Z =)

APPCO Direct International Inc.

Management Trainee
(National Capital Reg)

Responsibilities:

Requirements:

• A Bachelor’s Degree and above (any discipline)
• Must be highly motivated and result driven
• Ability to conduct Face to Face presentations with excellent communication skills
• Ambitious and willing to have second to none work ethic.
• Fresh graduates are welcome to apply

Drink up baby down,
Mmmm, are you in or are you out?

Leave your things behind
'cause it's all going off without you..

So let go, l-let go, just get in,
Oh, it's so amazing here,
It's alright,
'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown.

One of my favorite journalists to date, aside from Randy David, is Conrado de Quiros. The topics he decides to express opinion on, his sharp wit, and ability to render his reader speechless after his article's last word. Read on and be compelled to take action if not atleast form your own opinion.

Column: Theres The Rub
Article: Still, change
By Conrado de Quiros
Philippine Daily Inquirer

I personally am glad Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is meeting with George W. Bush later this month. It reestablishes in the public mind the very close links between those two leaders.

By close links, I do not mean their “anti-terrorist” alliance, which has always been shaky and become even shakier with Arroyo veering closer to China. I do not mean by it that Arroyo and Bush have made “special relations” even more special by drawing the two countries closer. I mean by it the uncanny similarities between those two, enough to make one believe, despite the fact that one is ruler of the world and the other ruler only of Lilliput, that they are psychic twins.

Both are the progenies of presidents who became presidents themselves for a couple of terms. Bush by tinkering with the Florida votes the first time—that was how he beat Al Gore—and by winning reasonably cleanly against John Kerry the second time. Arroyo by being swept to power the first time and by cheating the hell out of FPJ the second time.

Both are small and petty and have a huge chip on their shoulders, resentful of the fact that before they came to power they had been belittled for being, well, small and petty. Both have an insatiable appetite for power, Bush seeking it for the Neo-Cons and their vision of the United States straddling the world like a colossus, as Cassius said of Caesar, and Arroyo seeking it for herself. (One is tempted to add “and her husband,” but that presumes a capacity to see beyond self, a trait she has little shown.)

Both are detested by their constituents. A CNN/Opinion Research poll last month showed that 71 percent of Americans disapproved of Bush, the first time any American president broke the 70 percent barrier. He has single-handedly provided David Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, Jon Stewart and other talk show hosts no end of material, which was probably what got them through the writers’ strike. Arroyo hasn’t just broken every barrier in disapproval rating, she has zoomed past them. She is probably more unpopular now than Marcos was then: Marcos at least had the undying loyalty of the Ilocanos (and Imelda the Warays), Arroyo has only the dying loyalty of the Cabalens and the Cebuanos. Or their loyalty does not come from the heart, it comes from the pockets.

Most importantly, both like to lie to their people. If it hadn’t been patent before, Bush’s former press secretary has made it patent now: Bush lied about the Iraq War. He sent American youths to their deaths in desert sands for reasons that had nothing to do with democracy or freedom. The subtitle of Scott McClellan’s book sums it up: “Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception.” He might as well have been writing about Malacañang. In Arroyo’s case, well, what has she not lied about? The only truth she has ever told is that if she ran in 2004, she would bring unending divisiveness upon this country.

But I am glad Arroyo is meeting with Bush later this month because of an even more compelling or sublime reason. That is the fact that Barack Obama, who has just won the Democratic primaries and will be the next president of America barring an assassination, provides a tremendous contrast—not least for Filipinos to see—between him and them. Right vs. Wrong, Virtue vs. Vice, Hope vs. Despair, Good vs. Evil, Life vs. Death.

Obama’s core message is Change, the one thing that Americans want, as shown by the surveys. That is the opposite of the core message of Bush and Arroyo, which is More of the Same. Obama’s core thrust is transparency, or telling the truth about the Iraq Invasion and everything else about life to the American people. That is the opposite of the core thrust of Bush and Arroyo, which is to lie unto death.

Indeed, the very core of Obama’s existence is hope, the unlikely hero of the story winning in the end, the Hobbit undoing the Evil Eye, the neophyte senator stealing the thunder from everybody else and going on to become the first black president of America. That is the opposite of the very core of Bush’s and Arroyo’s existence, Bush being one US president who, like Sen. Joseph McCarthy and Richard Nixon, roistered a reign of tyranny and paranoia, and Arroyo being one Filipino president who, like Ferdinand Marcos, stole everything that wasn’t nailed to the floor, including the vote and human life. They will, or should, go on, to disappear in the bowels of obscurity or the annals (or anus) of infamy as they richly deserve.

This is one time I won’t really mind that we yield to the clutches of “colonial mentality” and imitate, or make “gaya-gaya,” as the “coñotics” say, the United States today. We’ve already pretty much forgotten EDSA People Power, we could do with some new infusions of inspiration, and this is one huge shot of adrenaline in dying veins. By all means let’s talk of change and truth and hope too. Even better, let’s ape America shamelessly and produce an Obama too.

If we are to take any consolation from the hell on earth that Bush and Arroyo have wrought, it is only in that it has made us, or should make us, hanker for heaven. That is the only good they have done, to be so evil they’ve left us no choice but to crave good. Without the despair Bush has provoked, America would not have glimpsed the hope Obama invokes. I don’t know that we will ever produce an Obama—though I have no doubt we do not lack for people like him, who are to be found however outside the ranks of today’s politicians. But I have little doubt that the hell Arroyo’s long and despotic rule has brought us will have us hankering for heaven too. When that rule is over-and it won’t be so unless we move to make it so—we will demand from ourselves never to be plunged to that nightmare again.

When Arroyo and Bush meet later this month, their constituents themselves will have only one agenda: Change.

Source: http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20080610-141745/Still-change

"If you don't have the killer instinct in this business... you are all dead.

I am a killer everyday in my life.

I want it and I just don't really want it, I'll kill for it.

Not by stepping on people but I'll kill for it because I'm going to kill myself proving myself that I DESERVE to be here."

by: Jose Javier Reyes, Director

Why did I choose to stay in the Philippines?

February 03, 2008
Updated 19:08:39 (Mla time)
Howard Belton
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines--BECAUSE of Filipinos, that’s the answer.

Filipinos who made us so welcome from day one and have enriched our lives ever since.

It has been almost 10 years since Cristina and I arrived in Manila. In Unilever, I found a spirit of family way above that in other places, and this wonderful family took us to their hearts and made my business career a joy.

What made it a joy was not just the hard work and spirit of our employees, but their willingness to embrace change and come up with innovations.

The Rexona ministick, invented here, is now exported to 20 countries.

Close-up “Lovapalooza” not only got into the Guinness book of records but was featured on CNN, BBC and many other news channels -- I never thought I would be famous in Unilever for kissing!

I could give many other examples of the creativity of our Filipino employees. These innovations have made Unilever Philippines famous and admired in the Unilever world.

Outside Unilever, so many other people welcomed us as friends. They took the trouble to take us to meet their friends. So within months we were busy almost every evening.

These friends took us beyond business into many different social circles, into the arts, government, NGOs and many others—we are blessed by this variety of experience. And our circle of friends has grown and grown so that even now I am retired our life is full.

It isn’t only the well-off who have welcomed us.

Unilever is based in Paco, on the edge of the Pasig and in the middle of a poorer community. It had a long tradition of community involvement, which Cristina and I were proud to support. As a result of our work on the environment and poverty alleviation, we have met many wonderful people who give their lives to helping the community.

We have also met thousands of Filipinos in poor communities, in Baseco, Smokey Mountain, Parola, Pandacan and elsewhere. Despite their struggle for a decent living, they have always made two foreigners feel welcome.

We will never forget our first visit to Baseco, shortly after the terrible fire there, taking Unilever’s relief goods for 3,000 people. How calmly and cheerfully people waited for the distribution, and when the goods ran out how peacefully they accepted our promise to return with more. It would not happen like that in many so called “advanced” countries.

It was a great honor to go to Malacañang recently and receive the Order of the Golden Heart from the President, in recognition of my community work. Of course I felt very proud, but also a little guilty as there are so many people who have worked longer and harder for the community than I have. I dedicate the award to them.

Certainly, the award does add to my motivation to continue.

I was also honored to become President of Philippine Business for the Environment, and Cristina and I are involved in many other fulfilling activities.

We are lucky enough to have explored the Philippines, from Pagudpud in the north to Davao in the south, and enjoyed many beautiful places. I am a history major and have loved to visit so many old churches, though some are in sad disrepair.

Of course in lively but messy Manila we have to dream of this beauty—or ride out to Lake Taal which we have come to love.

But we do enjoy the life of a busy city. We divide our time between noisy Manila and our beautiful farm in the heart of the English countryside, where the only sound is of the birds and a trickling stream.

What a contrast—but, you know, it makes a wonderful balance.

Of course, it is sad to see corrupt Filipinos abusing their fellow-citizens, and the level of poverty is a constant reproach. I have heard friends say that the Filipino tolerance and sense of humor in adversity may be partly a negative, as they weaken the drive for improvement. There may be some truth in that.

I remember sitting in the Rotary Club of Manila meeting being addressed by the Japanese ambassador. The old member next to me whispered “It’s ironic that today is the anniversary of the day that the Japanese admiral who butchered so many people here in Manila killed himself.”

I asked, “Why don’t you mention it?” He replied, “No it’s a long time ago, and it’s best to move on.” Was he right? I’m not sure.

George, my father in law, spent eight years here, and saw Filipinos at their best. Our two housekeepers, Jesryl and Dory, loved him like a grandfather. And when he came to need nursing he received a level of tender care which just could not be achieved in England. So his last years were happy ones.

We are full of gratitude for the way our Filipino friends rallied round on his recent death. We decided to give him a Filipino wake -- very different from the custom in England -- and it was comforting to have the support of so many people.

During the wake, one of my friends said, “Now, with this experience, you are truly Filipino.” Well, I do start to feel that way.

So, for Cristina and I, it has become natural to stay here. We stay to enjoy the Philippines in all its variety, to share our lives with our Filipino friends, and, we hope, to give something back to the country which has adopted us.

©2008 www.inquirer.net all rights reserved

Talagang Happy to make YOU happy, di ba?

Happy to be Filipino.

Happy to be in the Philippines.

Happy to stay.:)

(Not saying I'm tying my ass to this country forever. Sinasabi ko lang na ang Pilipinas.. isang lugar na babalik-balikan, kahit saan ka man mapadpad.)

*Happy to make YOU happy is the tagline of UP Diliman's entry to the 2006 PANA Competition which the team also won.

*title taken from an Esquire article on Yahoo! where this foolosophy took inspiration from

I am independent, too much for comfort as some friends tell me. I would never be caught letting a guy companion carry my bag unless I'm literally suffering in order to lift it. I don't need anyone to drive me around, I am perfectly capable of driving or taking a cab. Meaning, I can get to wherever, no one has to take me from point A to B and wait around for several hours just to take me back to point A at the end of the day. I can also perfectly dismiss the unwarranted attention of men that I do not want to associate myself with. And the most common and sometimes subject to abuse act of chivalry known to both man and woman since time immemorial -- footing the bill -- I can do for myself as well.

So now maybe I, and the fast rising number of women of today, would seem to be the wrong target for men who would want to perform acts of chivalry, however little. That's probably the reason why so few men dare try. But actually, I don't think chivalry is dead for me, us. I think it just evolved into some language of actions and not words -- an understanding that goes different with each woman and man and spells success once a match between a woman's desired and a man's performed action is realized.

I can't really enumerate the different signs by which a woman shows that she wants an act of chivalry done for her, because I myself don't know all. However I think that with this no man can go wrong -- show a girl that you got her back -- and I'm sure that's all a guy would ever need to offer.

*I seriously hope you get to read this. HASSLE KA!

Did you seriously think that all those fantasies that you have 
so painstakingly conjured in that miniscule brain of yours would come true???

SERIOUSLY.

Please come out of your hardrockin' ego and realize that everything is not about you.

Get this:

YOU were NEVER the PRESENT.

YOU will NEVER be the FUTURE.

YOU ARE NOT EVEN CONSIDERED AS THE PAST.

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WAAAAAAAH!.

Ayoko na.
Ayoko na.
Ayoko naaaaaaaaaaa.

Nakakapagod mag-ayos ng gulo ng ibang tao.

Whew! Okay na ako ulit.

I am reposting John Gokongwei's moving speech at the 2007 Ad Congress, hoping that it inspires people to think big and work hard to achieve big. At kahit hindi ko pa naisip magtrabaho sa JG Group, idol ko pa din si JG.

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Before I begin, I want to say please bear with me, an 81-year-old man who just flew in from San Francisco 36 hours ago and is still suffering from jet lag. However, I hope I will be able to say what you want to hear.

Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. Thank you very much for having me here tonight to open the Ad Congress. I know how important this event is for our marketing and advertising colleagues. My people get very excited and go into a panic, every other year, at this time.

I would like to talk about my life, entrepreneurship, and globalization. I would like to talk about how we can become a great nation.

You may wonder how one is connected to the other, but I promise that, as there is truth in advertising, the connection will come.

Let me begin with a story I have told many times. My own.

I was born to a rich Chinese-Filipino family. I spent my childhood in Cebu where my father owned a chain of movie houses, including the first air-conditioned one outside Manila. I was the eldest of six children and lived in a big house in Cebu's Forbes Park.

A chauffeur drove me to school everyday as I went to San Carlos University, then and still one of the country's top schools. I topped my classes and had many friends. I would bring them to watch movies for free at my father's movie houses.

When I was 13, my father died suddenly of complications due to typhoid. Everything I enjoyed vanished instantly. My father's empire was built on credit. When he died, we lost everything-our big house, our cars, our business-to the banks.

I felt angry at the world for taking away my father, and for taking away all that I enjoyed before. When the free movies disappeared, I also lost half my friends. On the day I had to walk two miles to school for the very first time, I cried to my mother, a widow at 32. But she said: "You should feel lucky. Some people have no shoes to walk to school. What can you do? Your father died with 10 centavos in his pocket."

So, what can I do? I worked.

My mother sent my siblings to China where living standards were lower. She and I stayed in Cebu to work, and we sent them money regularly. My mother sold her jewelry. When that ran out, we sold roasted peanuts in the backyard of our much-smaller home. When that wasn't enough, I opened a small stall in a palengke.

I chose one among several palengkes a few miles outside the city because there were fewer goods available for the people there. I woke up at five o'clock every morning for the long bicycle ride to the palengke with my basket of goods.

There, I set up a table about three feet by two feet in size. I laid out my goods-soap, candles, and thread-and kept selling until everything was bought. Why these goods? Because these were hard times and this was a poor village, so people wanted and needed the basics-soap to keep them clean, candles to light the night, and thread to sew their clothes.

I was surrounded by other vendors, all of them much older. Many of them could be my grandparents. And they knew the ways of the palengke far more than a boy of 15, especially one who had never worked before.

But being young had its advantages. I did not tire as easily, and I moved more quickly. I was also more aggressive. After each day, I would make about 20 pesos in profit! There was enough to feed my siblings and still enough to pour back into the business. The pesos I made in the palengke were the pesos that went into building the business I have today.

After this experience, I told myself, "If I can compete with people so much older than me, if I can support my whole family at 15, I can do anything! "

Looking back, I wonder, what would have happened if my father had not left my family with nothing? Would I have become the man I am? Who knows?

The important thing to know is that life will always deal us a few bad cards. But we have to play those cards the best we can. And WE can play to win!

This was one lesson I picked up when I was a teenager. It has been my guiding principle ever since. And I have had 66 years to practice self-determination. When I wanted something, the best person to depend on was myself.

And so I continued to work. In 1943, I expanded and began trading goods between Cebu and Manila. From Cebu, I would transport tires on a small boat called a batel. After traveling for five days to Lucena, I would load them into a truck for the six- hour trip to Manila. I would end up sitting on top of my goods so they would not be stolen! In Manila, I would then purchase other goods from the earnings I made from the tires, to sell in Cebu.

Then, when WWII ended, I saw the opportunity for trading goods in post-war Philippines. I was 20 years old. With my brother Henry, I put up Amasia Trading which imported onions, flour, used clothing, old newspapers and magazines, and fruits from the United States. In 1948, my mother and I got my siblings back from China. I also converted a two-story building in Cebu to serve as our home, office, and warehouse all at the same time. The whole family began helping out with the business.

In 1957, at age 31, I spotted an opportunity in corn-starch manufacturing. But I was going to compete with Ludo and Luym, the richest group in Cebu and the biggest cornstarch manufacturers. I borrowed money to finance the project. The first bank I approached made me wait for two hours, only to refuse my loan. The second one, China Bank, approved a P500 ,000-peso clean loan for me. Years later, the banker who extended that loan, Dr. Albino Sycip said that he saw something special in me. Today, I still wonder what that was, but I still thank Dr. Sycip to this day.

Upon launching our first product, Panda corn starch, a price war ensued. After the smoke cleared, Universal Corn Products was still left standing. It is the foundation upon which JG Summit Holdings now stands.

Interestingly, the price war also forced the closure of a third cornstarch company, and one of their chemists was Lucio Tan, who always kids me that I caused him to lose his job. I always reply that if it were not for me, he will not be one of the richest men in the Philippines today.

When my business grew, and it was time for me to bring in more people-my family, the professionals, the consultants, more employees-I knew that I had to be there to teach them what I knew. When dad died at age 34, he did not leave a succession plan. From that, I learned that one must teach people to take over a business at any time. The values of hard work that I learned from my father, I taught to my children. They started doing jobs here and there even when they were still in high school. Six years ago, I announced my retirement and handed the reins to my youngest brother James and only son Lance. But my children tease me because I still go to the office every day and make myself useful. I just hired my first Executive Assistant and moved into a bigger and nicer office.

Building a business to the size of JG Summit was not easy. Many challenges were thrown my way. I could have walked away from them, keeping the business small, but safe. Instead, I chose to fight. But this did not mean I won each time.

By 1976, at age 50, we had built significant businesses in food products anchored by a branded coffee called Blend 45, and agro-industrial products under the Robina Farms brand. That year, I faced one of my biggest challenges, and lost. And my loss was highly publicized, too. But I still believe that this was one of my defining moments.

In that decade, not many business opportunities were available due to the political and economic environment. Many Filipinos were already sending their money out of the country. As a Filipino, I felt that our money must be invested here. I decided to purchase shares in San Miguel, then one of the Philippines' biggest corporations. By 1976, I had acquired enough shares to sit on its board.

The media called me an upstart. "Who is Gokongwei and why is he doing all those terrible things to San Miguel?" ran one headline of the day. In another article, I was described as a pygmy going up against the powers-that- be. The San Miguel board of directors itself even aid for an ad in all the country's top newspapers telling the public why I should not be on the board.

On the day of reckoning, shareholders quickly filled up the auditorium to witness the battle. My brother James and I had prepared for many hours for this debate. We were nervous and excited at the same time.

In the end, I did not get the board seat because of the Supreme Court Ruling. But I was able to prove to others-and to myself-that I was willing to put up a fight. I succeeded because I overcame my fear, and tried. I believe this battle helped define who I am today. In a twist to this story, I was invited to sit on the board of Anscor and San Miguel Hong Kong 5 years later. Lose some, win some.

Since then, I've become known as a serious player in the business world, but the challenges haven't stopped coming.

Let me tell you about the three most recent challenges. In all three, conventional wisdom bet against us. See, we set up businesses against market Goliaths in very high-capital industries: airline, telecoms, and beverage.

Challenge No. 1 : In 1996, we decided to start an airline. At the time, the dominant airline in the country was PAL, and if you wanted to travel cheaply, you did not fly. You went by sea or by land.

However, my son Lance and I had a vision for Cebu Pacific: We wanted every Filipino to fly.

Inspired by the low-cost carrier models in the United States, we believed that an airline based on the no-frills concept would work here. No hot meals. No newspaper. Mono-class seating. Operating with a single aircraft type. Faster turn around time. It all worked, thus enabling Cebu Pacific to pass on savings to the consumer.

How did we do this? By sticking to our philosophy of "low cost, great value ."

And we stick to that philosophy to this day. Cebu Pacific offers incentives. Customers can avail themselves of a tiered pricing scheme, with promotional seats for as low a P1. The earlier you book, the cheaper your ticket.

Cebu Pacific also made it convenient for passengers by making online booking available. This year, 1.25 million flights will be booked through our website. This reduced our distribution costs dramatically.

Low cost. Great value.

When we started 11 years ago, Cebu Pacific flew only 360,000 passengers, with 24 daily flights to 3 destinations. This year, we expect to fly more than five million passengers, with over 120 daily flights to 20 local destinations and 12 Asian cities. Today, we are the largest in terms of domestic flights, routes and destinations.

We also have the youngest fleet in the region after acquiring new Airbus 319s and 320s. In January, new ATR planes will arrive. These are smaller planes that can land on smaller air strips like those in Palawan and Caticlan. Now you don't have to take a two-hour ride by mini-bus to get to the beach.

Largely because of Cebu Pacific, the average Filipino can now afford to fly. In 2005, 1 out of 12 Filipinos flew within a year. In 2012, by continuing to offer low fares, we hope to reduce that ratio to 1 out of 6. We want to see more and more Filipinos see their country and the world!>

Challenge No. 2: In 2003, we established Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc. and developed a brand for the mobile phone business called Sun Cellular. Prior to the launch of the brand, we were actually involved in a transaction to purchase PLDT shares of the majority shareholder.

The question in everyone's mind was how we could measure up to the two telecom giants. They were entrenched and we were late by eight years! PLDT held the landline monopoly for quite a while, and was first in the mobile phone industry. Globe was a younger company, but it launched digital mobile technology here.

But being a late player had its advantages. We could now build our platform from a broader perspective. We worked with more advanced technologies and intelligent systems not available ten years ago. We chose our suppliers based on the most cost-efficient hardware and software. Being a Johnny-come- lately allowed us to create and launch more innovative products, more quickly.

All these provided us with the opportunity to give the consumers a choice that would rock their world. The concept was simple. We would offer Filipinos to call and text as much as they want for a fixed monthly fee. For P250 a month, they could get in touch with anyone within the Sun network at any time. This means great savings of as much as 2/3 of their regular phone bill! Suddenly, we gained traction. Within one year of its introduction, Sun hit one million customers.

Once again, the paradigm shifts - this time in the telecom industry. Sun's 24/7 Call and Text unlimited changed the landscape of mobile-phone usage.

Today, we have over 4 million subscribers and 2000 cell sites around the archipelago. In a country where 97% of the market is pre-paid, we believe we have hit on the right strategy.

Sun Cellular is a Johnny-come- lately, but it's doing all right. It is a third player, but a significant one, in an industry where Cassandras believed a third player would perish. And as we have done in the realm of air travel, so have we done in the telecom world: We have changed the marketplace.

In the end, it is all about making life better for the consumer by giving them choices.

Challenge No. 3: In 2004, we launched C2, the green tea drink that would change the face of the local beverage industry -- then, a playground of cola companies. Iced tea was just a sugary brown drink served bottomless in restaurants. For many years, hardly was there any significant product innovation in the beverage business.

Admittedly, we had little experience in this area. Universal Robina Corporation is the leader in snack foods but our only background in beverage was instant coffee. Moreover, we would be entering the playground of huge multinationals. We decided to play anyway.

It all began when I was in China in 2003 and noticed the immense popularity of bottled iced tea. I thought that this product would have huge potential here. We knew that the Philippines was not a traditional tea-drinking country since more familiar to consumers were colas in returnable glass bottles. But precisely, this made the market ready for a different kind of beverage. One that refreshes yet gives the health benefits of green tea. We positioned it as a "spa" in a bottle. A drink that cools and cleans> ...> thus, C2 was born.

C2 immediately caught on with consumers. When we launched C2 in 2004, we sold 100,000 bottles in the first month. Three years later, Filipinos drink around 30 million bottles of C2 per month. Indeed, C2 is in a good place.

With Cebu Pacific, Sun Cellular, and C2, the JG Summit team took control of its destiny. And we did so in industries where old giants had set the rules of the game. It's not that we did not fear the giants. We knew we could have been crushed at the word go. So we just made sure we came prepared with great products and great strategies. We ended up changing the rules of the game instead.>

There goes the principle of self-determination, again. I tell you, it works for individuals as it does for companies. And as I firmly believe, it works for nations.

I have always wondered, like many of us, why we Filipinos have not lived up to our potential. We have proven we can. Manny Pacquiao and Efren Bata Reyes in sports. Lea Salonga and the UP Madrigal Singers in performing arts. Monique Lhuillier and Rafe Totenco in fashion. And these are just the names made famous by the media. There are many more who may not be celebrities but who have gained respect on the world stage.

But to be a truly great nation, we must also excel as entrepreneurs before the world. We must create Filipino brands for the global market place.

If we want to be philosophical, we can say that, with a world-class brand, we create pride for our nation. If we want to be practical, we can say that, with brands that succeed in the world, we create more jobs for our people, right here.

Then, we are able to take part in what's really important-giving our people a big opportunity to raise their standards of living, giving them a real chance to improve their lives.

We can do it. Our neighbors have done it. So can we.

In the last 54 years, Korea worked hard to rebuild itself after a world war and a civil war destroyed it. From an agricultural economy in 1945, it shifted to light industry, consumer products, and heavy industry in the '80s. At the turn of the 21 st century, the Korean government focused on making Korea the world's leading IT nation. It did this by grabbing market share in key sectors like semiconductors, robotics, and biotechnology.

Today, one remarkable Korean brand has made it to the list of Top 100 Global Brands: Samsung. Less then a decade ago, Samsung meant nothing to consumers. By focusing on quality, design, and innovation, Samsung improved its products and its image. Today, it has surpassed the Japanese brand Sony. Now another Korean brand, LG Collins, is following in the footsteps of Samsung. It has also broken into the Top 100 Global Brands list.

What about China? Who would have thought that only 30 years after opening itself up to a market economy, China would become the world's fourth largest economy? Goods made in China are still thought of as cheap. Yet many brands around the world outsource their manufacturing to this country. China's own brands-like Lenovo, Haier, Chery QQ, and Huawei-are fast gaining ground as well. I have no doubt they will be the next big electronics, technology and car brands in the world.

Lee Kwan Yu's book "From Third World to First" captures Singapore 's aspiration to join the First World. According to the book, Singapore was a trading post that the British developed as a nodal point in its maritime empire. The racial riots there made its officials determined to build a "multiracial society that would give equality to all citizens, regardless of race, language or religion."

When Singapore was asked to leave the Malaysian Federation of States in 1965, Lee Kwan Yew developed strategies that he executed with single-mindedness despite their being unpopular. He and his cabinet started to build a nation by establishing the basics: building infrastructure, establishing an army, weeding out corruption, providing mass housing, building a financial center. Forty short years after, Singapore has been transformed into the richest South East Asian country today, with a per capita income of US$32,000.

These days, Singapore is transforming itself once more. This time it wants to be the creative hub in Asia, maybe even the world. More and more, it is attracting the best minds from all over the world in filmmaking, biotechnology, media, and finance. Meantime, Singaporeans have also created world-class brands: Banyan Tree in the hospitality industry, Singapore Airlines in the Airline industry and Singapore Telecoms in the telco industry.>

I often wonder: Why can't the Philippines, or a Filipino, do this?

Fifty years after independence, we have yet to create a truly global brand. We cannot say the Philippines is too small because it has 86 million people. Switzerland, with 9 million people, created Nestle. Sweden, also with 9 million people, created Ericsson. Finland, even smaller with five million people, created Nokia . All three are major global brands, among others.

Yes, our country is well-known for its labor, as we continue to export people around the world. And after India, we are grabbing a bigger chunk of the pie in the call-center and business-process- outsourcing industries. But by and large, the Philippines has no big industrial base, and Filipinos do not create world-class products.

We should not be afraid to try-even if we are laughed at. Japan , laughed at for its cars, produced Toyota. Korea, for its electronics, produced Samsung.

But already, hats off to Filipino entrepreneurs making strides to globalize their brands.

Goldilocks has had much success in the Unites States and Canada, where half of its customers are non-Filipinos. Coffee-chain Figaro may be a small player in the coffee world today, but it is making the leap to the big time. Two Filipinas, Bea Valdez and Tina Ocampo, are now selling their Philippine-made jewelry and bags all over the world. Their labels are now at Barney's and Bergdorf's in the U.S. and in many other high-end shops in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

When we started our own foray outside the Philippines 30 years ago, it wasn't a walk in the park. We set up a small factory in Hong Kong to manufacture Jack and Jill potato chips there. Today, we are all over Asia. We have the number-one-potato- chips brand in Malaysia and Singapore. We are the leading biscuit manufacturer in Thailand, and a significant player in the candy market in Indonesia. Our Aces cereal brand is a market leader in many parts of China. C2 is now doing very well in Vietnam, selling over 3 million bottles a month there, after only 6 months in the market. Soon, we will launch C2 in other South East Asian markets.

I am 81 today. But I do not forget the little boy that I was in the palengke in Cebu. I still believe in family. I still want to make good. I still don't mind going up against those older and better than me. I still believe hard work will not fail me. And I still believe in people willing to think the same way.

Through the years, the market place has expanded: between cities, between countries, between continents. I want to urge you all here to think bigger. Why serve 86 million when you can sell to four billion Asians? And that's just to start you off. Because there is still the world beyond Asia. When you go back to your offices, think of ways to sell and market your products and services to the world. Create world-class brands.

You can if you really tried. I did. As a boy, I sold peanuts from my backyard. Today, I sell snacks to the world.

I want to see other Filipinos do the same.

Thank you and good evening once again.