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Forum Speakers Declare
"Our Country
is Our Business"
Three distinguished speakers have been
chosen to give face and voice to the call of
the Ateneo Graduate School of Business (AGSB)
to take a chance on the country by investing
in the Philippines. The speakers were chosen
because their life stories are a testimony
that economic setbacks are not
insurmountable and that investing their
resources in the Philippines can bring
success and the enduring reward of making a
difference for the country.
Click
the photos to view/download the speeches
Manuel "Manny" V. Pangilinan (AB Eco Honors
'66) known for catapulting the once burdened
PLDT and the fiscally hemorrhaging Piltel
into the country's most profitable
companies, leads the roster of speakers.
Only a few know of his hard-luck childhood
which he escaped by his drive, diligence,
and scholarships from high school to a
US-based MBA. Trace it to the influence of a
public school teacher grandfather who rose
to become Secretary of Education, and a
father who worked his way up from messenger
to bank president.
After an initial modest executive assistant
post, Pangilinan carved an investment career
in Asia, building First Pacific to an office
with 60,000 employees and Tech Pacific to
the region's largest distributor of computer
products.
After 22 years overseas, he turned down a
beguiling job offer in London and returned
home. "People often ask me why I decided to
come back from Hong Kong. Why not stay in
Hong Kong and live the comfort of a
first-world environment?" Pangilinan said in
a speech before the 3rd Global Filipino
Networking Convention. "The simple answer is
that this is home for me. I believe in the
Filipino. I believe in the Filipino of Rizal,
Bonifacio and Ninoy Aquino - who all left
home and, after having touched the embers of
enlightenment, came back..... I believe in
the Filipino because I know he'll find a way
to survive and succeed outside his shores. I
believe in the Filipino most of all because
of our values."
The second speaker, Antonio "Tony" Meloto (ADMU,
AB Eco 1971) of Gawad Kalinga (GK) builds
homes for the poor as a means to build
community, provide dignity to the poor and
offer hope for a country. He believes that
empowerment of the poor transforms slums
into middle-class communities, sends street
children to school, converts the idle into
productive citizens, reduces crime, and
restores dignity and abundance to the
community.
At least 200 companies seeking to help build
communities have partnered with GK to build
17,144 homes in 731 communities.
Meloto, whose childhood in a Bacolod
squatter community did not stop him from
acquiring scholarships and graduating with
honors, proclaims, "Filipinos all over the
world are looking for... a vehicle for
change. When you build it, they will come...
[in] a span of 2 1/2 years, we have received
about a billion in terms of donations coming
from all over the world..."
Secretary of Finance Margarito "Gary" B.
Teves (ADMU, GS '56, HS '60) will discuss
the government's current programs designed
to create a decent living environment for
Filipinos. His standing in the local and
international communities alike is
impeccable.
As head of Land Bank of the Philippines,
Teves turned it into the country's third
largest bank, while stirring it back to its
mandate of catering to the small businesses,
farmers, fisherman and agri-business. As a
three-term congressman representing the 3rd
District of Negros Oriental, his economic
reform laws liberalized the banking system
to allow the entry of foreign banks. Among
his legislative accomplishments are laws
reforming the banking sector and capital
market, the Magna Carta for Small
Enterprises, and laws providing safety nets
for the agricultural sector.
In "Teves Speaks", a compilation of talks he
gave in Land Bank, states his firmly held
beliefs that you could "start from our own
nook and become agents of change" by
developing a passion for excellence,
challenging the system, and striving to
leave a legacy.
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