Business tycoon turned politician Manuel “Manny” Bamba Villar, Jr.

, known by his moniker

“Mr. Sipag at Tiyaga” (Mr. Hard work and Perseverance) wasn’t always the talk of the town.
Through the real estate mogul’s hard work, perseverance, and a knack for business learned
from his mother, he became one of the country’s richest men. This is his story.

Born third of seven siblings, Tony Tan Caktiong was from a poor family in China who
immigrated to the Philippines in hope that they may have a better life. His family helped
each other out, establishing a restaurant business in Davao which enabled young Tony
to study Civil Engineering in the University of Santo Tomas. When he was 22, Caktiong
decided to shell out P350,000 in an ice cream parlor franchise. He opened Cubao Ice
Cream House and Quiapo Ice Cream House. As their business becomes more and
more successful, they started to hire more people to help them manage it. Two years
later, he decided to serve hamburgers, fried chicken, and spaghetti as people began to
tell him that they don’t want to eat ice cream all the time. It was then that they decided
to rebrand and change their name to “Jollibee” as it represents them as a company, and
the people that they cater to – hardworking and happy.McDonald’s came into the picture
not many years later, but they failed to take over Jollibee’s popularity as, according to
Caktiong, they don’t know the local food culture. Filipinos have a sweet taste on food,
so Jollibee decided to serve spaghetti with a sweeter flavour. Filipinos like to smell
everything they eat, which is the reason behind the “Langhap Sarap” tagline they have
been using for a while now.As years go by, the Jollibee group grew bigger. Caktiong
partnered up and established a couple other food chains including Chowking, Red
Ribbon, Greenwich, and Delifrance. Aside from bringing Jollibee, Chowking, and Red
Ribbon to other countries, they’ve also established new food chains in China and
Taiwan which suit the tastes of the people there.As of 2016, Tony Tan Caktiong ranked
6th in Forbes’ Philippines’ 50 Richest. He was also awarded the Entrepreneur of the
Year and the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2004.

Believe it or not, Henry Sy’s story was a ‘rags to riches’ kind of tale. Born in Xiamen,
China in November 1924, Henry Sy was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
Wanting to escape poverty, Henry followed his father to the Philippines only
to experience a miserable youth in a foreign country. Sy struggled hard living in a
foreign country as an immigrant and had to learn the local language. Determined to
become successful, he worked hard day and night to provide for his needs. Sy started
out with a small sari-sari store business that helped them in their day-to-day life. Sy and
his father lived in a small space until the fruits of their labor made them successful in the
following years. However, when the Philippine economy collapsed in World War II, their
store burned down that forced his father to go back to China. Henry Sy stayed in the
Philippines and built his own shoe business in Marikina. Sy did not have an overnight
success. He enrolled himself to school and was able to graduate college with a degree
in commerce from Far Eastern University. Sy also changed legal names, sold rejected
and overrun shoes, plus many other setbacks that he had to face early in life. He did not
give up and pushed through maybe because he knew that something big, which is what
he has now, is about to come.After a series of failures in his business, Henry Sy stood
back up and persevered to attain his goal. He established a small shoe store in Quiapo,
Manila in 1958 named “Shoe Mart” that eventually marked the establishment of SM
Prime Holdings. Now with three of the most valuable companies in the Philippines: SM
Investments Corp. and SM Prime Holdings Inc., valued at over Php 1 trillion each,
and BDO Unibank, valued at around Php 635 million, he has become the richest man
in the country for 11 consecutive years since 2005 and ranked 52nd in Forbes World
Billionaires List of 2018. After a series of failures in his business, Henry Sy stood back
up and persevered to attain his goal. He established a small shoe store in Quiapo,
Manila in 1958 named “Shoe Mart” that eventually marked the establishment of SM
Prime Holdings. Now with three of the most valuable companies in the Philippines: SM
Investments Corp. and SM Prime Holdings Inc., valued at over Php 1 trillion each,
and BDO Unibank, valued at around Php 635 million, he has become the richest man
in the country for 11 consecutive years since 2005 and ranked 52nd in Forbes World
Billionaires List of 2018.