“Recognition or publicity is not important. What matters is that we are able to use our resources to extend a hand wherever we can, in the best and most expeditious way possible.”
This dogmatic policy she learned from her late father Mariano Que, founder of the Mercury Drug chain, has allowed Vivian Que-Azcona to maintain a low profile, notwithstanding her enormous fame and fortune.
It was on record that in 2012, Vivian surpassed erstwhile presidential daughter and actress Kris Aquino as the No. 1 individual taxpayer in the country, turning in P131 million in income tax.
The Que siblings’ net worth was estimated at $1.2 billion as of 2023.
As a company policy, Mercury Drug, which has over 1,200 outlets manned by some 15,000 employees nationwide, attributes its success to “serving the Filipino people.”
In partnership with the corporate foundation Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), Mercury Drug has also made safe, potable water accessible to waterless communities, through its Operation Pa-Tubig program, to help improve health and sanitation, uplift living conditions and quality of life in the communities.
For Vivian, who was born on Sept. 1, 1955, success means nothing without giving back to the communities that host the company.
This mindset gave rise to Mercury Drug’s people-centered projects, ranging from sales promos to scholarships being pursued through the PBSP.
Vivian, who took over the pharmacy chain as president in 1998, never lost sight of the company’s humble beginnings with his father selling medicines from a pushcart, then opening his first drug store in Manila providing affordable drugs in a city devastated by World War II. He died in March 2017 at age 96.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mercury Drug was confronted with daunting challenges from an invisible enemy, including hoarding of face masks and alcohol, debilitating lockdowns, and fake news on drugs.
Somehow, Mercury Drug with Vivian at the driver’s seat, faced up to the dire situations, even pushing the company to greater heights in terms of public service.
In times of calamity, Vivian always makes sure that disaster relief assistance packaged as medicines or hygiene kits immediately reaches those that needed it most.
This resulted in a recognition by the Asia Corporate Excellence and Sustainability Award as 2021’s Woman Entrepreneur of the Year.
Despite the fame and fortune the Que siblings enjoy, Vivian doesn’t fail to look back to the legacy his father left behind.
With only P100 as start-up capital in 1945, the patriarch pushed a cart to peddle a so-called miracle drug named sulfathiazole ostensibly effective to cure a number of illnesses.
With his savings, Mariano opened the first pharmacy in Bambang, Manila that same year. He named it Mercury Drug after the Roman god of commerce who, like his Greek counterpart Hermes, wears a helmet and sandals with wings bearing the caduceus, a winged staff adopted as a symbol of medicine.
Unknown to Mariano, his moves set the stage for what was to become an immensely large and popular drug store chain in the country decades later.
Meanwhile, for his industry, the Philippine Retailers Association conferred on Mariano the title “Father of Philippine Health and Wellness Retailing.”
Vivian stepped into the family business after graduating cum laude in Pharmacy at the University of Santo Tomas.
“She started at the ground level, working her way up from staff assistant to the company’s top executive. She learned the ropes in running the business—from inventory and stock control to marketing and finance,” her biographical sketch read.
She was appointed assistant general manager in 1980, vice president and general manager in 1984, then president in 1998.
As heiress of the family business, Vivian had large shoes to fill, but the old man had adequately prepared her for the role—from warehousing to distribution to store management to distribution and marketing, as well as human resource development and financing.
As COO (child of the owner), there was no special treatment for Vivian, but she took the challenges in good stride.
