Creating The Forum For Constructive Ideas
Cesar A. Buenaventura
Vice Chairman, Makati Business Club

Page 2

We launched the MBC at a press conference on Oct. 29, 1981 at Nielsen Tower. We knew back then that we were on to something when then-Mayor Yabut spoke against the formation of MBC, saying it is an "elitist group" and that there wasalready a Makati Chamber of Commerce. Later on, we got a call from GeneralFabian Ver to furnish the PSG with a directory of MBC's members which we refusedto give.

We had our first General Membership Meeting at the Intercontinental Hotel on Nov. 9, 1981 with then-Prime Minister and now Chairman of RCBC and Trustee of the MBC, Cesar Virata. From the outset, we recognized the need to have professional staff. With the kind help of Filipinas Foundation which provided us with two desks at the Makati Stock Exchange Building, we hired our first employee, Marc Opulencia (now our Deputy Director) and our first editor, Ricardo Saludo (now Assistant Managing Editor of AsiaWeek magazine). Filipinas Foundation's Rogelio Pantaleon was seconded to be our Managing Director. With our staff of two, we set out to be a Forum for Constructive Ideas. We started out with a simple program to hold monthly meetings of the business community and to publish a newsletter. These activities have been a resounding success. We have now held over 175 such meetings and a review of our guest speakers read like a veritable who's who of Philippine government and business. The list also provides a historical perspective of the issues which were important in their day - from economic policy to political issues. From one newsletter, we have now grown into a publisher of magazines and numerous other publications, and will soon be expanding into electronic publishing.

We also let our voices be heard on numerous issues such as the bailout of crony corporations which later were classified "non-performing assets" and made up the bulk of the companies to be privatized by the Aquino administration. We also spoke out against the monopolies and against the government's major industrial projects, some of which turned out to be white elephants. We attacked the infamous Amendment Six which gave the President decree-making powers and encouraged people to get involved in elections in spite of the authoritarian environment.

Among our more memorable events were the MBC-Media Dialogue in September 1983 where the local media were castigated for their silence on the coverage of the Aquino assassination and funeral. Jaime Ongpin was particularly scathing in saying that he learned more about what was happening in the Philippines while he was abroad from the foreign media then.

During the Snap elections in 1986, the first campaign speeches by both candidate Cory Aquino and incumbent President Ferdinand Marcos were delivered before the MBC on January 6th and 21st respectively. These were landmark events in their time. Later on Cory Aquino would return to address the MBC as President of the Republic. In 1991, we were to repeat this scenario with all seven Presidential candidates addressing the MBC in successive meetings. Later on, Fidel V. Ramos would return in 1992 to address the MBC as President of the Republic.

On the occasion of this, our 15th anniversary, as its past Chairman and Member of the Board since its inception, I would like to pay tribute to the vision of the man who conceived and founded the Makati Business Club, Enrique Zobel. •
..........
Speech delivered on the occasion of MBC's 15th year anniversary in honor of Enrique Zobel, January 29, 1997, Peninsula Manila Hotel.