professionally licensed life insurance agents to assess your financial needs and provide you with the best sound advice based on your needs. Thus, the agency system is still the biggest channel by which our products are sold. Advertising in mass media does not drive our sales, and so we would rather channel our resources toward activities that will increase the capacity of our sales agents to sell more policies, and that would be in the areas of training, motivational drives and sales support. We still maintain a certain level of presence in mass media, in order to be top of mind among the public, especially among the younger generation of Filipinos.

“I believe the good reputation that we continue to enjoy is very much hard-earned. Our agents and employees are constantly aware of their responsibility of keeping the trust and confidence of our policyholders at an all-time high because insurance is first and foremost a business based on trust.”



Insular’s development couldn’t help but be intertwined with the nation’s history in the last century. As a partner for progress, its contributions to the insurance industry and to the country’s welfare are well known. Funds that are pooled from policyholders’ premiums have been lent out to credit-worthy enterprises, or invested in giant industries in the fields of oil, water, highways, telecommunications, power generation, container services, shipbuilding and property development, in both the public and private sectors.

Ayllón adds: “We also have substantial investments in government securities that fund the construction of roads, schools, other infrastructure projects, and so on. We have been contributing to the generation of long-term domestic capital because for almost 100 years, we have encouraged millions of individuals to keep their money saved well into the future. Thus, if you buy a life insurance for yourself, you are also helping strengthen the economic future of the Philippines. For almost a century we have participated in the mainstream of Philippine economic history and we intend to continue to do this in a more meaningful way, to help improve the quality of life of Filipinos.”

The company’s support of arts and culture has also been one of its distinguishing features. It keeps one of the most extensive collections of Fernando Amorsolo paintings. The Napoleon Abueva sculptural bas relief that used to greet passers-by along the corner of Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas remains an art landmark despite its transfer to the corporate headquarters in Alabang. Insular also helped sustain theater company Repertory Philippines during its formative years. All of these initiatives have been a sterling aspect of the company’s history.

“Yes,” Ting allows, “we continue to give our share in helping educate people and develop the love for arts and culture. We have commissioned several Filipino artists to create works of art that now adorn our ground floor lobby at our headquarters in Alabang, Muntinlupa. We have the marble sculpture of Malakas at Maganda by Impy Pilapil, the Higaonon and Itneg Maidens made of brass by Jose Mendoza, and a stylized version of a bird in flight made of aluminum and glass, also created by Mendoza.

“Our latest foray is our support for the Filfest Foundation, Inc. Filfest or Friends of Insular Life was formed by a group of ladies residing in the south to create a program of performances that elevates entertainment to an appreciation of classical music and dance. All performances are staged at our 524-seater theater in Alabang. We are also able to expose the residents in the south of Metro Manila to international artists whom we invite to perform in our theater.”

Filfest just ended its second year this November with the show “Harana” staged by the Philippine Opera Company. Through a venue grant and a subsidy of the production, Insular is able to provide opportunities for Filipinos to showcase their talents in music and the performing arts.

Ting Ayllon also continues to believe in “being one of the boys” within the company. He still makes it a point to share in a convivial breakfast with employees once a month, and looks forward to leading everyone into a spiritual retreat in January when he turns 79.

“You know,” he says with a broad smile, “I look forward to the monthly birthday breakfast because this is my way of staying young! Levity aside, this is a practice that I do on a regular basis because it is the best way for me to know the pulse of our people. For his part, Mayo Ongsingco, our president and COO, also hosts quarterly birthday cocktails for supervisors and senior personnel for the same reason.

“The spiritual retreats are opportunities for our executives to remain grounded on the most important things in life, to put everything in their proper perspective. In the daily grind of corporate life, sometimes we become so engrossed with our work and making our targets that we neglect our health, our family life, our values. Aside from bringing us back to our center, our spiritual retreats build teamwork and strengthen our commitment to our corporate mission and core values. So, this is an exercise that we try to do on a regular basis.”

The commercial potential of Insular’s prime site in Makati’s financial district continues to spawn speculations about possible plans for further maximization. Ayllón also takes time to speak on this matter:

“At present, our office building along Ayala Avenue is more than 100% occupied since we have tenants even in the building’s basement, rooftop and staircase landings. Definitely, the location of our property in Makati is a very prime one and demand for office space in such an address is very high. The commercial potential of this site is really something that we plan to optimize. As such, to further provide us with greater developmental freedom, we have already purchased the parking lot, along Valero, behind our building. Given the combined size of these properties, we have the capability to build the tallest and largest building in the country in the future. However, we are taking things in stride considering the lingering depressed economy and the decline in locators of foreign-owned businesses.”

Having led Insular Life for 30 years, where does he envision the management team to take the hallowed company from here on, and what can the public expect from it in the future?

“We shall take advantage of our 99 years of financial knowledge and insurance experience to better understand the needs of Filipinos in various life stages. We shall continue to be a pioneer and a local champion in the Philippine life insurance industry by offering innovative products and services that aim to uplift the lives of the Filipino people. As such, the public can expect from us more value-adding financial products and services that provide protection, savings potential and investment earnings. We shall aim to provide greater convenience to our policyholders by continuing to expand our payment facilities and market reach.

“Insular Life continues to evolve with the times, keeping itself relevant to the present generation. I don’t think any company can thrive for almost a century without constantly reinventing itself. Our life insurance products today address the emerging preferences of the market — short premium paying period, earlier endowment pay-outs, insurance protection with hospitalization benefits, educational benefits that grow every year, to name a few.”

Insular Life will also continue to invest in young people. For this purpose, it established the Insular Life Educational Foundation, which offers scholarship grants to the best and the brightest students from the top 1,000 public and private schools who would consider pursuing a degree in BS Education or a teaching career.

Ting asserts, “We feel that to have a progressive country, we need young people who are well-educated. And the best way to educate people is to have the best teachers.”

It may well be said that being at the helm of a 99-year-old financial institution that continues to be a significant partner in building our nation — from the micro level in terms of helping individuals and families become financially protected against uncertainties in life through the benefits of life insurance, to the macro level by way of investing in various industries that keep the Philippine economy humming — Vicente R. Ayllón has been both a doer and a teacher, thus a paragon of a patriarch whose example demands emulation.

Elena S. Lim
Chairman Emeritus of Solid Group, Inc.
Sony, Kia, Tiger Prawns, Commercial Bank, Laguna Industrial Park, MyPhone
UE FRASI Trustee

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Ms. Elena S. Lim serves as Chairman Emeritus and Director of Solid Group Inc. She has held this post since May 2001. Prior to that, she was President/ Chief Executive Officer from 1996 to May 2001 and is a Director since 1996. She is also Chairman of the Board of Laguna International Industrial Park, Inc. and Starworld Corporation. She was formerly the President of Solid Corporation, Solid Distributors, Inc., AA Export and Import Corporation, AA Marine Development Corporation, Columbian Autocars Corporation, Solid Electronics Corporation, Solid Video Corporation, AA Electronics Corporation, Solid Manila Corporation and Kita Corporation.

Elena
PEOPLE By Joanne Rae M. Ramirez (The Philippine Star) U

“Character is Destiny.”

I don’t know if that’s a Chinese proverb, but on Chinese New Year’s Day, let me share with you the story of an incredible woman whose character has made her scale mountains — literally and figuratively — in order to reach the top.

The daughter of poor but hardworking shoemakers (Evelyn and Diego Sen), Elena Sen Lim was born in Tacloban, Leyte 80 years ago and today is credited with some of the most successful joint ventures with Japanese and Korean conglomerates (like Sony and Samsung) the Philippines has ever seen. From a home with no indoor plumbing (she and a sister used to fetch water, contained in 10-gallon pails, from a source half a kilometer from their house in Tacloban when she was all of 4-feet-6-in.-tall), Elena and her family now live in a grand home in one of Makati’s posh villages. The road from Gran Capitan street in Tacloban to the Lim’s Makati home was a long and arduous one, and Elena deserves the soft cushion she lays her head on every night.

In her book, “I Am What I Am (Politically Incorrect),” launched recently at the Makati Shangri-La with over 600 of the country’s movers and shakers in attendance, Elena shows, in easy-to-read stories about pivotal moments in her life, why character is the template of our destiny. Elena’s stories show us why she was destined for success. How being given a solid education by a kind priest (later to become Archbishop Julio Cardinal Rosales), how being Imelda Romualdez’s classmate once upon a time, how being a child waitress serving noodles to American GIs (from whom she learned her English), among other circumstances — shaped her character and seized her future. The right-hand pages of Elena’s 342-page book bear an icon — the original iron shoe anvil from the Tacloban shoe repair shop of the Sens, where Elena’s character was also cast.

“To this day,” she writes in one of the first chapters of her book entitled “How do I begin,” “the behavioral simplicity of my childhood community n Tacloban, which was a nondescript town in Leyte some eight decades ago, still dictates the way I make choices and decisions. It was all about friendship, love, concern for one another, oneness, a touch of youthful wild abandon, surviving deprivation together, living through the frightful uncertainties of a world war, moving on and trusting God.”

In another part of the book, she confides, “If I made quite a few checkered choices that are too many to enumerate in this book, it was probably because I never seemed to doubt that I could make the best of whatever I would take on, regardless of the odds. I was so sure that if my family and I could grow up in deprivation in peace and in war in Tacloban, I would make it anywhere.”

***

She immediately explains why she lives her life according to what she believes in, even if by doing so, she is being, “politically incorrect.”

She shocked the highest echelons of government, the powerful Keidanren (Japan’s most powerful business group), and fellow Filipino businessmen when in 1986, in a speech that was supposed to attract Japanese investment to the Philippines, she instead told the Keidanren what “critical reforms” were needed to create a more mutually beneficial relationship between the Philippines and Japan. Elena was the only female chosen to address the visiting Keidanren delegation.

Elena claims that the conference staff “would instantly shred copies of my speech.” But she also claims that something good came out of it. Since she pointed out how hard it was to line up for a Japanese visa, including lining up for hours under the sun and the rain, physical improvements (such as awnings) were later installed in the Japanese embassy’s consular section.

***

Elena was hardly daunted by anything, and when you gave her a “No,” it seemed like you were giving her a green light to try harder. She enumerates many, many instances when she was flatly turned down by people, but she simply never gave up.

There are no defined chapters in the book, just a collection of stories that are frank, straightforward, humorous, awesome even. One of my favorite stories is that of her scaling a stone mountain in Hong Kong on a dare (“I thought you used to climb mountains in Leyte as a little girl.”) and an HK $1,000 bet by her kumare. Elena took the dare and climbed the stone mountain and midway was asked by the frightened kumare to come down. But Elena proceeded (in life, sometimes the only way out is up) only to receive a shocker when she reached the top — her kumare said the bet was off!

She describes the book as “akin to a diary whose pages were scattered by the wind and quickly gathered helter-skelter.” In fact, you can just “cut” through the book, and begin on any page and you will still end up with a clear picture of Elena.



The trail-blazing businesswoman admits that, “despite resolute efforts at self-censorship, some stories would, at the very least, surely pop blood vessels of some high and mighty whom I, in good faith, could not help but sideswipe along the way.”

“I am not wired for safety,” she declares. As to whom she sideswipes along the way, you just have to read the book.

But there are many people she hangs a garland of words on, like her late widowed mother, Padre Juling (who would later become Julio Cardinal Rosales), Sony’s Dr. Yoshida, even the late former President Cory Aquino. She recalls that to support the crusade to awaken the people to the injustice of Ninoy Aquino’s death, she lent them a video projector for their nationwide sorties. This way, the masses in the provinces could watch footage of Ninoy and his assassination.

“After the nationwide tour, I was so surprised when Cory offered to pay me for use of the projector. I declined of course. I asked her to consider it part of our modest support to help inform the people on a very important national issue. However, she was insistent and I finally had to accept payment.”

“I was deeply impressed by her act. Some politicians assume that the use if rented services and equipment are freebies.”

***

Elena narrates in her book that she was with The STAR’s founders — the late Betty Go-Belmonte and Max Soliven — during the EDSA Revolution, whose 25th anniversary we are celebrating soon. In her recollections, she says the three of them gained entry to Camp Crame not because of Max’s press ID but because she had told the soldiers at the gate that they were “bringing food to General Ramos.”

Mr. Soliven used to tell me he and his family took refuge in the Lims’ home a week before EDSA because he had received reports that he was not safe in his Greenhills house. Elena confirms this, saying Soliven and his wife Precious stayed with them beyond the EDSA Revolution.

From building businesses, speaking her mind and giving a safe haven to an endangered journalist, Elena Lim has helped shape history.

“All I have are experiences to narrate in my own fashion that I pray some of this book’s chance readers may be challenged to improve on. If the reader can at least laugh with me over my naivete, then we will have shared a precious gift that is priceless, especially in difficult times. And if some aspiring entrepreneurs will be inspired by my experiences to do me one better, it will excite me no end.”

Ambassador Antonio Cabangon Chua, UE HS 1953, UE BSBA 1956
Founder, Chairman Emeritus and President of Fortune Life Group of Companies
Citystate Savings Bank, Fortune Insurance Group and Eternal Plans, Group, Aliw Broadcasting Corp., Isuzu Gencars Phils, Citystate Properties

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Owner and Operator of the Philippine Graphic Weekly and its sister publication Mirror Weekly, and radio stations DWIZ and DYQZ based in Metro Manila and six other sister stations all over the country. Ambassador Cabangon Chua is involved in print and broadcast media. Ambassador Cabangon Chua is a full colonel in the reserve force of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and an honorary member of the PMA Class '56. Ambassador Cabangon Chua serves as Chairman of the companies under the ALC Group, Fortune Insurance Group and the Eternal Plans Group. He is the founder of Citystate Savings Bank Inc., and serves as its Chairman Emeritus. Ambassador Cabangon Chua served as Director of Citystate Savings Bank Inc., from 1997 to November 2007. He graduated from the University of the East in 1956 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. He is a Certified Public Accountant.

Sin’s hometown adopts Ambassador Cabangon Chua
BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL/Manila Times

NEW WASHINGTON, Aklan – Ambassador Antonio Cabangon Chua will be officially declared an adopted son of this town for his move to construct the 13.5-feet bronze statue of the late Jaime Cardinal L. Sin today.

Vice Mayor Jean Velarde said Chua remains an approachable and down-to-earth business leader and a true friend of the Catholic Church.

Chua is a close friend of the late Roman Catholic prince who was a key figure in the 1986 and 2001 people power revolts.
August 31 is a special non-working holiday in Aklan.

Former Kalibo mayor Johnny Dayang said Chua showed his great love for Aklan for his unconquerable spirit in bestowing a larger-than-life symbol of Cardinal Sin’s greatness and holiness in the hometown of the influential Roman Catholic leader.

Dayang also confirmed the presence of Senate President Manuel Villar, Jr, Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar, House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral, University of Sto. Tomas Rector Fr. Ernesto Orceo, Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza, Antipolo Bishop Gabriel V. Reyes, Labor Secretary Arturo Brion, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and Presidential Management Staff head Cerge Remonde.

Chua graduated from Sta. Ana Elementary School in 1950 and completed his secondary education from the University of the East (UE) in 1953.

He earned a degree in Business Administration from UE in 1956. He cross-enrolled at Feati University for his Engineering, and at the Guzman Institute of Technology, where he graduated as an Automotive and Diesel Mechanic.

He gave birth to an expanding business conglomerate - the Philippine Graphic Publishing Inc., Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Fortune Insurance Group of Companies, Citystate Savings Bank, Citystate Group of Companies, Eternal Group of Companies, Isuzu Gencars Inc., Citystate Properties and Management Corporation and ALC Industrial and Development Corporation.

Charito Solis, the Empress of Drama
By GYPSY BALDOVINO
(Most Famous as the Ina Magenta of the "Ok Ka Fairy Ko Sitcom)
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Even now, 11 years after her demise in 1998, Charito Solis is still remembered as a great actress.

Forget Brando and Streep’s “method acting,” Solis had her distinctive brand of mercurial drama that offset the more subtle style of performing.

And it’s quite effective, for it earned her 12 acting awards and 13 nominations, in a brilliant career that spanned for 43 years.

“Nagsimula s’ya sa showbiz at namatay, bida,” is how Yolly Tiongco, Charito’s younger sister, describes her career. “It’s an honor to be her sister,” she adds.

Yolly couldn’t be more correct because Charito did not only bring pride to her family; she made the whole nation appear superior as well.

In 1967, she made the country proud as the first Filipina to win as Best Actress in the Asian Film Festival for the movie “Dahil Sa Isang Bulaklak.”

The same movie became her passport to attend the prestigious Oscar awards the following year, making her the first Filipina actress to do so. Considering that Hollywood was ahead of the Philippines in filmmaking by exactly two decades and a half, the Oscar invite was a feat indeed.

And those weren’t the only “firsts,” she had notched. After her fifth win at the FAMAS in 1984 as Best Actress for “Don’t Cry for Me, Mama” (1983), she became its first inductee into the Hall of Fame. Her four other FAMAS wins as Best Actress came from “Igorota,” “Kundiman ng Lahi”(1959); “Emily” (1960) and “Angustia” (1963).

The Metro Manila Film Festival also listed her as its first Best Actress winner for “Araw-Araw, Gabi-Gabi” in 1975.

So, just how Charito came to be one of the finest actresses of all time?

Our search for answers led us to the heart of Poblacion in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, where Yolly, the last of the Solis’ lives. Yolly Tiongco is the wife of Emil Tiongco of the fabulous Tiongco Brothers. Charito’s only brother was the late Tristan and the eldest was Carmen, who died two years ago.

Yolly says that her sister was discovered for the movies by their uncle, film director Felicing Constantino who introduced Charito, then a 19-year-old U.E. (University of the East) student to LVN Pictures’ matriarch Doña Narcisa de Leon.

“Nagse-search sila noon ng new face para sa role ng ‘Niña Bonita,’ wala silang makita. Eh ayaw na ayaw naman ni Charito noon at ayaw din naman ng mama ko. Pero siguro may nakita si Doña Sisang sa kanya na extra special, kasi pagkakita sa kanya, sabi agad: Ito gusto ko!”

Yolly describes Charito’s first shooting day as a “nightmare.” “Inabot ng 16 takes. Una, yung katigasan ng ulo n’ya. The scene required her to dive into the swimming pool. Ewan ko ba kung bakit, dahil marunong naman siyang lumangoy. Pero ayaw n’ya. Kasi daw baka mauntog ang ulo n’ya sa pool.

“The shoot was packed-up. Nagsumbong sila kay Doña Sisang, who, surprisingly sided with Charito. She said: ‘Bakit n’yo pipilitin ang bata? Eh, pa’no kung madisgrasya ‘yan?”

The producer, however, cautioned her on the realities of showbiz. According to Yolly, Doña Sisang said: Hija, hindi kita mapapangakuan na sa susunod mong movie ay ikaw ang starring role.’ But the feisty Charito was unperturbed. “Ay, hindi na ho. Ito na lang ho, ayoko na ho,” she allegedly replied.

In 1955, the Filipino moviegoers came to know Rosario Violeta Hernandez Solis a.k.a. Charito Solis in “Niña Bonita,” an adaptation of Frank Capra’s “It Happened One Night.” She shared the top billing with Jaime de la Rosa.

At the same time, the industry insiders knew that a willful artist just came to tinsel-town.

During her prime, Charito’s histrionics on and off the set were legends. She was even compared to Italy’s Anna Magnani, an Oscar laureate for her lusty portrayal of a Sicilian widow in “The Rose Tattoo” (1955).

Their semblance was also more than just physical because like Anna, Charito also grew up stricken by poverty.

“Our father died and our mother was sick of diabetes,” reveals Yolly.

Their dad, Maximo Solis was a newspaper reporter, while their mother, Milagros was a pharmacist in their aunt’s drugstore.

“To survive, we were adopted by our relatives,” she furthers.

“Early in life, we were separated from each other. Four or three years old lang kami noon. We were reunited only after nine years, when our eldest, Carmen had already a job. Siya bale ang tumayong nanay at tatay namin. Si Charito, naranasan n’ya ang magtinda ng sampaguita.”

The early challenges must have taught Charito to be strong.

Yolly agrees. “Kaya naging palaban si Charito. Parang tomboy yan eh. Tapos, lagi n’yang inaaway yung mga lalaki kasi ligawin s’ya. ‘Pag nakakita siya ng sulat sa libro, aawayin na n’ya yung naglagay no’n. Saka, ang mga laro n’ya, yung aakyat sa puno.”

Charito commanded decorum on the movie set because she was the epitome of professionalism. And during dramatic shoots, unnecessary noise wasn’t allowed because Charito, the actress was expected to deliver no less than a bravura performance.

There were also talks that if she deemed wise, she’d come to the location with her acting trophies, just to remind her co-stars, big and small, that they’re dealing with a competent actress and their whims won’t be tolerated.

Yolly smiles. “Naku, naranasan ‘yan ni Vilma (Santos). Hindi lang siya, pati nga si Nora (Aunor) eh.” “Pero trait talaga ng Solis yun. My mother was very strict. Talagang lagi kaming on-time.”

Awards

Awards
Her performance in 1967's Dahil sa Isang Bulaklak, directed by Cirio H. Santiago, won her Best Actress award at the 1967 Asian Film Festival.[5] She again starred for Santiago the following year in Igorota, where she became the first Filipina actress to bare her breasts on film. Her role in Igorota won her the 1968 FAMAS Best Actress Award[6] , one of 5 she would win during her career. Her other four FAMAS Best Actress wins came in 1959 for Kundiman ng Lahi; in 1960 for Emily; in 1963 for Angustia; and in 1983 for Don't Cry for Me, Mama.[6] After her fifth win, in 1984, she became the first actress to be inducted into the FAMAS Hall of Fame.[7] Solis likewise won the Gawad Urian Best Actress award in 1979 for Ina, Kapatid, Anak, and for Best Supporting Actress for in 1981 and 1982 for Kisapmata and Karnal.

In the first-ever Metro Manila Film Festival held in 1975, Solis won the Best Actress Award for Araw Araw, Gabi Gabi.

Christopher De Leon
One of the Greatest Filipino Actors of All-time, Multiple FAMAS Best Actor Awardee
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There’s no other actor like Boyet de Leon. Almost every male newcomer would dream of following his footsteps—and why not? For less than 50 years in the business, he already starred in more than 120 films, produced 1 great movie, and bagged countless awards from several giving bodies.

Christopher Strauss de Leon was born on October 17, 1956, in Manila. For Boyet to be part of the film industry was actually not a surprise at all. His father, Gil de Leon, was a famous actor and director, while her mother, Lilia Dizon, was an LVN Pictures contract star. Her two sisters, namely, Pinky de Leon and Melissa de Leon, also acted in movies and televisions.
Christopher started out in minor roles for films such as Kapag Puso’y Sinugatan, Huwag Mo Kaming Isumpa, Kahit Ang Mundo’y Magunaw, and Paano Na Sa Mundo ni Janet. However, it was his movie with critically acclaimed director Lino Brocka, Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang, that he captured the attention and praise of both the showbiz industry and the moviegoers. He played the role of Junior, who need to tackle several growing-up issues, as well as the friendship he developed with the community’s fool and leper. He later bagged the Best Actor Award in FAMAS for his portrayal in 1974.

He later acted together with other popular actors and actresses, as well as excellent directors, for nearly 30 years. Some of his other famous movies include Banaue, Tag-ulan sa Tag-araw, Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos, Ganito Kami Noon Paano Kayo Ngayon, Masarap Masakit ang Umibig, Lagi Na Lang Ba Akong Babae, Ang Alamat ni Julian Makabayan, Taga sa Panahon, Aguila, Relasyon, Broken Marriage, My Other Woman, Maging Akin Ka Lamang, Imortal, and Madrasta.

Because of his versatility and his superb acting prowess, he was also labeled as the Drama King. Nevertheless, his talent wasn’t just contained in front of the screen. He also tried his hand in directing and came up with Halimaw sa Banga, Huwag Mong Salingin ang Sugat Ko, and Bugso, a TV special. He also produced an independent movie entitled Nasaan Na Si Francis.

His personal life, though, is also a reflection of the characters he played. Growing up in Tondo, he would normally spend his time together with his friends, who influenced him on sex, drugs, and other vices. As a matter of fact, there was a point in his life when he wasn’t selling at all to directors and producers because of his drug addiction. Fortunately, with the help of his current wife, Sandy Andolong, and the Oasis of Love Community, where he is now an active member, he became a renewed Christian.

He also married Nora Aunor , the Superstar of the Philippines. They had one biological child named Ian de Leon and three other adopted children, namely, Lotlot, Matet, Kiko, and Kenneth. Lotlot and Matet soon became actresses in their own right.

Christopher owns a big farm in Batangas, where he ran for vice-mayor but lost. He is also a U.S. citizen because of his maternal grandfather. He also was once a student in Fine Arts in University of the East. He also acted in television series; the most recent was Maging Sino Ka Manwhere he played the antagonist Don Fidel Madrigal.

LIFE STORY OF DEO MACALMA
*AS PUBLISHED IN THE MANILA TIMES
Manila Broadcasting Co. - Dzrh Assistant VP and Assistant Station Manager

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Deo Macalma: The rise of a ‘bubuwit’

BY JOEL M. SY EGCO ASSIGNMENTS EDITOR
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HE was a typical working student who took odd jobs as a lowly paid janitor in a textile mill and later as a roomboy in a middling motel, among others. But his ambition, fueled by perseverance, hard work and a burning passion for writing, steered Elpidio “Deo” Macalma’s rise as one of the broadcast industry’s most respected icons.

Now Manila Broadcasting Co.-dzRH assistant vice president and assistant station manager, Macalma is best known for his satirical commentaries and his 19-year-old Espesyal na Balita, a segment that features blind items sent in by moles whom he aptly calls bubuwit (mouse). The term is his radio adaptation of the comic character, Ikabod Bubuwit, created and popularized by Nonoy Marcelo in the 1980s.

“From shame to fame” is how Macalma typifies his rise to media stardom. It was not at all a walk in the park but a long crawl from the bottom to the top of his career ladder.

Humble beginnings
“Nahihiya ako noon na sabihing ang trabaho ko eh janitor [I was ashamed then to say that I was a janitor],” recalled Macalma, who went to work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and attended class from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. He cleaned up toilet mess for three years to earn a living and support his studies.

In the mid-1970s, Macalma was taking up Business Administration at the University of the East when he thought of applying for a janitorial job at the Jewish-run United Textile Mills to make ends meet. He says that his first job was the hardest and dirtiest, literally.

“It was hard to clean toilets in a factory than, say, in a motel or a hotel. Every morning, I prayed sana hindi barado ang kubeta [that the toilets were not clogged]. That was when I developed inferiority complex,” Macalma said.

The “dirty job” eventually took its toll on him and one day he just decided to quit. From the toilets, Macalma’s zest for success landed him on the corridors of the defunct Vinta Lodge (now Victoria Court) where he worked as a roomboy. For him, the new job provided a reprieve from the ordeal of having to endure the foul smell of factory chemicals and human wastes. Plus, his new career in the motel business offered higher wages and handsome tips from patrons.

“I had an ambition. When I was a janitor, I usually sat down on my boss’ table and pretended that I was manager. My co-janitors just laughed at the thought. As a roomboy, I believed I had a greater chance to succeed. The job was quite rewarding especially because of the tips. That was the time when I decided to quit school,” Macalma said.

Though he fancied journalism in his early days in school where he actually joined several writing contests, he claimed that he was “influenced” by a friend and former classmate into taking up journalism at the Lyceum. But the young room boy’s job at Vinta Lodge was on a rotation basis, meaning he had little time for college unless he opted for promotion.

“Aside from my friend who influenced me to shift courses and transfer to Lyceum, the bell captain in the motel was also a working student.

He encouraged me to apply for a regular position so I can go to school. I did and from there I was promoted to telephone operator, then cashier. My last job in the motel was bookkeeper,” Macalma said.

Promising career
Armed with a journalism diploma, he began his search in 1980 for “greener pasture” and found an opening in what would become his home network for three decades—Radio dzRH.

Upon graduation, the young Macalma took on the job of newswriter, a position he held for years until he became newswriter/reporter and was assigned to cover events. He rose to become the network’s managing editor and assistant news director. It did not take long until he assumed the post of news director and, after that, assistant vice president and assistant station manager since 1991.

“Ever since I entered media, I have been with dzRH. I never entertained the thought of transferring to another station because I am already at home here. Sometimes I do write columns for some newspapers but that’s the all I do for them,” he explained.

As a cub reporter, Macalma remembered idolizing Rey Langit, Rod Navarro, Ric Radam, Joe Taruc, Noli de Castro and Rafeal “Paeng” Yabut. He studied their styles and later created his own. He also recalled a public relations man, Jose Ayllon, who advised him to establish his own niche in the industry and to avoid ending up as a copycat. This piece of unsolicited advice led to the birth of Macalma’s highly popular Espesyal na Balita.

Overcoming inferiority
“I used to be ashamed of my job as janitor. Slowly, my job as a room boy widened my perspectives because it was then when I got elbow-to-elbow with many friends and people in high society. There were politicians, actors and many others. However, I remained shy somehow,” the veteran newman quipped.

“Pag nagsasalita ako sa radyo, parang ang yabang-yabang ko pero sa totoo lang mahiyain ako [When I talk on radio, I think I sound arrogant but in reality I am shy],” he said.

Macalma got his biggest break in May 1991 when his boss and fellow broadcaster Rey Langit decided to join another network. He said that he was also offered a higher paying job by the rival station but his loyalty to dzRH prevailed.

“Radio Veritas was pirating broadcasters, announcers and reporters from its rivals. Rey Langit took the offer. The dzRH management talked to me but I really had no plan of leaving the station because I thought dzRH was more stable. Most of Rey’s programs were given to me including the Eveready newscasts and Espesyal na Balita, which at the time was featuring trivias. I wrote scripts for Rey but when I finally took over the program and with a little creativity, I changed the format and transformed it to become a segment for blind items,” said the soft-spoken news anchor.

“Illicit affairs of politicians, government officials and celebrities are my favorite subjects and they continue to tickle the audience up until
today,” Macalma added.

Initially, his bubuwits (informants) were former workmates—motel and
hotel room boys, waiters and security staff whom he came to know especially when he was president of a hotel labor union.

“They were my sources. My past job helped me gather blind items that I air. Then Espesyal na Balita dominated the airwaves and was even declared the No. 1 program. Modesty aside, it is the first to feature blind items on radio, then others followed,” Macalma said.

Not long after, his sources were no longer confined to motel and hotel personnel.

“Maniniwala ka ba na mga senador, congressman at Cabinet officials na ang aking mga naging bubuwit [Would you believe that senators, congressmen and Cabinet officials have become my informants]?” Macalma revealed.

Death threats, libel
As a journalist, Macalma admitted that he is not immune to harassment and threats. His most frightening moment came in the mid-1990s when men with dubious characters began gathering information about him from his neighbors.

“I was subjected to surveillance by these people. I was really afraid because they followed me everywhere and they were asking for information like what time I usually arrive home and where my children were studying. Eventually, I sought the help of the National Bureau of Investigation. It is better to be charged with libel than be killed.”

Macalma covered upheavals in the 1980s, including the historic EDSA People Power Revolution and the seven coup attempts against then President Corazon “Cory” Aquino. He also remembered when Cory called the newsroom to seek public support for the mutiny in Camp Aguinaldo against Ferdinand Marcos.

“During the 1989 coup, our mobile patrol unit was fired upon by rebel snipers. That time, there were no clear guidelines as to how reporters should report troop movements. Little did we know that airing their positions and movements would enrage the rebels. I was with Eloi Aquino when we were shot at. She was taken to the hospital. In another occasion, a sniper shot at our patrol unit, hitting a civilian on the leg,” he said.

P-H-D spells success
The small and reticent bubuwit that was Macalma has grown to become one of the country’s biggest and most eloquent media personalities. He said that he owes his success largely to his PHD principle—patience, hard work and determination. Despite the odds, Macalma persevered and proved to the world that by sheer true grit and value for education, virtually nothing would be unattainable.

“The secret formula is PHD. If you failed to set your goal, you’re heading nowhere. Your first goal should be to finish school. With a little luck and faith above, one’s goals will be achieved. I never dreamt of becoming this big because I only wished for a stable job. But because of hard work, I was given a break,” he said.

Despite the hardships and challenges he faced along the way, according to Macalma, he is fully satisfied with his career. His passion for writing has been completely realized, his expectations in the industry even surpassed by becoming who he is today.

“If asked to choose a career again, I would still go for this one. This is what I wanted,” he said.

No to politics
Prodded by some friends and provincemates, Macalma said he toyed with the idea of entering politics but later rejected it because his experiences in the media had shown him how similar politics is to the toilets he used to clean as a factory janitor.

“Here, for you to become a successful politician, you somehow need to be corrupt. Besides, a politician’s life is always under threat. It’s kill or be killed,” he explained, saying that he despises political corruption and violence.

Macalma encourages future journalists to adopt his PHD principle to succeed. A struggling and virtually unknown reporter, he said, necessarily starts from the bottom. A rookie media person, according to him, is normally the so-called lowest mammal in the world of journalism.

“Start from the bottom and be patient. Persevere. At the end of the day, your talents and skills will not go unnoticed. You will be discovered and be given due break.”

Except for the well-regarded name, today’s Deo Macalma is no different from the Deo Macalma of yesteryear. Aside from his PHD principle, the well-liked network executive and broadcast journalist embraces the virtue of humility, saying that his success offers no excuse for him to forget or deny his humble past.

“Pusong janitor pa rin ako [I am a janitor at heart],” he added.

The UE Community lovingly remembers Dr. P.O. Domingo (June 1, 1925-June 26, 2008) on the occassion of his Fourth Death Anniversary. Let us pray for the eternal repose of his soul.

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(Former Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer of the University of the East and of the UE Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center, Inc. Former Chairman, Philippine National Bank)


Dr. P. O. Domingo:
The ‘Center’ of His World

By Mr. Raul S. Gonzalez

The Medical Center awarded Chairman Domingo this Award of Distinction during its Golden Jubilee Gala Night, held on June 15, 2007, at the Grand Ballroom of Crowne Plaza Hotel

Mention the name P. O. Domingo and immediately two institutions spring to mind: the Philippine National Bank and the University of the East.

Perfectly understandable. PNB was where POD spent the first 25 years of his professional life, built a reputation as a “gung-ho” manager, and gained national prominence as a financial whiz. From its many-tiered ranks, he clawed his way up to its presidency where, for ten of the most tumultuous years in contemporary Philippine history, he alternately coaxed and cajoled, pushed and prodded PNB into becoming the premier financial institution of the land. To this day, when his name is mentioned there, PNB genuflects.

UE, on the other hand, is where POD seems fated to close out his many-splendored career. This June, he turned 82 years old: the last 18 of these years have been spent serving UE as Chairman of its Board of Trustees and Chief Executive Officer, and on three occasions, concurrently as Acting President. It was from UE he obtained the key, a BBA in Banking and Finance, that freed him from the prisons of his poverty as a farmer´s son in Tarlac and unlocked opportunities that earned him prestige of office and power of command. And it was to POD in turn that UE looked for the brilliance of mind and resolve of spirit it needed to fend off capture by a foreign religious cult or collapse from massive financial hemorrhaging. POD´s destiny and UE´s history seem intertwined.

Premises considered, it would be safe to assume-as for a long time I had-that it was either at PNB or UE where POD´s most memorable career experiences took place, i.e., the most embarrassing, the funniest, the saddest and fiercest battles he fought, the most agonizing defeats he suffered, the sweetest victories he won.

“You are right,” he admitted when, in the course of writing an article about him, I put that question to him. “You are right. Most of my memories pertain to PNB and UE-PNB because the amounts of stake were astronomical, the principals prominent, the stage national, sometimes even global; UE because the issue was the life or death of an institution, the challenge was to my forte, the responsibility was mine and mine alone.

“But, no! It was neither at PNB nor at UE where I had to fight my toughest battles, where I faced my fiercest adversaries, and consequently where I felt the greatest gratification over the outcome which is not a defeat for any one but a triumph for all.”

So where and when did it take place? This toughest battle which he enigmatically said resulted in nobody´s defeat but in everyone´s triumph?

He smiled that impish smile of his. “I didn´t say battle; I said battles, skirmishes, firefights...That´s how long, how difficult that campaign was. And yes, they were fought in this Center, a facility dedicated to healing, an institution named after a man of peace. Ironic, isn´t it?”

It didn´t take much prompting to get him to tell the story; and he narrated it con brio, expertly laying down the setting, defining the conflict and dramatizing the resolution.

It was in June 1990 when POD assumed command of the Center as Board Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, the same position he held at UE. And just like UE, he found the Center “physically deteriorated, weighed down with unmet financial obligations, manned by a dispirited workforce and a faculty with serious morale problems.”

With his characteristic alacrity and gung-ho spirit, POD rolled up his sleeves and set about doing what he does best-shaking things up to get them moving, which he felt was the best way to snap ailing entities out of their lethargy.

But one thing puzzled him: while his ministrations seemed to be working at UE, they were getting nowhere in the Center-and all along he thought UE would be the more difficult challenge as it was in a deeper financial hole.

“It then occurred to me that the problem at the Center went beyond pesos and centavos, beyond rights and obligations,” POD said. “It had to be something elemental. How else explain the coldness, if not the hostility, of the Center´s constituents toward me?

“It was almost like they hated me,” he recalled his early days at the Center. “Most everyone avoided me; my projects got no backing; my directives fell on deaf ears; I was made the target of black propaganda.”

POD was to learn later on that at the heart of the Center´s animosity toward him was distrust-deep, gnawing, festering distrust. It seemed that from the very start, he was made out to be an agent of a business group with “evil” designs on the Center; to wrest control of the Center by whatever means and then turn it into a shopping mall.

The more POD talked about improving the Center, the more the Center thought him a liar; the more improvements he wrought at the Center, the more convinced the Center was that he was a hypocrite. Where at UE he was seen as an angel guiding the University out of hell, he was perceived at the Center as leading it to the road to perdition.

Small wonder every initiative of his met with resistance; small wonder the Center lurched from crisis to crisis; small wonder that in 1994, after four years of intramural infighting, of backbiting, of internecine warfare, an exasperated POD came out with a Management Report aptly titled: Quo Vadis?

Pulling no punches, mincing no words, POD restated in that Report the objectives of the Center and his plans for meeting those objectives; he then narrated how implementation of these plans had been snagged by “certain people in our midst” for one reason or another; and then warned that the Center could not long persevere in a “virtual state of siege.” He then called on all who love the Center “to get together and act to save it.”

Quo Vadis? laid bare not only the Center´s fiscal condition but also the state of POD´s heart. “Naked to the samurai” was what Japanese nobility of old did to win the trust of an adversary; and in effect this was what the Management Report did for POD.

To be sure, it took many more months and many more measures before POD finally won that without which no relationship could flourish: trust. But POD believed it was Quo Vadis? that sparked the process of healing, of reconciliation, of collaboration.

“Management, as you know, is the handling of three Ms-money, machines and men; and the most difficult of these is men. Now Man is a complex of emotions, sentiments, interests, but none of these is more vital than trust,” thus POD.

“Winning the trust of the people you work with, when there is cause for them to withhold it, is the greatest battle of all.” Those who know POD fairly well think his world revolves around PNB and UE; those who know him very well KNOW that this is so, except that in the center of POD´s world is the UE Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center.

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si Chef Pablo "Boy" Logro taga UE ba?

Kung meron episode sa Youtube nung si Isabel Oli yung guest sa channel 11 show nya nabanggit nya na nag aral sya sa UE. At naulit ito dun sa show nya sa channel 7 nung guest naman si Melanie Marquez na taga UE daw sya?

Wala naman masearch sa net tungkol sa educational background nya.

Baka UE High School or nag 1sem lang sya. Ngayong sikat na yan sigurado irerecognize na yan ng Alumni Assoc natin