Surviving and thriving in today's environment is largely dependent on the leader's ability to make a fundamental transformation to become more agile.
Eugenio Ynion Jr., president and CEO of Yngen Holdings has successfully transitioned his mindset and capabilities to be an agile leader by transforming someone else's trash into San Antonio's treasure.
Kap Jun,' as friends and constituents call him, has shown that strong leadership is an enormously powerful force to shape a community's long-term and sustained success. As a digital innovator, he leveraged technology to rise amid social injustice by providing opportunities for equal employment and parity in income to the marginalized and disenfranchised members of society by providing novel solutions.
As barangay chairman of San Antonio in San Pedro, Laguna, and head of one of the fastest-growing fintech companies in the country, Kap Jun effectively utilized technology to fight back, repair, and uplift his community's spirit and keep their dreams alive. To date, Ynion has never drawn his salary as village chief, donating it all for the services in his locality.
"Looking at the blueprint of what will become of this place in the next 10 years, and looking back from 10 years ago when all you see here are mountains of illegally dumped waste, illegal activities, including drugs and abortion, gives us some satisfaction that we were able to transform a 'dump' into a center of hope," said Ynion Jr. during the groundbreaking of the UnionBank Innovation Campus.
He was referring to the once quiet corner in Barangay San Antonio in San Pedro, where one man's vision to transform a center, which was once an image of physical and moral decay into a symbol, and the core of rapid development could be a game-changer not only for the country but for the entire Asian digital space.
The UnionBank Innovation Campus is a partnership between Union Bank and Yngen and will rise in Barangay San Antonio in a 10-hectare property owned by himself.
Get involved
"The stark picture of deterioration was unfolding in our village," he said. "It is heartbreaking, and we had to do something and dream. A similar state of decay was happening on the other side of that property. The area was fast becoming a haven for illegal settlers and drug abortions. If we desperately wanted to see change and achieve a result, we have to be involved."
That was when Kap Jun decided to enter public service and ran for the village chief post . Right on Day 1, he wasted no time getting rid of those problems. Encouraged by his modest success, Kap Jun dared to dream of an environment that will benefit the public.
"We believe that developing relevant jobs is our key objective. To facilitate this, we have initiated and will continue to initiate programs to achieve high-quality education, all this under the backdrop of a clean and green environment, primed to step with the digital revolution. That's the dream," he said.
But why would a businessman with a net worth of $200 million (P9.56 billion) based on his last SALN (statement of assets, liabilities and net worth) filing, and a firm that is one of the top taxpayers in the whole San Pedro, do what he does in the care of his neighbors?
"I was once a poor boy. I struggled a lot growing up. I worked as a taxi driver and even a baker. Before I achieved what I have now, I went through a very tough and challenging time," he said. "If I can help at least one person to achieve his dream, then that is one family that we can uplift from poverty. But what if we can do more?"
Ynion said his ultimate goal with his 10-hectare property in San Pedro is to transform it into a digital hub that will be the center of innovations in the Philippines and the entire Asian region. The digital hub will widen opportunities for many Filipinos to excel in the digital space.
A melting pot of ideas
Initially, the Innovation Campus is envisioned as the epicenter of artificial intelligence, blockchain, and data science in the region. The campus would be home to institutes on data science and blockchain and an accelerator. Developments done on the campus are expected to benefit banking, fintech, and other industries.
But Ynion wants the digital hub to be an incubator for all start-ups in the country. "If I have the money, I want to support all start-ups [in the country]. A true angel investor that provides opportunities for everybody and allows a start-up to finish their concept from start to finish."
"We should help each other. If a struggling businessman has no capital, we should be able to provide a financial extension. Our goals as Filipinos are to uplift our fellowmen and complement each other. We should always ask ourselves what we can contribute to the success of one another," he added.
Top of the game
Effective solutions to ease the business climate in the country and catapult it in the center of financial revolution are not cheap, which is why people who have the vision and the means must give what they can afford for public investment.
Leaders must be at the very top of their game. They should emulate the selfless examples set by Ynion to get the best out of their constituents.
"Yes, we can," Ynion said, insisting there is only one way for the country, and that is "up."