That canard of a canine bloodline

 

“WITH THIS historical marker from the Philippine national government, the truth can now be told: Macabebes did it to avenge all kinds of persecution committed against them by their fellow Filipinos, culminating in the burning of the town and the massacre of 300 townspeople inside the church. No, it wasn’t dugong aso after all that made them do it—it was vengeance. It was never an act of treachery, but an act of revenge.”

Thus, Center for Kapampangan Studies director Robby Tantingco succinctly exacted, indeed impacted, the truth to the long-held canard of a canine bloodline in the Kapampangan right at the commemoration of the 125^th anniversary of “The Burning of Macabebe” on April 27. 2024.  

Tantingco could have spoken with the voice of an angel: Soon as the marker from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines was unveiled, a mongrel  strayed in front of the assembled guests, moving Robby to enthuse: “As this dog leaves the scene, may the tag dugong aso also stop hounding Kapampangans once and for all.”

No other contemporary Kapampangan of note has done as much as Tantingco in expunging that blot in the Kapampangan character, advancing his advocacy at every opportunity, given or not.

Like in November 2018, on his Facebook page: “Have you noticed? There is hardly any Filipino anymore who calls Kapampangans dugong aso. We have successfully asserted ourselves and changed the conversation to the other narratives of the multi-layered story of our amazing people. So, once and for all, and to put the last nail on the coffin of this subject matter, let us stop blaming the Macabebe Scouts alone…for the capture of Aguinaldo in Palanan in 1901…”

That last nail, the historical marker hammered last Saturday. 

Least a Kapampangan bias, all of historical fact whence Tantingco speaks, complete with mug shots and briefs of the dastardly deeds of the actual Aguinaldo betrayers, identified as Spanish Capt. Lazaro Segovia, Ilocano Cecilio Seguismundo, and Tagalog Maj. Hilario Talplacido.

“And yet it was the foot soldiers, the Macabebes, who bore the brunt of the nation's anger which resulted in the unfair racial profiling of all Kapampangans as traydor and dugong aso." So lamented Tantingco.

Rightly, and reasonably, Robby: “How could the Macabebes, who never served in Aguinaldo's army and therefore could not have betrayed him, be branded as traitors, and not these three defectors? They were merely doing their job as hired soldiers of the American military, and were actually exacting vengeance on a man they hated with all their heart and soul (for killing Andres Bonifacio whose roots were in Macabebe, and for ordering the burning of the Macabebe church).”

Commented I to Robby’s post: From another perspective, the Macabebe scouts should even be hailed as heroes. Aguinaldo's messianic delusions deprived the revolution of its father, Bonifacio and its only real military brains, Luna.

Of this shameful sobriquet slapped on the Kapampangan, I have also written a handful. Indulge me now with this one from way, way back.

…DOGS ARE clichéd as man’s best friend, yet they tend to get the choicest cuts in the worst insults. “Gone to the dogs,” for instance.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago riled the usually cat-cool Sen. Panfilo Lacson not so much for calling him “Pinky” as for branding him as Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile’s “attack dog.” Warranting a reply in kind from the former top cop. A case of “dog-eat-dog” there?

“Tuta ng Kano.” So, the militant Left derided Ferdinand E. Marcos, Cory Aquino and all those who followed them to Malacanang down to Cory’s son BS.

Even the venerable Carlos P. Romulo, who served eight Philippine presidents – from Quezon to Marcos – and who himself sat as president – of the Fourth Session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1949-1950, was not spared of a similar epithet. No idle urban legend but a revealed truth to student activists of the First Quarter Storm was Chou En-Lai’s dismissal of Romulo as “America’s running dog” at the Bandung Conference of Asian and African nations in 1955 that helped crystallized the Non-Aligned Movement.

At the time of Cory too, I remember the Malacanang Press Corps raising a howl over a presidential factotum’s obvert reference to them as mongrels when he directed his staff to “feed the kennel” whenever his office issued press releases.

For too long a time, a collective insult, indeed, a curse, to the whole Kapampangan race is the branding dugong aso.

In 1981, the political leadership of Pampanga – from Gov. Estelito P. Mendoza, Vice Gov. Cicero J. Punzalan, down to the mayors led by the “Big 5” of San Fernando’s Armando Biliwang, Arayat’s Benigno Espino, Magalang’s Daniel Lacson, Sta. Ana’s Magno Maniago, and Sta. Rita’s Frank Ocampo, along with Angeles City’s Francisco G. Nepomuceno, raged and ranted rabidly at then Olongapo City Mayor Richard J. Gordon for citing the Kapampangans as dugong aso in the context of regionalism’s ill-effects to nationalism in his nomination speech for Ferdinand E. Marcos in the KBL party convention at the Manila Hotel.

Actual physical threats were even thrown Gordon’s way in addition to some persona non grata resolutions. (Gordon’s topping Pampanga in the senatorial contest of May 2013 is some vindication of the forgiving-and-forgetting nature of this race.)   

Lapid

Even as dugong aso stuck to the Kapampangan, the insult accruing thereat has largely dissipated. This is owed to an extent to then Gov. Lito Lapid, as we wrote here sometime ago:      

“Ikinagagalit nating mga Kapampangan ang pagtawag sa atin ng ‘dugong aso.’ Subali’t ito ay ipinagmamalaki’t ikinararangal ko. Sa katapatan, wala nang mauuna pa sa aso: sa kanya iniiwan ng amo ang tahanan nito, pati na magkaminsan ang pagtatanggol sa kanyang pamilya. Subukin mong saktan ang amo, at tiyak, dadambain ka ng kanyang aso. Ang katapatang ito ang iniaalay ko sa inyo.” 

Before a beaming President Ramos at the Mawaque Resettlement Project site in 1997, Lapid pledged his loyalty in gratitude for the new lease on human decency, on human life itself that El Tabaco bestowed upon those the Mount Pinatubo eruptions devastated, displaced and dispossessed.
Thence, the Bida embraced FVR’s Lakas-NUCD with a fidelity his wife could only wish he committed to his marital vows with as much devotion, if not intensity.
Lapid there made a rarity: loyalty being an uncommon commodity in politics. So, what is it that makes politicians and adulterers one and the same as a dysfunctional radio? Low fidelity on a high frequency, dummy…

There too was Lapid giving a novel and noble meaning to the derogatory dugong aso impacted in the Kapampangan psyche, extolling it as the virtue of katapatan, of dogged loyalty to an elder, to a superior, to a friend. No mean feat for the uncolleged Lapid.

But for the title “Of dogs and men,” there is very little I remember of a column I wrote in The Voice in the late ‘70s. It would have made a most relevant read in the subject I am discussing here. The ending of that column though is something I cannot possibly just easily forget, having consigned it as much to the mind as to the heart and put out at every opportunity that calls for it, like now.

A lesson in loyalty – of dogs, as well as of men – perfectly captured in that blurb of an award-winning Lino Brocka movie: “Sa bawa’t latay, kahit aso’y nag-iiba. Sa unang latay, siya’y magtatanda; Sa ikalawa, siya’y mag-iisip; Sa ikatlo, siya’y magtataka; Sa ika-apat, humanda ka!” 

Caveat canis. Yes, there is more to what the Latins of old put up at their gates than its literal meaning.  

 

Electoral migration

POLITICIANS CAN and do switch parties as a matter of course. Shift voting domiciles as well. It is not disallowed by law. Motives, moral or otherwise? Freedom of will is well guaranteed not only in the fundamental law but even in the Good Book. Unless it impinges on another’s, of course.

Hence, the public surprise that greeted the transfer of voter registrations of BM Mylyn Pineda-Cayabyab and her father “Tatay” Bong Pineda from Lubao town to the City of San Fernando last week caught me by surprise. Aye, the surprise surprised me. There ought to be no surprise about something so mundane, so normal.

Why am I not surprised?

For one, Tatay’s active engagement in the last barangay elections in the city – specifically in the home village of the sitting mayor where her husband was a candidate – was an all-too obvious indication. Especially when he personally delivered bounties to the barrio folk after the triumph of his chosen, and vowed more, much more from his philanthropic cornucopia.

Two, the reported construction of a Pineda residence in one of the city’s barangays is public knowledge, even sans any foto or social media post.

Then too, it is not the first time that an incumbent official – from Lubao, at that – transferred voting rights to the city. Still remember then third-termer town councilor John Susi making a failed bid for the city council in 2022?

Doing his own Susi also last week was Angeles City councilor Dr. Alfie Bonifacio who switched voter registration to Barangay Calulut. After the dentist finished his first three terms, he ran but lost for the vice mayoralty. Maybe, he learned so much from there that with the impending end of his second three terms, he decamped to San Fernando.

There is indeed nothing surprising about politicians transferring their voter registration. It is a fairly common practice. Call me a sucker but I will not disapprove of anyone who, after serving well and fair one constituency, would wish to serve a new one? Service, after all, knows no bounds.  

Former BM Dinan Labung who had had his precinct in Bacolor town from his days as capitan del barrio through his triumphant runs for the provincial board and failed tries for the third district congressional seat and partylist representation cast his vote in Sta. Ana town in the last barangay elections. His express end-in-view – the mayoralty in 2025.  

Then, there is the ultimate electoral migrant – Lito Lapid. Domiciled in Porac in all his terms as Pampanga governor and first term as senator, Lapid ran for Makati mayor in 2007 against then-last termer Jejomar Binay on the platform “Baka naman gustong makatikim ang tiga-Makati ng lutong Kapampangan.” Binay’s winning margin over the Bida was considered the largest ever in an election in the city. In 2016, Lapid ran against incumbent Angeles City Mayor Ed Pamintuan – and lost, also by a huge margin. He has since reverted voting in his beloved quarryland.

Come to think of it, the first electoral migration I came across hereabouts involved a working journalist – the dear lamented Rizal Policarpio of the national vernacular daily Balita. I cannot remember now if it was in a pre- or post-EDSA 1 election, that the one we fondly referred to as “The Other Rizal” ran for the mayoralty of Mabalacat against the legendary Fred Halili.

What I cannot forget was Rizal joining the rest of us in Halili’s regular press conferences during the campaign; the mayor indulging him in his tirades against his administration; and even providing Rizal with a showboat for his campaign. The elder mediamen later prevailed upon Rizal’s intent to file an election protest over a hundred or so – some insisted only 30 – votes he garnered.

From Mabalacat, Rizal moved to Angeles City and made a losing run for the city council; his campaign distinguished by the oversized Philippine two-peso bill with his picture juxtaposed over that of the national hero used as leaflet.

Whoa! Is there some kind of jinx attached to electoral migration? No, not in the case of Rizal which was a losing proposition ab initio. But the unbeatable Susi in three runs for the Lubao council, subsequently disqualified from running in the City of San Fernando where – in the public view – he never had a chance.

The hex appears more real with the ultra-popular Lapid landsliding all pretenders to the Pampanga governorship and landing top half in his first try at the Senate, only to be avalanched himself by the man readily ridiculed as “Nognog” and later bested by EdPam.

Certainly, oddsmaker will make a good deal out of this come election time in the City of San Fernando. In Sta. Ana as well. But degla or not, the outcome still remains in the hands of the electorate. 

Wanna bet?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unholy Week

 

“ONLY THE SICK, the vain, and the faddists still fast during the Holy Week.”
So the preacher-poet of Que Sio, Que Tal told me. And come to think of it, he is right. Fasting, and abstinence too, are not the only Holy Week practices that have gone to oblivion.
Less a mark of religiosity than a sign of (old) age is that feeling of indignation at (mal)practices of not a few of the (un)faithful during these supposed to be the holiest of days of the year.
The kids instantly scoff at every incantation of “No, we did not do those when we were younger” when – aghast! – in-your-face with patently irreligious acts passed off as sublime spirituality.
Maundy Thursday’s self-reflection induced by the soft, angelic Cant Gregoria before the Blessed Sacrament in a dark corner of the village church is pierced by the flash and whirr of digital cameras and myriad ringtones of mobiles toted by the throngs doing their visita iglesia rounds.
The object of their faith: not the body of Christ exposed in the santissimo sacramento but the monumento where the little golden ciborium is mounted.
Last year, of the many paparazzi, I took note of two Saudi-looking wives, read: jaundice-gold ornaments hanging all over them, prodding their little daughters to move further back to the monumento to get a more panoramic view. Beholding the photos, how papa would have drenched with tears the Arabian sands at this saintliness of his little darling! Oh God!
Then, there was this gay-looking gaily dressed quartet – I have noticed them for the past three Jueves Santos without fail – focused on the monumento from different angles while furiously scribbling notes and sketching on small notebooks like judges in some contest. Come now, have we a monumento competition going on? The most nature-inspired, the most futuristic, the most, err, gay?
Did those “visitors” ever come to pray if only for a minute? I very much doubt it. They – like the many others who barely bended their knee – had to rush to six or twelve other churches to complete their rounds of seven or 13. For the indulgencia to be granted.
In the scheme of things currently practiced however, the seventh or thirteenth church visited makes only the penultimate stop. The final – and longest – stop for the faithful is always Jollibee or McDonald’s. There in their own santissima cena, they feast on fries and burgers, spaghetti and chicken to stock on physical strength in anticipation of the requisite Good Friday fasting and abstinence.
Ah, how they fast and abstain from meat in the true (?) Catholic way – only one full meal on the day of days – a lunch of crabs and lobsters, prawns and oysters! Ah, Epicurus be praised!
Good Friday. My morning jog at the acacia-canopied village square has to take detours through the grass as the lane gets swamped by a horde of shirtless flagellants preparing for their penitential rite.
The plak-plak sound at the strike on the backs of penitents of the bundled bamboo strips at the end of their abaca whips provided the cadence to my jogging pace.
This struck me as a paradox of the faith: not a few of the Kristo wannabes imbibing markang demonyo for strength to carry their assorted crosses, or survive the bleeding under the burning summer sun. Yet a number puff on cigarettes.
With their backs “bladed” literally, or scratched with wooden brushes having broken glass for bristles, the magdarame start – to the rhythmic plak-plak – a procession of blood, the cross bearers in front and a multitude of their families, barriomates and usiseros bringing the rear.
Last year, being an election year, not a few of the flagellants sported arm bands and headbands prominently displaying the names of candidates. “Penitential” politics be damned!
Later in the day, after reverently hanging at the cathedral’s iron fence their black veils and crowns of woven vines of cadena de amor, the flagellants’ new spirituality gets further renewal with bouts of spirituous devotion to San Miguel, not the archangel but the blue one called GSM. Truly, bilog ang mundo. Maging sa penitensiya ng mga tao.
Black Saturday, the faithful flocking the churches for the Easter Vigil are nowhere near in force and in determination with those at the cathedral of compulsive consumption – SM, its two-day closure “in oneness with Christendom’s observance of the holiest of days” only serving to further whet the shopping appetite of its own hordes of fanatical believers.
From the abyss of the apostasy of my youth, I wrote a poem that ended thus:
“comic calvary,
a joker made of jessie.
pray, wail,
god is doomed
in the damp darkness
of nietzsche’s tomb.”
No. God is not dead, Zarathustra. Christians have only put other gods before him.

(First published March 26, 2008)

Biz Icon 2023-Hospitality: Lucita 'Chie' Lozano Antonio

 

DIVERSE GUSTATORY delights. Premium accommodation. Giada’s Group of Companies veritably makes a good definition of the hospitality industry in the Metro Clark area, its myriad enterprises more than measuring up, indeed excelling, in the highly competitive market.

Niji, reputedly the first and original Japanese restaurant in Central Luzon – established in 2004 – has stood its ground even with the onslaught of sushi-sashimi-ramen-sukiyaki entrants in the city. It even opened a second branch in 2023.

Songdo Korean Restaurant is a mecca of gourmet food, pleasing even to the most discerning palates with its generous serving of fresh banchan and 19 choices of premium – authentic – wagyu, including salchisal, ansim, chaeggeut deungsim, and kkotsai – the top picks in its meticulously prepared menu.   

Craving Pinoy comfort food? Silyo: Tinape ampong Lutong Bale – by its very name – is the place to go to. Being bowled over – silyo is bowl in Kapampangan – cannot get any more literal with silog breakfasts, meriendas of lugaw, pansit, sotanghon, lelut balatung and lelut mais, not to mention full meals of asado and bistek, served in bowls.

Giada’s Bakery specializes in fresh home-baked bread catering to international tastes – from baguette, pita, and ciabatta to buns and rolls, mamon, pan de sal and ensaymada – and all-time favorite cakes and pastries. The bakery counts hotels and restaurants in Metro Clark as clients.   

One person corporation (OPC) Golden Spoon owns and operates Giada’s Bakery and Silyo.

Zii Milk Tea came after extensive product studies in its area of origin, Taiwan. From the classic black pearl and watermelon, the product line has expanded to refreshing juices, smoothies and frappes. To as far as serving seasonal delights Zii fruit salad in summer, and Zii batirol during the Yuletide season.   

Giada’s Food Corp. is another OPC under the GGC that operates an AA meat-processing plant and the Giada’s Meat Shop, now a leading provider of premium fresh and processed meat products among hotels, restaurants, and supermarkets in the Metro Clark and greater Pampanga areas.

Ms. Chi Supermarket, sited off the city’s commercial centers, provides for the basic everyday needs of the ordinary folk – from coffee and bread for breakfast to snacks and drinks, to utensils at lunch and meals for dinner.

Prime City Resort Hotel, right at the heart of Angeles City’s entertainment and shopping district, prides itself of prime hospitality and premium service and amenities with its 90 rooms ranging from mezzanine to deluxe, executive and presidential suites.

Garden View Hotel is more of the boutique type at 26 rooms, its location near the city’s business centers most convenient to the corporate traveler.

Both Prime City and Garden view are “powered” by G Towers.

Extreme Sea-Air Logistics is an international freight forwarding company specialized in inbound and outbound cargo handling, transport, and customs releasing.

Food. Restaurants. Hotels. Logistics. At the helm of this veritable business empire is Lucita Lozano Antonio, famously Ms. Chie, GGC founder and CEO.  

The how-to-succeed-in-business playbook harps on four principles: Create don’t compete. Offer quality product or service at a fair price. Build relationships with customers. Never stop learning, adapting, innovating, and growing.

The scope and scale with which the GGC ventures have grown are an attestation to the efficacy of those precepts.

It is a Filipino core value though that Ms. Chie chose to be the cornerstone of her entrepreneurship – “Malasakit,” compassion in English – with every letter standing for virtues – Motivation. Adaptability. Loyalty. Attentiveness. Sincerity. Appreciation. Knowledge. Integrity. Trustworthiness. Truly, chi. 

 

                       

                                               

 

 

Biz Icon 2023-Banking: Elizabeth Carlos-Timbol

 

FIRST KAPAMPANGAN and third woman president of the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP), her 2020-2021 incumbency could not have come at a worse time – Covid-19 at its dreariest, deadliest worst – immediately earning her the designation “pandemic president.”

Unfazed, Elizabeth Carlos Timbol took the challenge squarely, her being born and raised in countryside banking and her personal advocacies rising to the fore in the 3-point agenda of her presidency: strengthening programs for rural banks, capacity building and digitalization, and women empowerment. Their application specially targeted at farmers and the MSMEs.

The Asia Leaders Awards’ Woman of the Year for Countryside Development in 2021 makes a fitting testament to her leadership of the RBAP and an affirmation of her continuing contribution to the socio-economic uplift of rural communities, having been bestowed the same recognition in 2019.

Past the presidency, Ms. Timbol assumed the chairmanship of the Rural Bankers Research and Development Foundation. Inc where continued her agenda of service, establishing and enabling RBAP’s new generation of bankers aged 40 and below to solve the concerns of succession planning of rural banks in the country.

A most significant achievement was her successful organization and delivery of impactful webinars to rural banks, providing them with valuable knowledge and insights. Equally noteworthy was her leading the crafting of generic manuals that served as helpful guideposts in the rural bankers’ day-to-day operations.

In 2023, the Italian Chamber of Commerce Leadership Award’s Woman in Business of the Year was bestowed upon Ms. Timbol.

For 2024, Ms. Timbol serves as a trustee of RBRDFI and committee chair for training, and RBAP director and committee chair for compliance and internal audit, upholding continuous professional education and training for all rural bankers.

Fittingly, the poster girl of rural banking – with her 33 years in the business principally contributing to GRBank consistently ranking Number 1 family-owned bank in the country.

GRBank has long grown from the typical deposit-withdraw-loan-on-the-side system of rural banking into diversified financial products and services previously the exclusives of commercial banks, like dollar deposits, and even lending up to P350 million to single borrowers owing to its high securities-based lending.  

A core service of the bank is the promotion of financial literacy among its clientele, especially those in the agriculture sector to help them “save wisely or invest their hard-earned money and capacitate them to keep everyone well-fed.”

Beyond banking, Ms. Timbol served as president of the Metro Angeles Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. where, again, she proved her leadership excellence: The premier business organization hailed as Most Outstanding Chamber in the Philippines (Region Category) for two consecutive years, 2022 and 2023. With no less than President Ferdinand E. Marcos Jr. himself handing the recognition to her during the 48^th Philippine Business Conference and Expo at The Manila Hotel, on Oct. 20, 2022.

MACCII was cited primarily for its advocacies for countryside development, principally in mentoring start-ups hewing to its advocacy: It’s SIMPLE -- Sustainable, Inclusive, Mentorship, Partnership, Linkages – to be MACCII.

A countryside mindset, Ms. Timbol says she has kept ever since, be it in banking or in every business organization she has found association with. “I support empowering the countryside and develop inclusiveness in matters of development.”

“We can make Pampanga as an alternative place to do business outside of Metro Manila other than Batangas and Laguna. More investors mean greater income, more success, and more opportunities will open and continue for entrepreneurs resulting to higher employment,” she says with bullish confidence.

As we prepare to close this article, some breaking news – Ms. Timbol has been hailed “Asia’s Influential and Inspirational Female Business Innovator” at the Asia’s Influential Leader Awards held Feb. 16 at the Grand Ballroom, Okada Manila.

The business icon shines on. The Editor

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biz Icon 2023-Real Estate: Eloisa L. Valerio

 

A SUNRISE industry right at its inception, Solanaland Development Inc., true to the very meaning of its name, has since been unceasing in spreading sunshine wherever it homes in.  

Richmond Homes. Sunshine Homes–San Fernando. La Vista Solana. Two Solana.

Solana Country Homes. La Tierra Solana 1 and 2. Solana Frontera. Solana Zaragoza. Sunshine Homes–Angeles 1 and 2. Solana Casa Real. Twelve affordable, as well as premium, subdivisions developed in Pampanga alone, each evolving into a vibrant community.

Easily serving as template for other developers is its flagship project Solana Casa Real: A 43-hectare development along the Jose Abad Santos Avenue in Bacolor town comprising a chapel and function hall; pocket parks, pools and playground; and a commercial plaza housing grocery and hardware stores, a bank, pharmacy and wellness shops, a dental clinic, and eateries.

Location, location, location. The real estate agent’s mantra most manifest in Solanaland’s achievements, is as much a testament to the visionary entrepreneurship of Ms. Eloisa L. Valerio.

As company president, her presence impacts on every Solanaland project from its conception to its completion: taking charge of the design with a team of architects, and the construction with the engineers and builders. And even to marketing where she is hands-on too.

More than 5,000 housing units built to date, and the counting continues. No mean feat, indeed, for Solanaland since being rebranded from PMV Homebuilders Inc. established in 2006. The initials there referencing to life partner Primo M. Valerio. The couple holds 100% proprietorship of E.L. Valerio Realty engaged in the real estate development and marketing (medium scale) of townhouses, condominiums, and subdivision housing and development.           

It comes a surprise to developers and other realty stakeholders that the now celebrated lady of the Solana manor was not to the estate born – real estate, that is.  

With a BSBA degree – cum laude – from the University of the East, Manila and subsequently acing the CPA Licensure Examination, Ms. Valerio’s very first job was with the premier accountancy firm in the Philippines, SGV – Sycip Gorres Velayo. 

Thence, followed IT-focused posts at the Asia Computer Services Inc. and Union Carbide Phils. Inc., onto government – the Office of the Executive Secretary’s development management staff, Philippine Aerospace Development Corp. where she rose to vice-president level at the age of 26, and Tourist Duty Free Shops as general manager and COO.

Next stop: the luxury market. VP for marketing and planning of Rustan’s Commercial Corp., and GM of Stores Specialists, Inc., the country’s largest specialty retailer of signature brands including Salvatore Ferragamo, Polo Ralph Lauren, Cole Haan, Lacoste, Anne Klein, Nine West, and Marks and Spencer. And managing director of Bright Glory Stores, Inc., the operator of Chomel, a leading fashion jewelry and accessories brand retailer in Singapore.

Transitioning to entrepreneurship as co-owner of Tradex Innovations Corp. which is engaged in bank consulting and documentation services; and franchising three Greenwich Pizza parlors. Finally, into real estate as marketing director of Bes Minds Land Development Corp.

Ms. Valerio’s multi-faceted career is buttressed by equally myriad specialized studies: Executive, Leadership and Management Course from the Development Academy of the Philippines; Air Transport Management Course from the Asian Institute of Management; Risk Management and Insurance, Study and Observation Tour, International Risk Management Corp. and Lloyds of London, England; and various seminars on credit and collection, international trading, and foreign exchange risk management.

Even as she excelled in the retail industry, she “moonlighted” in housing build-and-sell which could have caused her to take the Real Estate Licensure Board Examinations where she emerged Top 2.

With her husband and another couple as business partners, Ms. Valerio’s first take on real estate was Earthrise Condominium, a mid-rise condo close to pasong Tamo in Makati that sold fast. The next, the Valerio couple did on their own – a subdivision for mid-income groups and OFWs in Muntinlupa City which, to their delight, sold as fast. Then, they decided to move to Pampanga.

And the rest, as cliched, is the continuing Solanaland saga.

Advocacies

It is not all about subdivisions though. Spreading sunshine inhered in its very name finds definition too in Solanaland’s corporate social responsibility and the Valerio family’s advocacy.

A story holds that while her husband built homes for the poor, Ms. Valerio, as senior member of the Couples for Christ established the Kapitbahayan Program for the ANCOP-Gawad Kalinga villages in Bagong Silang and Tala Leprosarium of livelihood programs for women like candle-making, doormat-weaving, cooking, and the establishment of a talipapa operated by a cooperative.

Ms. Valerio is co-founder of three foundations.

The Solanaland Foundation Inc. provides scholarship grants to children of Solanaland employees especially the construction workers. It also undertakes regular feeding programs for malnourished children in schools and in poverty-stricken areas, and in Aeta communities in Floridablanca and Porac, as well as medical care programs in far-flung Pampanga barangays.

At the time of the pandemic, it provided funds for the livelihood of displaced jeepney and tricycle drivers due in one Pampanga parish.

The foundation has even reached out to communities in distress outside Pampanga: donating and building homes in Marawi after the siege, donating artesian wells to a remote community in Nueva Ecija, providing solar lights to an isolated tribe in Mindoro.

Pampanga High School 1965 Foundation Inc. which, over the years, supported 350 high school students from 1^st to 4^th year high school, and some 200 scholars to UP, PUP, and universities in Pampanga. Beneficiaries also included batchmates funded for masteral degrees, and those financially challenged were provided 10 row houses for free. It also engaged in medical-dental missions and feeding programs in elementary schools in and around Pampanga.

For the alma mater, two infirmaries with medical supplies and beds; two toilets of 10 cubicles each; drinking fountains, books, and computers for the library; classrooms through donations solicited from the Chinese-Filipino Chamber of Commerce, and four rooms as center for livelihood for OSYs.

BES HNS Foundation Inc. comprising Beta Epsilon Sigma fraternity brothers and Hiyas ng Silangan sorority sisters – all UE alumni – principally aimed at providing scholarship grants, leadership training and improvement of written and verbal communications among its scholars. It also provides them assistance in their CPA Licensure Exams, and in job placements after graduation.

On her own, Ms. Valerio is a major contributor to scholarships for financially challenged but brilliant students primarily of PUP, UE-Manila, and UE Caloocan. The Editor

Biz Icon 2023-Fashion: Casa Moda by Mich Viray

HER CRAFT. Her name. One and indivisible. Famously loveable.

The toast of wedding events and bridal fairs, Angeles City’s couturier du jour Mich Viray is top of mind with the aisle-bound near and far.   

Established in 2009, Casa Moda self-described as ““wholly-owned Filipino garment business specializing in the design and manufacture of staple wedding attires and wardrobe for special occasions (bridal gowns and robes, entourage gowns, debut, evening and mestiza gowns, barong, tuxedo and formal wear); and has successfully expanded the business into diverse and comprehensive range of products and services such as hair and make-up, and dry cleaning.”

An all-too-modest generic profiling of the modista that made the cover of Wedding Essentials several times and featured in NOW Magazine, celebrating the sartorial splendor Casa Moda by Mich Viray bestows upon every wedding party it attired.  

Truly, an understatement on the couture atelier that has clothed beauty royalties the likes of Pia Wurtzbach, Gazini Ganados, Emma Tiglao, Leren Mae Bautista, Samantha Mae Bernardo, Aya Abesamis, Bea Patricia Magtanong, and Samantha Ashley Lo, as well as celebrities in entertainment, business, and politics.  

Innate modesty grounds Mich Viray even amid the exhilaration, if not intoxication, that success invariably brings – in the fashion industry most tellingly.  

While honored to have dressed up the stars to the nines, it is designing for the everyday woman – and man – that has given her even more valuable lessons and enriching experiences.

In the 2021 Wedding Essentials cover story, Mich says: “More than these iconic personalities, I also learned a lot in the process of dressing common people who trusted me wholeheartedly. They are the ones who taught me to be versatile and highly adaptable in the field of fashion.”

Furthering: “This is the reason why despite being in the industry for more than a decade now, I am still eager to innovate, unlearn traditions that are no longer applicable, and relearn modern contemporary designs that resonate with the Casa Moda brand.”

From classic sophistication to contemporary chic and everything in between, elegance defines Casa Moda couture – manifesting the skills, the craft, the meticulousness, indeed, the mindfulness devoted to every piece of work. Most of all, Mich’s investment of herself from the design to the delivery.

“It’s more than just a gown, it’s your persona.” Mich gets up close and personal with each client, spending time and attention to get to know not only their taste and preferences in style, but their very person. In the process, developing a vast client base and, more important, lasting friendships.

Mi casa es su casa. Casa Moda by Mich Viray has truly become as much for her work force as for her clients and customers. 

Mich speaks

AS A fashion designer, I advocate for the empowerment of women through my craft, especially mothers and those with a nurturing spirit, by providing opportunities for them to learn and earn at Casa Moda.

Balancing my roles as a wife, mother, and businesswoman, I strive to set an example of how women can pursue their dreams while managing multiple responsibilities. My advocacy focuses on creating a supportive and inclusive environment in the fashion industry, where women can thrive both professionally and personally, all the while making clients feel beautiful in the attires we make for them, helping to boost their confidence.

As well, I have dedicated myself to promoting inclusivity and diversity within the fashion sector, which ought to mirror a rich tapestry of our global community that embraces individuals from diverse backgrounds, sizes, and identities. My aim is to challenge the traditional beauty norms through my designs and creations in order to create an environment of greater inclusion and empowerment for the fashion industry.