Recognition and Closing Remarks

MBC 30th Anniversary Dinner
Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Co-Vice Chairman, Makati Business Club
1 December 2011, Thursday
The Peninsula Manila, Makati City

The quality of an organization is a function of the quality of its leadership and staff. In this regard, the Makati Business Club has been blessed to have committed individuals who have dedicated their time and efforts to make MBC a Forum for Constructive Ideas with a mission to help the country.

We wanted to make sure that our anniversary did not end without recognizing three individuals, among the many, who have been an important part of our history.

Marc Opulencia
Let me start with one that Ramon [del Rosario Jr.] mentioned earlier in his opening remarks, and that is Marc Opulencia, our Deputy Director. As was pointed out, Marc is Employee No. 001, having started at MBC in its pre-operating stage in 1981. He has literally seen MBC from its birthing stage until today—doing the staff work to recruit its original members, organize its monthly general membership meetings and forums, and plan its newsletters and communications materials. As Deputy Director, he has taken charge of MBC’s administrative needs, managing the backroom which enables MBC’s frontliners and research staff to operate so effectively.

Though those of you who know Marc may only know him as the administrative guy, you may not know that his original work before MBC was at an economic research firm called Econotec. That’s where cut his chops in research and that’s how he helped organize the foundation of MBC’s economic data gathering. Almost invisible to most of us, Marc worked with designers Onate and Perez on our graphics and copy-writing and with the research staff in putting together our business opinion surveys.

For his 30 years of continuous service to MBC, we wish to honor Marc tonight for his dedication to the country and to the organization.

Vicente T. Paterno
Let me move on to our second recognition. In every organization’s life, there are inflection points when key changes occur. One such major change was the declaration of the Snap Elections back in 1986 when the country saw its first real chance at democratic elections since the declaration of Martial Law in 1972.

MBC was in need of a leader who would be perceived by all as calm, assuring, non-partisan; one with the nation’s interest at heart. That man was Vicente “Ting” Paterno, who served as MBC Chairman for a short but important period.

Ting’s involvement with the Makati Business Club began in March 1982, when he spoke before MBC members and honored the Club with is first public speaking engagement since his resignation from former President Marcos’ cabinet in 1980. That same year, he served as plenary chairman of MBC’s First Annual Plenary Conference held in Alabang. In 1984, he was formally invited to join the MBC Board as a trustee and in 1986 he was elected Chairman.

Ting saw us through the difficult run-up period to the February 1986 elections, People Power, and the transition to a reborn democracy. It was a time full of hope but also one full of birth pains for a democracy reborn. Ting’s wisdom and calm assurance guided the organization through this difficult period. Nowhere was Ting more effective than when he spearheaded the organization of the Private Sector Council on Public Issues (PSCPI) with MBC and all the major business organizations following a series of coup attempts against the Cory Administration. After Makati was re-opened for business following one such attempt, Ting convened the heads of all business organizations into the PSCPI which created 12 Task Forces to help address such issues as the power sector, judiciary, mass transit, governance, environment, and other concerns which plagued the country then. After one year, some of these task forces became institutionalized into NGOs and foundations in their own right and continued their work for many years after.

Ting’s term as Chairman of MBC was cut short when President Cory asked him to run for the Senate in the May 1987 elections. Always proper and ethical in his practice, Ting resigned as Chairman before he even filed his Senatorial candidacy papers. Known as the representative of business, he introduced 21 bills in the Senate, in particular Senate Bill 1678, which became RA 7042—the Foreign Investments Act of 1991.

Ting went on to have numerous other public and private roles too numerous to mention here today. However, we recognize him here today for his leadership role at MBC at a most challenging time. We’re most grateful to Ting for all his work.

Ricardo J. Romulo
Finally, the third major figure in MBC’s history that we wanted to recognize here tonight is Ricardo J. Romulo, who served as Chairman from 1987 to 2006. Dick’s chairmanship covered some of the most critical events in our nation’s recent history. He came on board as Chairman in 1987 and was immediately asked by President Cory to be a part of the Constitutional Commission which was placed in charge of drafting the new Philippine Constitution, post-People Power.

As coup attempts continued against the government, President Cory appointed Dick to the Fact-Finding Commission headed by then-COMELEC Chairman Hilario Davide which investigated the attempted coup d’ etat in 1989. President Corazon C. Aquino later appointed him a member of the Council of State.

Always a believer in private sector support for government reform, Dick served on Committees created by the Supreme Court dealing with Legal Education, Revision of the Judicial Code, Revision of the Cannons of Judicial Ethics, Small Claims and Judicial Management. He also encouraged MBC’s participation in the Budget Reform Group of DBM, the Economic Mobilization Group of DTI, and the NEDA Medium Term Development Plan, all under President Joseph Estrada at that time. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also appointed Mr. Romulo as one of five members (2001-2002) to the Governance Advisory Council.

To say that his term covered an exciting period is perhaps, as he would put it, an understatement. From 1987 to 2006, the country weathered coup attempts, Asian financial crises, political crises, People Power 2, and other events. Throughout, Dick spoke out when he had to and appealed for calm when it was needed. His wise counsel has guided us through tricky periods in our history, and he certainly continues to do so as a Trustee.

So, ladies and gentlemen, we honor these three individuals for their dedication to country and to the Makati Business Club. We also thank you for your support over these last 30 years and hope for your continued support over the next 30.

May I now invite our three honorees, Ting Paterno, Dick Romulo, and Marc Opulencia, to please join us onstage. If I could also ask, to help us in handing over our tokens, the first chairman of our Advisory Board, Cesar Buenaventura; our current chairman, Ramon del Rosario; and my co-vice chairman, Roberto de Ocampo, to please join us here onstage.