Top 10 Successful Entrepreneurs in the Philippines Story

1. Henry Sy, Shoe Mart

Henry Sy came from an impoverished family in Jinjiang, a town near
Xiamen, China. The entire family left China in 1936 to help the family
patriarch manage a thriving convenience store in Manila.

Unfortunately for the family, their store was burned down during
World War II. However, business-minded Henry saw an opportunity
selling used military combat boots and other postwar goods from
supportive American soldiers!

His success led to the opening of his first shoe store, the SM in Avenida, Manila. Henry had
problems finding shoe manufacturers who could design shoes according to what he had in
mind, but he persisted. He spoke to customers and built his own network of suppliers and
manufacturers.

That never-say-die attitude got Henry Sy to where he is now: one of the richest men in the
world and a world-class commercial center developer who provides opportunities to both
entrepreneurs and the working class!

2. Tony Tan Caktiong, Jollibee

Also coming from an immigrant family from China, Tony learned

the value of hard work and dedication from his father who worked
as a cook in a Buddhist temple. Tony’s father started a Chinese
restaurant in Manila with his savings so he can send him to college.

In 1975, Tony bought a Magnolia ice cream parlor. However, it was

not generating enough business. After talking with his customers
and people within the neighborhood, Tony decided to include sandwiches, fried chicken, and
French fries in the menu. In time, the restaurant found itself packed to overflowing capacity.

By 1978, Tony had opened six more restaurants, but the main item was no longer ice cream.
Tony then decided to adapt the McDonald’s concept and named his franchise after his work
ethic of being as “busy as a bee.”

Today Jollibee has grown to more than 2,500 stores in the Philippines plus locations in the US,
China, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Singapore, and Brunei.
 3. John Gokongwei Jr., JG Holdings

John’s life story is a “rich-to-rags-to riches” story. John Jr. was born
in China to the scion of one of the wealthiest families in Cebu.

When the father died, so did the business and the family fortune
was soon gone. John Jr. supported his family by peddling items
along the streets of Cebu by bike. Soon, he was trading items by
boat to Lucena City and to Manila by truck. Eventually, he started
importing items from the US.

John Jr. soon realized that importing carried too much risk and low margins. Thus, in 1957, he
borrowed Php 500,000 from China Bank and started a corn milling business named Universal
Corn Products.

By 1961, Universal started diversifying its products and launched several popular brands such as
Blend 45. Universal Corn Products was renamed Universal Robina Corporation.

Today, the Gokongwei family owns several successful and highly diversified businesses. Among
these are Robina Land Corporation and Cebu Pacific.

4. Socorro C. Ramos, National Bookstore

Girl’s brother marries scion of a wealthy bookstore owner in

Manila. The girl finds job as a saleslady at 18, meets and falls in love
with the son of the owner; thus, he is technically her in-law! Their
parents forbid the relationship and sends the girl back to the
province. However, their love is so strong, girl and boy stand up to
the parents, get married, and have twins.

The boy takes over a branch with the girl, and they renamed it in
National Book Store. However, a war breaks out, and the store is destroyed! They rebuild the
store, but everything is held under suspicion of being “questionable.” They relocate the store in
Avenida, but as the business picks up, a storm destroys their roof. Soon, they rebuild the store,
and every centavo is used to build a nine-story National Book Store.

The girl is Socorro and the boy is Jose. Today, National Bookstore has grown to over 100 stores.
Despite digital technology, it continues to flourish!

5. Cecilio Kwok Pedro, Lamoiyan Corporation

Cecilio’s life is not a typical rags-to-riches story; instead, it embodies
the entrepreneurial spirit of overcoming seemingly insurmountable
odds.
Cecilio used to head Aluminum Container Inc., which produced the aluminum toothpaste tubes
for Procter and Gamble, Philippine Refining Company (now Unilever), and Colgate-Palmolive.
However, environmental concerns led his clients to shift to plastic-laminated toothpaste tubes.
Aluminum Container Inc. failed and closed its shop in 1986.

He put up Lamoiyan Corporation and manufactured toothpaste that was priced 50% lower than
his competitors. These included the still-popular brands Hapee and Kutitap. Although the
foreign brands countered by lowering their brands by 20%, Cecilio responded by introducing
toothpaste targeted for children that featured the characters from Sesame Street.

Cecilio’s brands have made it to other markets in Asia, such as China, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

Cecilio’s greatest accomplishment was not limited to manufacturing. He is also known for his
advocacy to help hearing-impaired people find employment in the country.

His programs include free housing for more than 30 deaf–mute staffs. To date, more than 180
hearing-impaired students have received college education through DEAF or Deaf Evangelistic
Alliance Foundation.

6. Mariano Que, Mercury Drugstores

Like many of the entrepreneurs discussed so far, Mariano found
opportunities for entrepreneurship after World War 2. Mariano
had been working in a local drugstore when the war destroyed
several businesses in the city.

Mariano saw the need to supply sulfa drugs, which were used to
treat bacterial infections. He started to buy sulfa tablets and sold
them at affordable prices. Soon, other people followed and
adapted Mariano’s strategy.

However, only Mariano sold high-quality sulfa tablets, which ensured him a steady clientele.
With his hard work and dedication to build up savings, he was able to put up his first drug store
in 1945, which he named Mercury Drug. The Roman god Mercury is known for speed. He also
carries the caduceus, which is a symbol in the medical industry.

Mariano invested his earnings into the company and introduced many innovations in the
service. Among these innovations were a drug-delivery service to clients and locations that are
open 24/7 because he knew people would be needing medicines any time of the day.

By the time Mariano opened his second Mercury Drug at the newly constructed Ayala shopping
center in Makati, he had invested in technological innovations, such as biological refrigerators
and computer-guided controls.

Mariano’s dedication to his business has allowed Mercury Drug into 700 stores and a widely
recognized name for quality pharmaceuticals.
 7. Alfredo M. Yao, Zest-O

When Alfredo lost his dad at age 12, his mother was left to support
him and his siblings by becoming a sidewalk vendor. A relative was
able to give financial aid, which allowed Alfredo to reach, but not
complete, college at the Mapúa Institute of Technology.

Alfredo took several odd jobs, which included time at a printing

press. During his stay there, Alfredo learned how to print
cellophane wrappers for candies and biscuits. His experience
prompted him to start his own printing business.

His printing business was doing well. However, his discovery of the Doy Packaging system from
Europe was the turning point of his entrepreneurial career. He tried to sell the system to juice
manufacturers, but no one was interested. Thus, Alfredo ventured into the juice business by
concocting flavors in his kitchen.

These juices were not only delicious but also appealing to parents as they found the light and
brightly colored packs easy to include in their children’s lunch boxes. Best of all, the packaging
allowed the juice to stay chilled longer. Zest-O was born!

Today, Zest-O controls 80% of the juice market, and it has expanded to markets in Australia,
China, New Zealand, Korea, Singapore, US, and several countries in Europe. Alfredo’s
entrepreneurial success has revitalized the juice region in the Philippines particularly farmers
growing dalandan. The Doy packs are also recycled by local cottage industries into handbags for
export to other countries!

The boy who once faced the harsh realities of life now become a successful juice manufacturer.
Alfredo has diversified his business interests into airlines by acquiring Asian Spirit Airlines and
renaming it as Zest Air.

Alfredo is now literally on top of the world!

8. Corazon D. Ong, CDO Foodsphere

Corazon represented the value of having passion in what you do as
a motivating factor in finding success as an entrepreneur.

Corazon was a dietitian by profession. She used her knowledge to

create processed meats that were affordable enough to compete
with the popular foreign brands. She developed corned beef,
hamburger patties, meat loaf, and hotdogs, which were sold purely
as a home business.
By 1975, Corazon decided to scale her newfound business and established CDO Foodsphere.
The company’s reputation to develop high-quality but low-priced processed meats quickly
spread and made CDO a regular staple in every shopping cart.

As a mother herself Corazon understood the value of having meals that can be prepared easily,
taste good, and fit the family budget.

In time, CDO expanded to industrial markets. Today, CDO supplies processed meats to 90% of
quick service restaurants or QSRs in the country.

9. Gregorio G. Sanchez Jr., LactoPAFI

While working as a provincial board member in Cebu, Gregorio

noticed that pigs sold to market were apparently malnourished.

He decided to look into the cause of malnutrition by doing

research in his spare time. Using only pots and pans in his home,
Gregorio conducted several tests and experiments on how to
alleviate the state of malnutrition of Cebu’s livestock.

Despite numerous failures, his persistence finally paid off. He

discovered the pigs were suffering from a type of bad bacteria.
His solution was a probiotic bacteria that would increase the level of good bacteria in the body.

The bacteria would be called LactoPAFI Probiotic Bacteria. Gregorio’s discovery would reach
global acclaim as a leader in probiotics. It is now exported to New Zealand, Norway, France,
Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, and US.

10. Diosdado Banatao, Computer Chips

Diosdado’s life story exhibits perseverance, hope,

determination, and the power of self-belief. The son of a farmer
in Cagayan, Diosdado would walk barefoot just to complete his
high school education. His resilience made him a Magna Cum
Laude graduate in electrical engineering.

His excellence in the academe paved the way for Diosdado to

become a pilot-trainee at the Philippines Airlines or PAL, which
would eventually open doors for a design engineer position at
Boeing Co. The opportunity brought Diosdado to the US where he completed a master’s degree
in electrical engineering and computer science at Stanford University.

Diosdado’s experience working with the top technology companies led to his design of the first
single-chip 16-bit microprocessor calculator. By 1981, Diosdado was commissioned by Seeq
Technologies to assist the Ethernet to find an efficient way of linking computers. Disodado
designed the single- chip controller that provided data-link control and the transceiver in the
first 10-bit Ethernet CMOS.

His success opened doors to build his own company, Monstroni, in 1985 and Chips and
Technology, which made US$ 12 million in the first quarter alone. By 1996, Diosdado sold Chips
and Technology to Intel for US$ 430 million!

Throughout his success, Diosdado never forgot his roots and Filipino heritage. He set up the
Banatao Filipino American Fund to lend support to Filipino American students in Northern
California who aspire to become electrical engineers.

Aklan State University

College of Industrial Technology
Kalibo, Aklan

Assignment Title: 10 Successful Entrepreneurs in

the Philippines
Submitted by:
Alavata, Christine Shane
Cabales, Jhade
Fernando, Melrose
Masinda, Nel
Mosquera, Erica
Oczon, Maybelyn
Samson, Riza Joy
(BTTE 2A)

Submitted To:
Prof. Annily C. Flores
Instructor