Manny Villar

How the business started

After graduation, he tried his hand as an accountant at the countrys biggest
accounting firm, Sycip Gorres and Velayo (SGV). He resigned shortly though to venture
on his own seafood delivery business.
When a restaurant he was delivering stocks to did not pay him, he printed out meal
tickets which he persuaded the restaurant owners to honor. He then sold these tickets at
a discounted price to office workers. It took him one year to liquidate his receivables.
He worked briefly as a financial analyst at the Private Development Corporation of
the Philippines. His job was to sell World Bank loans, despite the attractive rates of which
there were no takers. Convinced that he could make it on his own again, he quit his job
and promptly availed of one of the loans.
So with an initial capital of P10,000 in 1975, Villar purchased two reconditioned
trucks and started his sand-and-gravel business in Las Pias.
It is here while delivering construction materials to big developers that Manny Villar
came up with the idea of selling house and lot packages when the convention then was
for homeowners to buy lots and build on them.
Manny Villar became the housing industry leader, and the biggest homebuilder in
Southeast Asia, having built more than 100,000 houses for the poor and middle class
Filipino families.
He then initiated mass housing projects to achieve economies of scale. His various
innovations practically created the countrys mass housing industry. The Philippine
Center for Investigative Journalism calls him the dean of the (Philippine) real estate
industry.
Background
Manuel Bamba Villar, Jr. was born on December 13, 1949 in Tondo, an impoverished
and densely populated district of Manila. He was the second-born of the nine children of
his parents in a poor family. His father, Manuel "Maning" Montalban Villar, Sr., was a
government employee from Cabatuan, Iloilo who worked as an inspector for the Bureau
of Fisheries. His mother, Curita "Curing" Bamba, was a seafood vendor from a poor
family in Orani, Bataan. The family lived in a small rented apartment in a run down slum
area. Manny Villar's father was eventually granted a year-long scholarship for higher
education in the United States, which led to a job promotion to a director position in

the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources upon his return.Due to cramped
conditions in Tondo, Villar's father obtained a P16,000 loan from the Government Service
Insurance System, payable in 20 to 25 years, to build a home in San Rafael
Village, Navotas.
As a child, Villar initially attended Isabelo delos Reyes Elementary School, a nearby
public school in Tondo. He also assisted his mother in selling shrimp and fish at the
Divisoria Public Market, as early as age six, in order to help earn the money to support
his siblings and himself to school. However, accompanying his mother interfered with his
education and he was forced to drop out from school during Grade 1. He was then
enrolled at Tondo Parochial School (later renamed Holy Child Catholic School), a private
school in Tondo run by priests, to complete his elementary education.
Villar finished his high school education at the Mapa Institute of
Technology in Intramuros. He attended the University of the Philippines - Diliman and
earned his bachelor's degree in business administration in 1970. He returned to the same
school to earn his master's degree in business administration in 1973. He later
characterized himself as being impatient with formal schooling, and eager to start
working and go into business.
Family
Spouse: Cynthia Villar
Son(s): Mark Villar & Manuel Paolo VillarIII
Daughter: Camille Villar
Education
Villar finished his highschool education at Mapa Institute of Technology in
Intramuros. He attended the University of the Philippines-Diliman and earned his
bechelors degree in business administration in 1970. He returned to the same school to
earn his masters degree in business administration in 1973.
Manny Villar was a working student at the University of the Philippines, the premier
institution of higher learning in the country, where he obtained his undergraduate and
master's degree in business administration and accountancy.
Work
After obtaining his bachelor's degree, Villar began his professional career working as an
accountant for Sycip, Gorres, Velayo & Co.(SGV & Co), the country's largest accounting
firm. He resigned from SGV & Co. to start his first business, delivering seafood
inMakati. However, when his largest customer was unable to pay him, he negotiated a
debt restructuring of sorts, selling discounted meal tickets to office workers in exchange

for receivables. He then worked briefly as a financial analyst for the Private Development
Corporation of the Philippines, where his job was to sell World Bank loans. Wanting to
start a business of his own again, he quit his job and availed of one of the loans, which
offered attractive rates.
In 1975, with an initial capital of P10,000, Villar purchased two reconditioned trucks
and started a business delivering sand and gravel for construction companies in Las
Pias. This eventually segued into building houses, as Villar took out a seven-year loan
from a rural bank offering low interest rates,. From the loan, he kick-started building and
selling homes at his first project, Camella Homes Phase 1 and 2 in Las Pias, initially
with 160 units and would have resulted to be the country's largest home building
company, with an emphasis on low-priced mass housing. A notable innovation of Villar's
companies was to sell house and lot packages, when the common practice at the time was
to sell lots for future homeonwers to build upon. He initiated mass housing projects
through economies of scale, utilizing the cost advantages of developing a large-scale
project in order to bring down housing prices. The number of homes built by Villar's
companies totaled to over 200,000 units.
In 1984, he founded Golden Haven Memorial Park, a chain of cementeries in the
Philippines, started with its first branch in Las Pinasand expanded in Cebu, Cagayan De
Oro, Zamboanga, Bulacan, and Iloilo. It will also expanded into the businesses of
memorial chapel, crematorium and columbarium.
In July 1995, Villar's flagship property, C&P Homes, was listed on the Philippine Stock
Exchange and grew by more than a third in one day, ballooning Villar's 80% stake in the
company to $1.5 billion. Villar had concentrated on low-cost housings which were bought
by the home buyers themselves, giving opportunities for the low and middle income
Filipino families to acquire homes. He also wanted to set an example to Filipino
entrepreneurs that what they set their mind on can be achieved.
Vista Land and Lifescapes, Inc., a family owned business of Villar, is also listed in the
privately owned Philippine Stock Exchange. Their shares of stocks were bought primarily
by foreign funds which had given the government, as well as the PSE, good revenues.
Villar has received several awards for his achievements during his professional and
business career, including being one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men in 1986, the
Agora Award for Marketing Management in 1989, Most Outstanding CPA by the Institute
of Certified Public Accountants in 1990, and Most Outstanding UP Alumnus in 1991. In
2004, he was named the Most Distinguished Alumnus, the highest recognition given by
the University of the Philippines Alumni Association.

As of 2014, Forbes magazine ranks him as the 14th wealthiest person in the Philippines,
with his net worth of US$1.460 billion or 63.758 billion (43.67 exchange
rate).However, his statements of assets and liabilities (SALN) filed for the year 2012
states his net worth at P1.453 billion.
In 2015, the Villar Group formed another company, Vitacare Healthgroup, Inc., a group
that will build chain of hospitals nationwide. Its first project Vitacare Unimed Hospital &
Medical Center (in partnership with Unimed) will be located in Vista City, Las Pinas will
be fully operated in 2018.
Henry Sy
How the business started
Henry Sy, Sr. was born on 25th of December 1924 at Xiamen, China. He is a ChineseFilipino. At age 12, his family settled in the Philippines. At that young age, he worked in
a small retail store (called sari-sari store) owned by his father where they sell anything
from food to basic items. He worked 12 hours each day to help his father. Back then, the
store was located at Echague Street, now named Carlos Palanca Sr. Street in Quiapo,
Manila.
Early on, Henry Sys business strategy was nothing fancy but brilliant. He wanted to
find ways to earn more in that setup, thus he came up with the concept of selling items in
small portions. It was a practical and fast way to sell products. This concept resembles the
small packs or products in sachets we now see in supermarkets or small sari-sari stores.
Most of his childhood revolved around selling in his fathers store rather than enjoying
his childhood. Unfortunately, during World War II their store was destroyed. This event in
his early years did not stop him from being business-minded and optimistic. He got
involved in buying and selling anything of worth in order for his family to survive.
Sometimes it is during difficult times that we shine our best and we learn the true
meaning of perseverance and optimism. Experience is also a great teacher.
One time, he was unfortunately hit by a shrapnel while selling. It was a good thing his
friend, who was a pushcart vendor, saved him and brought him to the hospital. Because of
this near-death experience, he valued that friendship. After the war, he made this friend
his partner in a shoe business.
When the war ended (1945), he got involved with selling imported American shoes
from business-minded American GI soldiers. This inspired him to open a shoe store with
his friend. Eventually, he was managing three shoe stores with his business partner.
Meanwhile, as a student in FEU (Far Eastern University, Manila) and a family man at
the same time in the early 50s, he studied the market of his chosen industry. Henry Sy,
Sr. wanted to find innovative ways to improve his trade. Therefore he went to the US at

the East Coast and found ideas and inspiration that he needed in selling shoes and other
leather goods, thus the birth of a store called Shoe Mart or SM. Shoe Mart which
was the first air-conditioned shoe store. This store was successful and thus more stores
were opened.
What is admirable about his approach to business was his common sense and openmindedness. He takes time to listen to customers, suppliers and employees and then he
learns from peoples opinions. Using this gathered information from different people and
being observant of market trends, he was later inspired to start a department store chain.
The first department store was launched in 1972. At that time, it was Martial Law in the
country and this presented a lot of business obstacles for him as it was a time of political
and social chaos and economic decline. But obstacles and limitations did not stop Henry
Sy, Sr. from pursuing his passion to expand his business. Despite the situation during
Martial Law period, he continued to open more department stores in the country. This,
however, presented the problem of getting the space needed for the business.
Further on, he continued his plans for business expansion with the construction of SM
Sta. Mesa and SM Megamall. The plans were big and optimism was great but every step
was slow and difficult. There were many factors that brought about construction delays
like lack of supply of cement and the 1989 coup in Makati.
Despite all these opposing factors, SM City Sta. Mesa opened on the 28th of September
1990. It has 200 shops and restaurants and became a new social venue at Sta. Mesa,
Manila.
SM Megamall, located at the Ortigas Center, opened its main building on the 28th of
June 1991. The Mega Atrium of SM Megamall opened on 28th of October 2008 and the
new Carpark C on 11th of October 2011. SM Megamall is one of the largest SM
Supermalls created by SM Prime Holdings, the largest mall operator in the Philippines
owned by Henry Sy, Sr. SM Megamall is a huge shopping mall originally with two
buildings (Building A and B, but now expanding with Building C and Carpark D). Land
area is around 21 hectares with 750 shops and 250 dining establishments. It has a
maximum capacity of 4 million people.
Background
Henry Sy was born to a poor family in Jinjiang, China on December 25, 1924. He is the
son of Henry H. Sy and Tan O Sia.
He completed his secondary education in a school now known as Chiang Kai Shek
College and earned his Associate of Arts degree in Commercial Studies at Far Eastern
University in 1950.
Family
Spouse: Felicidad Tan

Son(s): Henry Jr, Hans, Herbert, Harley

Daughter(s): Elizabeth, Teresita

Education

Far Eastern University

Work
Chairman and CEO of SM INVESTMENTS CORPORATION, SM PRIME
HOLDINGS, SM DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION AND HIGHLANDS PRIME
HOLDINGS, BANCO DE ORO CHAIRMAN EMENTUS, CHINA BANKING
CORPORATION HONORARY CHAIRMAN

Lucio Tan
How the business started
Lucio Tan was born on July 17, 1934 in Chinas Fujian province. His family moved to
Philippines, in Naga, where he was a child. He worked his way through college studying
Chemistry in Far Eastern University but quit before graduating, set up a business that
deals with scrap in the late 1950s and and later on found a job in a tobacco factory where
he was tasked to buy leaf tobacco in the Ilocos provinces.
Because of this experience, Lucio Tan started his own cigarette company named
Fortune Tobacco in 1966. It was also during this time when his close friend Ferdinand
Marcos was newly elected as President. The tobacco business was a success and it
expanded introducing a budget brand Hope in 1975. By year 1980, Fortune Tobacco
was the Philippines largest cigarette manufacturer.
In 1977, Lucio Tan acquired from the Philippine Government the then bankrupt bank
General Bank and Trust Co. (Genbank) for only P500,000 which was described by many
as a sweetheart deal. It was later renamed to Allied Bank.
In 1982, Lucio Tan established and put up Asia Brewery where he used to his benefit,
the Marcos ruling that lifted the ban on the establishment of new beer companies. Back
then, it was the only brewery allowed to compete with the market leader San Miguel
Corp.

In 1993, Lucio Tan secured control of the countrys airline carrier Philippine Air Lines
(PAL).
While a lot of articles say that Lucio Tan benefited a lot from tax concessions and
privileges that the Marcos Regime gave to him in exchange for a rumored 60% on all his
shareholdings, on December 7, 2007, the Philippine Supreme Court affirmed the decision
dismissing the states sequestration of Lucio Tans companies. The courts decision says
that there can be no question that indeed, petitioners orders of sequestration are void
and have no legal effect.
Today, Lucio Tan is still one of the richest person in the Philippines ranking him as
second to Henry Sy last year 2008 with a total asset of %1.5 Billion. His Lucio Tan
Group of Companies now owns several industries that includes liquor (Tanduay
Holdings, Inc. and Asia Brewery), tobacco (Fortune Tobacco), aviation (Philippine
Airlines), banking (Allied Bank and Philippine National Bank), real estate (Eton
Properties Philippines), and education (Univerity of the East).
Background
Lucio Tan, in full Tan Eng Tsai (born July 17, 1933, Amoy, Fujian
province,China), Chinese-born Filipino entrepreneur who headed such companies as
Fortune Tobacco Corp., Asia Brewery, Inc., and Philippine Airlines, Inc.
Tan was the oldest of eight children. He earned a degree in chemical engineering from
Far Eastern University in Manila. In one of his early jobs, he worked as a janitor in a
cigarette factory before his promotion to tobacco cook, regulating the product mix. In
1966 Tan started his own tobacco company, Fortune Tobacco Corp.
Tan and Ferdinand Marcos reportedly met in the early 1960s when Marcos was a
senator, and their friendship strengthened. After Marcos, who had served seven years as
president of the Philippines, declared martial law in 1972, Tan served as the catalyst for
what would become three of the countrys largest businesses. When his Fortune Tobacco
Corp. allegedly received tax breaks, it was able to beat its rivals. In 1977 Tan acquired the
insolvent General Bank and Trust (later renamed Allied Banking Corp.) for a pittance,
and three years later he launched Asia Brewery, Inc., when Marcos rescinded a measure
prohibiting the establishment of new beer companies.

After the fall of Marcos in 1986, the administrations of Corazon Aquino (198692)
and Fidel Ramos(199298) tried to prove that Tans companies had been secretly owned
by Marcos and therefore should be confiscated. In addition, it was alleged that Tan had
not been duly assessed his fair share of taxes on his holdings. In 1992, unbeknownst to
the Aquino government, Tan secretly financed the winning bid that secured the purchase
of the newly privatized Philippine Airlines, Inc. (PAL). In 1995 he became chairman of
the airline. As the owner of PAL and head of Fortune Tobacco Corp. (which by 1996
commanded nearly 75 percent of the Philippine market), and with an estimated net worth
between $1 billion and $8 billion, Tan was considered the richest man in the Philippines.
He was virtually untouched by an ongoing government probe into the legitimacy of his
operations. Accused of tax evasion and other unsavoury business practices that dated
back to his association with Marcos during the 1960s and 70s, he avoided conviction
when a Philippine Supreme Court ruling found that the tax bureau had prosecuted the
matter in an improper manner. In 1996 he won ruling control of PAL, and the House of
Representatives approved a bill that favoured tax breaks for his beer and cigarette
concerns. In 2007 the Supreme Court upheld the decision that voided the states orders
of sequestrationof Tans companies.
Family
Spouse: Carmen Tan
Son(s): Timmy Tan, Michael Tan, Lucio Tan Jr.,
Daughter(s): Vivien Tan,
Education
Chiang Kai Shek College
Far Eastern University
Work

LT Group, Inc. (PSE: LTG)

Asia Brewery, Inc.

Tanduay Distillers, Inc.
Fortune Tobacco Corporation
PMFTC, Inc. 50% ownership by FTC
Eton Properties Philippines, Inc.
Philippine National Bank (PSE: PNB) - (merger of Philippine National Bank and Allied Bank

Philippine Airlines (PSE: PAL)

PAL Express

MacroAsia Corporation (PSE: MAC)

Lufthansa Technik Philippines 49%

ownership by MacroAsia
MacroAsia Airport Services Corporation
MacroAsia Catering Services
MacroAsia Properties Development
Corporation
MacroAsia Air Taxi Services
MacroAsia Mining Corporation

Cebu Pacific Catering Services Inc.

Others:

Himmel Industries, Inc.

Century Park Hotel
Grandspan Development Corporati
Lucky Travel Corporation
Foremost Farms, Inc.
Pan Asia Securities (stock brokerag
The Charter House (hotel)
University of the East

Tan Yan Kee Foundation

Ricky Reyes
How the business started
From a floor sweeper in a hair salon to a neophyte hairdresser who opened his first shop
in San Juan in 1973, Reyes has established a beauty empire that has pioneered in many
hair technologies in the country.
Today, Ricky Reyes Holdings, Corp. stands as a testimony to this honor student in
the school of hard knocks, with a successful chain of 43 salons all over the
Philippines; a manufacturing firm for his patented salon products; a world-class

resort and spa (the Golden Sunset Resort and Spa in Calatagan, Batangas); his very
own learning institute; and now, a nomination to be the Philippine representative to
the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.
Reyes first shop was actually the corner of a laundry shop in N. Domingo, consisting
of a wall mirror, a shampoo chair, a bowl, and a dryer. It wasnt much, but to Reyes it
meant everything, as it was something he could call his own. In two years, three more
shops were to open on Legarda, Taft Avenue, and Blumentritt.
In 1985, Reyes would change the landscape of the local beauty industry when he
opened the first mall-based salon at SM North EDSA. It was also the beginning of a longstanding friendship with taipan Henry Sy.
They say I am Henry Sys lucky charm, Reyes quips. I am always one of the first to
be offered prime space in his malls, probably because I have never treated him as a
landlord. We would do the rounds of his malls, and he would point out things to me, little
details such as keeping merchandise at the right height, or ensuring all bulbs are working
properly, and I learned a lot from him. Even today, he personally calls me to ask how
business is doing.
Over the years Reyes has also brought in the latest trends in hair and beauty, including
milk rebonding, digital perm, hair reborn, hair shine, hair detox, eyelash extension, and
many more, as he scours the best technology among foreign chemists and pays a
premium on royalties to use these technologies exclusively in his salons.
I learned the value of discipline early in life because I was determined to succeed, he
states. To this day, I have not taken out a single centavo out of the cash register,
preferring to roll money into the business to make it bigger. I sign every cent of my
disbursement, and I am 100 percent debt-free.
Background
The former FEU student stood as one of guest speakers in the NSTP Leadership
Seminar on July 2, 2012 at the FEU Auditorium and shared his passion and
experiences in performing community service.
As Reyes relived his younger years, he became emotional and thanked Office of
Community Extension Director John Michael Olaco for giving him the opportunity to
come back at FEU.
I am a firm believer of education, but I had to stop from my studies because I had six
younger siblings that are also being sent to school.

This situation did not stop him from achieving his dreams; he did errands for a salon
and closely observed how things were done. Faster than a bullet, he learned the craft of
haircutting so well that he was able to build his own salon and the rest was history.
He imbued his passion for education to his younger siblings. Through hard work and
luck he was able to send them all college. He gleefully shared that all of them actually
finished with Masters and Doctorate degrees.
During the time he already succeeded in the industry, he felt that the fame and the glory
were still insufficient to make him truly happy. He then remembered the little Ricky
Reyes who was striving hard and dreaming of a college education.
This realization opened his eyes to the world of community service. He sent children to
school, spearheaded livelihood programs and initiated a temporary home for cancerstricken children.
Today, the Ricky Reyes Foundation funds the CHILD House, a place that serves as a
temporary home for children who suffer from the disease. The facility is located at #35
Ofelia Street, Road 20, Project 8, Quezon City.
Children here learn and socialize with other children; they receive proper nourishment
and medical attention.
What we will do in the world is our gift to Him, he quipped.
By the end of his talk, he gave an open invitation to FEU Hotel and Restaurant
Management and Mass Communication students to have their internships at the Ricky
Reyes Golden Sunset Resort and Ricky Reyes Production Company for television.
He reiterated the value of education and firmly challenged FEU students to finish their
studies and become great leaders of our country.
Education
Far Eastern University
Work
"Mother Ricky" is a Filipinohairdresser, philanthropist and businessman. He is the
owner of Ricky Reyes chain of salons and host of television programme "Gandang Ricky
Reyes".
Reyes now has a 44-branch network of Gandang Ricky Reyes salons

Tony Tan Caktiong

How the business started
Born in a poor family who migrated from southeastern China to the Philippines in
search of a better life, he became involved in the restaurant business from an early age
when his father opened a restaurant. The restaurant became profitable with the help of all
family members and this success enabled Mr. Caktiong to pursue a degree in chemical
engineering in Manila.
At the age of 22, inspired by a visit to an ice cream plant, he set out to gain his own
foothold in the restaurant business: relying on family savings, he seized
a franchising opportunity with Magnolia Dairy Ice Cream and opened two ice cream
parlors. In response to customer requests, he added hot meals and sandwiches to the
menu, which soon proved a lot more popular than ice cream. Three years later, in 1978,
he decided to capitalize on this development, discontinued the Magnolia franchise and
converted his parlors into fast food outlets.
Tony Tan Caktiong, founder, president and CEO of Jollibee Foods Corporation
Realizing that he needed a brand name and logo for his new business, Mr. Caktiong and
his family decided on using a smiling red bee. They chose a bee because of its association
with hard work, and because honey represents the sweet things in life. The jolly prefix
was intended to connote happiness and enjoyment. Jollibee invested millions of pesos to
register the bee trademark in the Philippines and other key countries.
Helped by smart marketing and advertising strategies, the mark struck a chord with the
public: From a rather crude, strange-looking bee that no bank dared to touch back in
1978, Jollibee and his cheeky smile today have become synonymous with a truly Filipino
success story that is now a source of patriotic pride. It is estimated that the Jollibee brand
is now worth several billion pesos, Mr. Caktiong points out.
Trademarks increased a lot of value to our business, he explains. To the consumer,
they represent either trust in the company or trust in the brandthey will remember that
the brand connotes very tasty food and also the experience, the ambiance, the service, and
they are also proud to be a part of that brand.
Today, Jollibee Foods Corporation uses 8 proprietary brands (including Jollibee for
their core fast food business, Greenwich for their pizza and pasta chain, and
Chowking for their oriental food outlets), owns many trademarks (including Bee

Happy, Yumburger, Chickenjoy and Amazing Aloha) and has registered all of its
logos, some of them in several countries.
Background
Tan was born to Chinese immigrant parents from Fujian. He attended high school
at Chiang Kai Shek College and graduated from the University of Santo Tomas with a
degree in chemical engineering. Tan had initially planned an ice cream parlor when he
founded Jollibee, then added dishes such as hamburgers, french fries, and fried chicken.
Family
Spouse(s): Grace Tan Caktiong
Son(s): Carl Tan Caktiong
Education
University of Sto. Tomas
Work
Tan founded the fast food chain Jollibee in 1978, after having started it as an ice cream
parlor in 1975. Through expansion and acquisitions of Greenwich Pizza Corp. which
enabled it to enter the pizza-pasta segment. In early 2006, Jollibee Foods Corp. bought
out the remaining shares of its partners in Greenwich Pizza Corporation, equivalent to a
20% stake, for P384 million in cash. As of August 2008, Tan's Jollibee has a total of
1,480 stores worldwide including Jollibee, Red Ribbon, Chowking, Greenwich, Manong
Pepe's, Mang Inasal and Tita Frita's Uling Uling.
John Gokongwei
How the business started
He was born August 11, 1926 in the scenic Gulangyu isle across Xiamen City, in the
Fujian Province of South China. But he spent his childhood and first became an
entrepreneur in the resource-poor yet dynamic trading port city of Cebu, where his greatgrand father, Pedro Lee Gotiaoco, had risen from poverty to become one of the wealthiest
merchants and leaders of the Chinese business community. Later, the reversal of fortunes
forced the teen-aged John to peddle soap, thread and candles using his bike. By age 17,
he was riding the batel, traveling two to three weeks with products to sell from Cebu to
Lucena and then on to Manila. During World War II, the young Gokongwei also sold
diamonds in Cebu as a result of the trust placed on him by the older Chinese traders, who
were impressed with his initiative.
After the war, Gokongwei setup Amasia, a trading firm that imported textile remnants,
fruits, used clothing, and old newspapers and magazines from the U.S., and stocked them
on the ground floor of a two-story apartment, above which Gokongweis family lived.
Next, he moved to Chinatown in Manila to start a corn-milling factory
producing glucose and cornstarch. The 30-year old entrepreneur lacked capital, but had

good shinyong or trustworthiness, so China Bank officials Albino SyCip and Dee K.
Chiong granted him a P500,000 clean loan to start him off. Gokongwei has since moved
from one venture to another, reinvesting his earnings and working for half a century to
build a conglomerate.
The Gokongweis flagship company had originally focused on food, clothing and
shelter, but today it has become the most diversified conglomerate in the Philippines. It
controls the biggest snack food producer, Universal Robina Corporation, the URC
branded Consumer Foods Group, and the URC Agro- Industrial Group. Robinsons Land
Corporation, developer of residential and office condominiums, shopping malls and
housing projects, boasts the largest number of hotel rooms (1,140) in the country. The
successful Robinsons malls have built over half a million square meters of total leasing
space nationwide.
Cebu Pacific Air, which entered the market in 1996 on a strategy of offering low fare,
great value, has grown to become the second largest domestic carrier in the Philippines.
On March 04, 2003, Gokongwei made a rare appearance to celebrate the launch of Sun
Cellular by his Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc., the largest fixedwire telephone service provider in Luzon outside Metro Manila.
Gokongwei paid his dues to philanthropy when he established the Gokongwei Brothers
Foundation. In 1999 the foundation put up GBF training Center as an advanced technical
school for engineering graduates; it also launched the Childrens Library, the multi-media
libraries at the Robinsons shopping malls.
Background
John was born in China to a Filipino-Chinese father who was a scion of
a wealthy Cebu-based family, with ancestral ties to China's Fujian province. His
patrilineal great-grandfather was Don Pedro Lee Gotiaoco, a wealthy Chinese immigrant
tycoon who was once the largest taxpayer in Cebu. The family fortune was lost when his
affluent father died. John was 13 years old at this time. He initially supported his family
by peddling items along the streets of Cebu from his bicycle. From the age of 17 to 19, he
traded using a wooden boat, taking items to Lucena by sea, and then to Manila by truck.
After the Second World War, he started his own company called Amasia, which imported
textile remnants, fruit, old newspapers, magazines, and used clothing from the US.
During this time, he courted a young girl, Elizabeth, who would later become his wife. In
the early 1950s, along with his brothers and sisters who returned from China, he started to
import cigarettes and whiskey too.
In 1957, seeing that trading would always have low margins and would always be
dependent on government policies, the family concern entered the era of manufacturing.
With a loan of 500,000 pesos from Dr. Albino Sycip, then chairman of China Bank, and
DK Chiong, he started a corn milling plant producing glucose and corn starch. The

company was named Universal Corn Products and later expanded into Universal
Robina Corporation. San Miguel Corporation was a big customer of theirs.
In 1961, as his company started to launch brands such as Blend 45 (an instant coffee
brand, to compete with Nestle's Nescafe), John returned to school to study and obtain
anMBA at the De La Salle University. A decade later, he underwent a 14-week advanced
management program at Harvard.
He is married to Elizabeth Yu, and has six children (1 son and 5 daughters) - Lisa,
Robina, Lance, Faith, Hope and Marcia. All his children play an active role in the
Gokongwei empire and companies owned by JG Holdings. His only son, Lance
Gokongwei, is now in charge of the Gokongwei Empire, serving as president and COO
while John serves as chairman emeritus.
On August 29, 2007, at the Ateneo de Manila University, Gokongweis biography, John
L. Gokongwei Jr.: The Path of Entrepreneurship, by the Universitys Dr. Marites A.
Khanser, was launched, and it narrated the "riches-to-rags-to-riches" story of the tai-pan.
Gokongwei stated that entrepreneurship is a way out of poverty. Khanser's book also
enumerated the Nine Rules of business success that Gokongwei followed since he was
still a young businessman. In 2002 Gokongwei donated P200-million to the
undergraduate school of management. He also gave donations to University of San
Carlos, Xavier School, De La Salle University, Sacred Heart School and Immaculate
Conception Academy.
On February, 2008, Forbes Asia magazines first Heroes of Philanthropy list included 4
Filipinos Jaime Zobel de Ayala, John Gokongwei, Ramn del Rosario Jr., and scar
Lpez.The list is composed of 4 philanthropists each from 13 selected countries and
territories in Asia.
John Gokongwei and fellow businessman Andrew Gotianun are distant
cousins. Gokongwei's great-grandfather was a half brother of Gotianun's grandfather.
Family
Spouse: Elizabeth Yu
Daughter(s): Lisa Gokongwei, Robina Gokongwei, Hope Gokongwei, Faith Gokongwei,
Marcia Gokongwei
Son: Lance Gokongwei
Education
University of Pennsylvania
Harvard Business School

University of San Carlos

De la Salle University
Work
Owner of Robinsons Malls
Chairman of JG Summit Holdings

Socorro Ramos
How the business started
In 1940, Socorro Ramos, barely 18, started working as a salesgirl at a Goodwill
Bookstore branch owned by her brother in Escolta, Manila. Because of her selling skills,
Ramos was put in charge of the store.
It was only after marrying Jose Ramos that her dream of the setting up a bookstore
finally materialized. The couple started the first National Book Store as a stall shop
in Escolta selling supplies, GI novels, and textbooks. Unable to afford extra help, Ramos
worked not only as manager but also as cashier, purchaser, saleslady, janitor, and helper.
When war broke out, strict censorship regulations forced many retailers in Manila,
including the Ramos couple, to shift trades. They moved to selling soap, candies, and
slippers instead.
After the Japanese occupation, the Ramos couple were able to rebuild a barongbarong in the corner of Soler and Avenida Rizal in time to catch the boom of post-war
business. Using the door of their house as a counter, Ramos again started selling
textbooks, notebooks, pad paper, and pencils in time for the first postwar school year in
the country. Just like that, National Book Store made its transition from being a general
merchandise store to a store that sells books and more. Business went well mainly
because only a few stores sold school supplies during that time.
In 1948, Typhoon Gene entered the Philippines destroying dozens of houses and
property including the Ramos'. Their house and store were taken down and all the
merchandise soaked following the typhoon. But this did not bring down the Ramos
couple. They worked harder, they slept for only three hours a day spending the rest of
their time rebuilding the business. Eventually, through will and determination, the Ramos
couple were able to construct a two-story building complete with mezzanine that would
be their store for years. After more than a decade, Ramos acquired a nine-story building
along Avenida Rizal, and in 1963, the construction of the Albecer Building (Albecer
taken from Ramos' three children - Alfredo, Benjamin, and Cecilia) began. Little did the
Ramos couple know that the Albecer Building would be the first of many buildings they
would build. Socorro Ramos now has more than 2,500 employees in over 80 branches of
her once-small stall. From a humble beginning, Ramos'National Book Store is the
Philippines' biggest bookstore chain and an icon in the country's retail industry.
Background

Nanay Coring or Maria Socorro Cancio in her early years was born in Sta. Cruz,
Laguna on September 23, 1923. Ever she was young, she grew up in an entrepreneurial
environment as one of the six children born to entrepreneur parents and grandmother. Her
parents used to ran a store selling a lot of stuffs from slippers to clothes and a lot more
while her grandmother had a market stall where the young Socorro got used to seeing
customers withdraw items on credit. Unfortunately, her grandmother did not manage the
business carefully not maintaining a list of those items availed on credit and their
business fell.
After that event, they went to Manila. Her mother struggled hard to feed six children and
the young Socorro considered herself as lucky if she got money from her mother. Her
elder sisters helped the family by working in a candy and bubble gum factory and she
spent her summer doing summer jobs too. In one instance, young Socorro was hired to
peel off the paper used in old cigarettes so that it can be reuse to make new fresh cigarette
sticks. She received 5 centavos per pack of cigarettes. But the young Socorro started her
entrepreneurial skills and hired kids and their neighborhood paying them 5 centavos for
every two pack of cigarettes leveraging her efforts. Since then, the young Socorro was on
her way to become an entrepreneur as early as 10 years old!
Immediately after graduating from Arellano High School, she worked as a salesgirl at
Goodwill Book Store owned by the family of her present husband Jose Ramos. Socorros
brother Manuel married one of the Ramos children and in 1940, they needed someone to
look after the branch they set up along Escolta Street, on the ground floor of Panciteria
National. Jose Ramos took over it and asked Socorro to work on him in that branch. They
renamed it as National Book Store.
Their love story began but her parents were against with it as Socorro was just 18 years
old back then. She was told to stay in the province to keep away from marrying Jose
Ramos. But as they say, true love never dies, the young Socorro with just 11 pesos in her
pocket, struggled to went back to Manila to marry Jose. Because of this act, her family
was so furious and angry that they considered her dead already. It was short-lived though
lasting only until Socorro gave birth to her twins named Alfredo, who is now the
President of National Book Store and Benjamin, now the Vice President.
Family
Husband: Jose Ramos

 Education
Highschool Graduate: Arellano High School-Manila
Work
Socorro C. Ramos is the matriarch of National Bookstore, the Philippines leading
retailer of books, office supplies, and greeting cards. In 1965, she and her husband Jose
set up a nine-story building along Avenida Rizal which would be the very first National
Bookstore. What has become the Ramos family business has not stopped growing since,
having opened Powerbooks, a now popular specialty bookstore, in 1996.

Research
In
T.L.E
(Entrepreneur)
Submitted by: PEREGRINO, Christine Joy B.
Submitted to: Ms. Maria Cristina Salanga