FOURTEEN Filipinos made it to Forbes’ 2017 World Billionaires List. Henry Sy Sr. is still the richest Filipino with $12.7 billion.
Santa Banana, I personally know all but two of them! This is because of my 66 years as a journalist. I have gone full circle in print and in broadcast (radio and television).
They are nation-builders and heroes. A hero need not be shot at the Luneta. Their achievements in business and industry have made the national economy what it is today.
I cannot forget the time I first met Henry Sy Sr. My elder brother, Willie, took me to Carriedo St. in Quiapo to meet somebody. That somebody was Henry, who was peddling imported signature shoes on a sidewalk. The shoes were selling like hot cakes.
When I asked where those shoes came from, he said that he had bought them from Boston, USA, as export surplus. People were just too eager to buy the shoes despite their being slightly defective. This was after a long drought of imported shoes during the four-year Japanese occupation. That was in 1949 when I was a junior student taking Bachelor of Arts at the Ateneo Padre Faura ruins.
I was told that Henry Sy Sr. made two to three other trips to the USA to bring in those signature shoes. Next time, I heard of Henry Sy was when he opened a shop at the corner of Avenida Rizal and Plaza Goiti with the brand “Shoemart.”
Since at that time there was the Retail Nationalization Law which prohibited foreigners from going into the retail business, the Henry Sy brand was called “SM” for Senen Mendiola, his partner and very good friend.
We all know what happened to the SM brand. It became big.
I met Sy again when he first built the SM shopping mall in Makati. I used to have coffee with him at the Elysee Coffee Shop. He told me about his plans. I thought to myself, now here is a man of vision!
He is fortunate that his children, Hans Sy, Henry “Big Boy” Sy Sr. and Tessie Sy-Coson, share his vision for a better Philippines.
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Another of the 14 billionaires in the country is Ramon Ang, who with the encouragement of San Miguel chairman and chief executive officer, Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco, made San Miguel the biggest conglomerate in the country. It has diversified from its core business of food and beverage.
I consider Cojuangco and Ang my true friends. I have always admired Danding as a businessman and a politician. He founded the NPC or Nationalist People’s Coalition. Unfortunately, he did not win when he ran for president in 1992. He could have been a good President.
Mon, for his part, simply cannot stop getting SMC into ventures not thought of by others.
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Another billionaire in the Forbes List is Enrique Razon, who was once my publisher at The Standard. His late father, Enrique “Pocholo” Razon, was my good friend. He made International Container Terminal Services Inc. a respected name in ports services.
After Ricky Razon sold the Manila Standard to the Romualdezes, he went on to bring Bloomberry to the Philippines. Bloomberry is an Australian gaming and entertainment giant. There is also Solaire—one of the gaming and entertainment giants and Entertainment City in Parañaque, Metro Manila.
My good friend, Philippine Airlines Chairman and CEO Lucio Tan, with his rags-to-riches story, is no. 3 in the billionaires list.
Another friend is Metrobank chairman emeritus George Ty, no. 4 on the list.
Andrew Tan, a newcomer in the world of business, is something else. I was fortunate enough to have made his acquaintance. Tan has gone a long way into property development nationwide, and in gaming and entertainment. He is also a man of vision and entrepreneurship with his Global Alliance conglomerate.
And of course, there’s my former student Roberto “Bobby” Ongpin, a self-made man. He is now into high-end property development as chairman and CEO of Alphaland. Bobby made his name when he converted that island off the coast of Quezon province, Balesin, into a high-end Balesin Island Club. He also put up the City Club, the most luxurious leisure and sports club in Metro Manila.
At 80 years, Bobby cannot seem to stop. He has other exciting projects in the pipeline.
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If there’s one common denominator among all the Filipino billionaires listed by Forbes Magazine, it’s that they share their blessings to the people. They pay back.
They all know that their blessings come from God. As such, they have obligations to pay back not only to people who work for them, but to others who have less in life through acts of charity.
Perhaps, that is the reason why they remain billionaires.
I cannot end this column without saying that the most important aspect of my life as a journalist for more than six decades is knowing most in the list of Filipino billionaires. They are all my heroes as nation-builders.
They have patience. They work hard. They share their blessings.
Walking with heroes is my legacy!