Flores, Renato Jr. S.

120-0229

Reflection: Mariano Que, Mercury Drug Success Story

In the field of Philippine medicine, it is impossible to mention and talk about Mariano Que
and his inspirational journey through his entrepreneurial success. Que was a well-known man
who built Mercury Drug, the most eminent name in the Philippine pharmaceutical retail industry.
He was a great entrepreneur as well as innovator whose business practice was marked by his
humility. However, there are behind-the-scenes stories before Que’s success in life that people
may have heard or read. I am part of those who listened to the inspiring tale of Mariano Que.

At an early age, Mariano Que started to work in a drugstore prior to World War 2 in order
to cure the people’s sickness in his era. His frugality is the foremost quality that motivates me
and provides ideas on how to earn and save money in the future. Que began to sell medical
vials and capsules until he saved enough money to make bottles of sulfathiazole pills, a drug
that made Mercury Drug. He sold medicine continuously until he saved up more money and
established his first-ever branch in Manila. This made me realize that brilliant ideas are greatly
needed to succeed in life and continuous growth process can be achieved through working
hard.

Besides perseverance, I have been astounded with the honesty and integrity of Que that
carried him through a career. Honesty is the number one quality that he valued to his
employees where no one will cheat and lie. In addition, Que’s character of moving on is another
lesson that I learned from him. At first, I thought that moving on is similar to stopping; however,
it changed my view. From Que’s perspective, moving on is pursuing one battle to the next.

As a BSA student, I learned from Que’s story to just do everything to understand the
accounting topics even though it is hard to comprehend. That is no matter what you do or face,
whether you’re afraid or going to lose, just do it. The motto of Mariano Que, “On, sail on”,
impacted me a lot which literally means whatever will be, will be. If I will become an
entrepreneur like Que, I will use my life and resources to serve and touch the lives of others as
what Que did to succeed in life. Success is not measured by health but through good heart.