My Life and National Book Store

If my life were a BOOK, it would be like National BOOK Store. Since I learned how to write and read, I always had the passion for books and for book stores. And reading was and still is my true passion in life as well as writing. I believe these two work hand in hand most of the time. And I would usually read almost anything from the daily newspaper, tabloids to magazines and catalogues, and most especially philosophical books.

It all started when one day my dad chided me that a younger cousin of mine could already read the leading newspaper in the late 1980s, the Malaya. The rest as they say is history. Realizing that a younger cousin can read a newspaper at the young age of 4, I set out to become the best reader in the family.

At age 6, I already finished reading the encyclopedia collections in both my paternal and maternal grandparents’ houses – Popular Science, Encyclopedia Britannica and the Classics. At that young age, my competitive drive propelled me to read and excel at almost anything, a passion for perfecting the things I could do.

So even though I didn’t completely understood what I was reading at that time especially the Classic Greek Mythologies, I kept on reading and to a certain extent writing as well. By the time I entered high school, I think I have read over 500 books. My favorite books dealt on Philippine History, Biology and Science and Technology and of course works of fiction. I always believed I was one of the few who understood the theory of evolution among my many classmates and schoolmates.

I began to question my faith at a very young age which I believe is very good because it allowed me to explore and deepen my understanding of the world and this started my journey towards enlightenment and self-discovery. I became a book worm even at the expense of being called a “nerd” or a “geek” by my classmates.

After finishing high school in Cotabato City, I moved for my college education in Davao City around 1998. It just so happens that by late 1999, a new mall opened in Davao City with a National Book Store branch in it. It may sound corny now but at that time I felt some excitement over being able to finally see a National Book Store branch.

As you can see there are no book stores in Cotabato City, so a lot my books came as gifts or when my parents or relatives came from Manila.

I cannot say that I grew up with National Book Store but more importantly I believe my growth is as much the same as the leading book store chain in the country. In one month in 1999, when the National Book Store branch in Davao City offered great discounts with many hard-bound books just going for P5o and below, I probably bought more than 150 books over a one month period.

And I am happy to own over 500 books today and there are more if you count the encyclopedia volumes I inherited back in Cotabato City from my grandparents. My favorite books today are 12 Little Things Every Filipino Can do to help Our Country by Alexander Lacson, Only the REAL MATTERS by Francis Kong, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, and the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. I also like Man, The Unknown by Alexis Carrel and The Art of War by Sun Tzu.

My life has been and will always be a collection of my understanding based on readings and past experiences. For me, books play a vital role because they provide me with tools and knowledge that can help me in charting my future.

In one way or another, National Book Store by bringing so many books and other supplies everywhere in the country has helped me to better explore the world and enrich my life experiences. The same goes for everyone else who patronize this book store chain.

One of my favorite books, The Alchemist, shows that each human being has the potential to be great and over the last twenty-six years of my existence, I believe I have always worked to be the best that I can be. I had been an honor student in elementary, class valedictorian in high school and a consistent dean’s lister and student leader in college.

While in college, I helped found the local chapter of an international student organization that promotes entrepreneurship. And through my work, I have helped many people determine their true potential in life and that they can achieve it.

Much like the lay-out of any National Book Store branch, my life can also be segmented into different topics or subjects. During my early childhood and elementary years, I was much more interested in reading up children’s books, biology, and science and technology books. In fact, during my elementary years, I was very much interested to pursue a career in geology or natural history but was told there is not much future in it. I now read there are less than 50 geodetic engineers in the country.

In high school, I graduated to novels, self-help books, and books that deal with the mysteries of the world, about psychology and spiritual enlightenment. Some of these books are The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck, The Celestine Prophecy and The Tenth Insight by James Reed.

In my later adolescent years, I enjoyed science fiction books and books that deal on Philippine and world affairs, and also biographies of famous personalities. I began to see myself as part of a world that is full of possibilities.

In college, having taken up Management Accounting, I began to enjoy “serious” books that deal in business, management and philosophy.

With the exception of Harry Potter which came out during my college years, I read a lot of business books starting with Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad and Rich Kid Smart Kid, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, Robert Greene’s The 50 Rules of Power and a host of other management books.

My life has been like a transition from one book subject to another. From natural history and science to novels and famous fictions to business and management books. I believe I am now more on philosophy and God.

I remember the times when my mom or dad would already scold me for staying up too late just to finish reading a book or not eating or not going out of the house anymore. I can remember few instances were during blackouts, I would even read in candle light. I remember a time when I would pick up reading a book over going to parties or watching the television. I treasured my books because they brought me places that I cannot physically go to.

It has truly been one great roller-coaster ride for me. Because unbeknownst to most people in spite of my true love for books, I have a very active social and physical life. I love to surf in La Union, go to beaches in Subic, and race in go-kart tracks. I love to go parasailing, mountain climbing, jet-skiing and other water sports. I love nature and I love people. I love helping people achieve the success they want in life. And more so than my experiences, my books have helped me short-cut the process of learning new things and so I learned a lot of things at an early age.

I remember finishing the over 600 pages Harry Potter and The Order of Phoenix book in less than 14 hours. Books help me understand the world I live in, the world we all live in. And it saddens me that half of our population cannot even read or write correctly.

It is my fervent hope that The Philippine Star, National Book Store and other like-minded organizations would lead the way to advance the cause for true education excellence in the country. That is my hope and I know I will write a book about this collaboration in the near future.

Thank you and God Bless Us All Always! To end, I would like to borrow a passage in my soon to be published book (The Gift), “You are God’s gift to You. You are God’s gift to Your Family. You are God’s gift to Your Friends. You are God’s gift to the World.” Happy Reading Everyone!

Let's all hope it's not really going to be as bad as they say

BUSINESS & LEISURE By Ray Butch Gamboa Updated December 06, 2008 12:00 AM, The Philippine Star

As is the practice of the Bangko Sentral, they just concluded their survey of the business outlook for the fourth quarter of the year, and as expected by many, our local businessmen find the landscape rather grim and gloomy, more in the context of the global economy than anything else.

Of those polled, 18 percent belonged to the big business sector, 33 percent to the medium-sized and 36 percent to small enterprises. Though the business confidence improved by 6.1 percent (quarter on quarter), much of this should be credited to the softening oil prices globally which trickled down to us. The big players still have to reflect the true global oil prices in the pumps, but I guess we’re getting there. Very slowly.

Notwithstanding this, our businessmen are still pessimistic, expecting the local economy to feel the global pinch by the first quarter of next year. They cite low export, the decline in consumer demand, and the depreciated peso as the main reasons, aggravated by unusually high political noises in the home front.

The survey looked at exporters and importers with much significance, and it is interesting to note that there is less pessimism in the areas outside of the National Capital Region, with the exporters registering the highest pessimism, as expected. Regions 1 and 4 where products are mostly agricultural and serving the domestic market, rated very low, while Regions 7 and 11 posted a positive rating. This is not surprising because it is these regions that export furniture and Christmas décor. Both still enjoy a healthy market abroad, despite the financial crisis.

In other areas like the service sector and construction, the index remained positive. This is evident in the unrelenting construction we have all over, from Makati to Quezon City, from Luzon to Palawan, though we noted a slowing down here too. The hotel and restaurant sector was positive as well, and this can be attributed to the seasonal demand this Christmas. Traditionally, the fourth quarter survey always brings a more positive note because of the Yuletide season when most people are expected to spend and splurge a little, and the remittances from our OFWs easily double or triple as December comes. But this year, the index does not seem too happy.

As expected, industry and trade remained negative because of low consumer demand, and while many businesses indicated that they have expansion plans for 2009, it is mostly focused on capital investments. They do not expect to hire more people for 2009. Bad news for our new graduates.

So how do our businessmen look at the coming year? Bad. The consensus is, come 2009, the peso will further weaken, we will have a higher inflation rate, and the interest rates will soar.

I don’t really enjoy being a harbinger of bad news, but even the coconut industry is not doing as well as the United Coconut Association of the Philippines expected. Newspaper reports have it that our coco exports took a beating in August of this year, down 42 percent from last year. But according to our coconut authorities, our exports of copra reached 1.160 million tons from January to August, up by 15 percent from last year. Our revenue exceeded the P1 billion mark for the 4th time, and this year, the coconut industry sees a good year, except for the month of August.

The major export markets are still the United States, the European Union, Japan, China, Malaysia, Korea and Indonesia. For the US and European markets, our coconut oil, copra meal, desiccated coconut, virgin coconut oil and oleo chemicals exports are hale and robust. The other coco products like coconut water and coir fiber, though still a constant, do not have hefty volumes. In the past, no one thought of exporting these-they were treated as by-products and counted as waste.

Did you know that we are no longer the No. 1 producer of coconut in the world? We have been overtaken by Indonesia which is now No.1, but the Philippines is currently the No. 1 supplier of coconut oil, desiccated coconut and oleo chemicals from coconut oil. And Indonesia, the top producer, is one of our top export markets. I hope I don’t see the day when it overtakes us here as well.

The problem of the coconut industry is we need more coconuts. The farmers need more incentives to grow coconuts, and while the government has provided these through the Coconut Authority, less and less farmers are into traditional growing. More than 50 percent of our coconuts come from Mindanao, but the rest of the country is slowly shifting out of coconuts. Technologically, however, we seem to be doing very well with our oleo chemicals (fatty alcohol, glycerin, bio-diesel, etc.). Let’s work on this. With due diligence, and the right partnership between the private sector and the government, we could be the recognized leader in this field, not only in Asia but in the world as well. Let’s not wake up one day to realize that we need to import coconuts from our neighbors, like we did rice. 

Mail call

Thought I’d give some space to our readers for their reactions.

From Jay Michael Jaboneta- “Thanks for the great article entitled Despite the global mess, maybe we can pull it.” It is an eye-opener and refreshing take on what is happening to the global financial markets these days. But where I believe the media can play a role is in writing more about successful stories and the bright spots in the global/Philippine economy. Part of the malaise that is happening today is due to too much negativity in the media especially in the US regarding what happened. I believe its time to move on and focus on the solutions, creative solutions at that. And maybe optimism will bring renewed confidence in the markets. My two cents worth.”

From Aldrin B. Concepcion of Poly Propylene, Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co.-” ...sabi nila ang mga OFW daw ang “bagong bayani” ng ating bayan...ano na ba o may binuo na bang solid na plano ang ating pamahalaan para tulungan ang sinasabi nilang mga “bagong bayani” na ngayon ay sila naman ang nangangailangan ng tulong mula sa Gobyerno? Nabasa ko sa isan articulo sa internet ne naglaan sila ng Php250M para tulunganang OFW ns mawawalan ng trabaho sa ibang bansa (bakit gaoon kaliit)....Sigurado kayang magagamit ito ng tama? Baka naman kung sang bulsa lang ito mapunta?

...Ngayong kaming mga OFW ang nangangailangan ng tulong at sana hindi kami magaya sa mga naunang bayani na kung kailan mga wala na ay saka pinagtuunan ng pansin. Hindi po ako anti-government..Simpleng OFW lang po.”

Thanks so much for your inputs.

We will resume with Memories..and more next week.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.

For comments: (e-mail) businessleisure-star@stv.com.ph

Advice for student FFF

By Ned Roberto, Ardy Roberto
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 04:15:00 01/16/2009

Last week, in “A marketing student and his future” MarketingRx published the letter of a graduating marketing student who, feeling that his four-year education will be inadequate for a marketing career, fears for his future.

Perhaps the same fear is felt by those who were transferred to marketing from a different field. We see that all the time. Those in HR, sales, IT — and even nursing, the arts and engineering are assigned to a management position (or are running a business) that requires a working knowledge of marketing.

Learning fast

As for me (the Jr. MRx-er), I had no plans to get into marketing. My initial career path was either law or journalism. Out of college, I started writing about business, entrepreneurship and health for a monthly lifestyle magazine. Later, I found myself in a management position for the publisher of an international business magazine that tasked me to market books to Asian managers (a new spin-off business of the publisher). I had to learn fast, since the previous manager I had replaced was gone and there was no turnover or formal training. The publisher had faith in me — or rather the fact that I was the son of the Sr. MRx-er, the professor of international marketing at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM).

I remember doing several things to help me prepare for the position and the responsibility. These three daily “To-Dos” also helped me when I started our business.

1. Seek mentors. I picked the brain of the best available resource person on marketing that was available to me — my Dad! The Sr. MRx-er and I carpooled to work every day. The commute from Parañaque City (south of Manila) to our respective offices in Makati City became my “University of South Superhighway” with Dr Ned Roberto as my professor. Thankfully, our offices were located within five minutes of each other. As there was no skyway then, that were about three hours of marketing lessons with a teacher to student ratio of 1:1.

First hand, I’d learn about my Dad’s clients and the different challenges that they asked the Sr. MRx-er to help them with. You may not have the blessing of having a marketing guru as your father, but you can certainly seek marketing mentors either in the company you work for or as you mentioned, in the various marketing associations and clubs that you have already joined.

Marketing mentor

I also considered my boss, Ashok Nath, the publisher and president of the publishing firm where I had worked, as one of my marketing mentors as well. He was an encouraging influence who allowed his managers to be entrepreneurial. Mr. Nath also introduced me to battle-scarred marketing veterans who generously shared their expertise.

While you’re still in school, offer to be the research assistant of marketing authors and consultants like Philippine Marketing Association Agora Award recipients Willy Arcilla and Karen de Asis.

2. Read. The best marketing mentors can be consulted for a few hundred or thousand pesos 24/7 through the books and articles that they have written. Since I marketed books, I had access to the best and latest business books published by Harvard Business Press, McGraw-Hill, Simon & Schuster, John Wiley, etc. Publishers would send me free review copies.

Those days are over, but I still invest and budget a princely amount for books every year. I learned much from the classic career autobiographies of advertising legends, Lester Wunderman and David Ogilvy. When I started my business on a shoe-string budget, I consulted Guerrilla Marketing founder, Jay Levinson through his Guerrilla Marketing series of books, starting with “Guerrilla Marketing for the Home-Based Business” coauthored with Seth Godin. (Little did I know that a decade later, I would be hosting Jay Levinson in Manila.)

Another book that I used to refer to a lot when I became an entrepreneur was Josiah Go’s “The Marketing Plan” book.

Right now, I’m going through “Lovemarks—the future beyond brands” by the Worldwide CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, Kevin Roberts. It’s an inspiring, enjoyable read (brilliantly designed also) that details what he has learned about brand marketing since his start in P&G in 1972.

3. Go back to “school.” Yes, I know that you’ve just graduated and are probably glad to be out of school. But you need to go back and continually upgrade your knowledge. A management consultant once told me that the knowledge of a graduating IT student becomes obsolete just three to six months after they graduate. Given that the graduating marketing student’s knowledge may have more shelf life, you still have to keep on upgrading and updating by attending “school.”

So attend cutting-edge seminars and conferences where the latest ideas and case studies in business and marketing are presented. Create your own curriculum. Allow me a shameless plug right here: Include the Dr. Ned marketing workshops being offered through Josiah Go’s Mansmith & Fielders in your “marketing school calendar.”

Lastly, don’t be quick to dismiss what you’ve learned at school — at least you’ve been exposed to the basics and have a good foundation. What’s more important, I think, is that you’ve learned the discipline of hard work (assuming that you are studying and working hard) while still a student.

Once you get into a corporate marketing position fresh from college, the boss wouldn’t be careless and throw the weight of running a marketing campaign to a new hire.

Hard work, discipline

There will be a process of company acculturation (“This is how things are done here”), orientation, training and mentoring. You’ll have to learn fast on the job. The discipline of hard work that you hopefully learned in school will be your best friend. Hopefully, you also learned how to work with different people and picked up people and leadership skills with all the group projects that were assigned to you in school. In business and the corporate world, you won’t go far if you prefer to work alone. You’ll have to learn to work with different people.

We’ll end with a reply from one of our readers who responded to last week’s invitation to send their two centavos’ worth of advice to student FFF:

“Marketing is one of the most challenging jobs out there — precisely because it is very hard to define. Marketing usually does so many things all at the same time that it really is hard to create a textbook teaching marketing to students … What’s important is not what’s in the textbooks but rather what have you really learned while in school, like how to network with other students, how to build an organization, how to learn the importance of teamwork in sports activities, how to court a girl and how to influence others — this is what’s more important and this is what every student can use when they join the corporate world.” — Jay Jaboneta, Customer Business Development, P&G Distributing Philippines.

So, FFF, we hope we’ve answered two of the four questions that you asked last week (“what reading materials could you suggest to a newbie like me which could be very helpful?” and “what else should I do that could supplement my education?”)

Next week, the Sr. MRx-er will answer the other two questions raised by FFF (“what am I to do about my situation without offending my professors?” and “could you please give me an idea of how it is to be a professional marketer and what the industry is like?”

* * *

Keep your questions and comments coming. Text us at +63918 3386412. Or send them to MarketingRx@pldtDSL.net or post them on www.marketingrx.org.

I AM FILIPINO

I would like to share this wonderful poem written by Alexander L. Lacson, a man who's vision is set to change how Filipinos view themselves. Enjoy reading it!

I AM FILIPINO

I am Filipino, a child of the One God who is the Creator of all that is in our world and the universe.

I am Filipino. I am as perfect and as beautiful as my Creator planned and wanted me to be, for my God created me in His image, out of His perfect love.

I am Filipino, a beloved child of God, like everyone else in our world, and no less than the stars above and anyone else below. As such, I have equal right and claim to all the beauty and bounty that God provided in my country and in the world.

I am Filipino. My Creator planted and destined me on a specific spot on earth, where the sun always shines, in an archipelago of 7,107 beautiful islands, which the whole world calls the "Pearl of the Orient".

I am Filipino. Pilipinas is the home God gave to me and my people. This is the land of my birth. This is the soil of my life. It shall be the resting place of my bones.

I am Filipino. The beauty and richness of my country lured many mighty powers of the world to invade our shores. So today, my blood is a mixture of the best and finest of the west and the east. My mind is an heir to all the great thoughts and values of the west, and the great virtues and principles of the east. My heart beats the romanticism of the west and the passion of the east.

I am Filipino. Today, my country is home to many tongues and cultures, to many colors and faiths. Today, my country is home to all types of peoples who come from various corners of the earth, and who try to live with each other, in an atmosphere of liberty and harmony.

I am Filipino. My Creator destined me to belong to a smaller part of humanity – the Filipino family. I am therefore a brethren, a kapatid, to anyone and everyone who is Filipino, whoever, wherever, and whatever he or she may be in our world.

I am Filipino. You will know me by the word "po" in my sentences. You will know my children by their "mano po", our tradition of children paying respect and honor to their parents and elders. You will know me by my sunny smile that is always on my face. You will know me by the warmth of my hospitality. But most important of all, you will know me by my loving and caring heart when you are in need of my help, even if you are a stranger.

I am Filipino. I belong to the family of humanity. I am therefore a kapatid to all the men and women of our world. I am a brethren of all Christians, of all Muslims, of all Jews, of all Buddhists, of all Hindus, and all other peoples whose faiths lie somewhere else.

I am Filipino. I am who I am today because of the role God wants me to play.

I am Filipino. My Creator made me exactly the way I am, so I can sow God's seeds of love in many parts of the world, so I can help humankind live more harmoniously as one family, so I can help the world become a better place for all humanity.

I am Filipino. God planted the seeds of beauty and greatness in me, for He truly wants me to great and beautiful, for God truly wants me to add more beauty and greatness to our world.

I am Filipino. I am a faithful child of God. And truly, the world is yet to see the full measure of the beauty and greatness of the Filipino. For truly, the world is yet to see what God can do to a child fully committed to Him.

I am Filipino. As a child of God, I am here, all too willing to lend my life, to help build a better country for my Filipino family, and a better world for all humanity.

I am Filipino.



By Alexander L. Lacson
Author, National Bestselling Book
"12 Little Things Filipinos Can Do To Help Our Country"

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We have our own “Yes, we can” change leaders too

I am happy about the publication last January 29, 2008 in the Philippine Daily Inquirer of the letter by Christer James Ray entitled “US Presidential hopeful is a candidate who inspires hope.” Indeed, he is right that Barack Obama is a candidate that inspires hope among his people. He is both charismatic and competent to lead the only superpower in the world and lead it very well.

But I also want to point out that there are still individuals left in the country who possess the charisma and moral leadership we look for in presidential candidates. They work behind the scenes and sometimes even at their own expense to bring about the change our country needs.

There is Tony Meloto of Gawad Kalinga who has helped build more homes for Filipinos than many of our country’s real estate businessmen. There is Among Ed who won in the last elections as governor of Pampanga and has quickly moved to reform the provincial government. There is Alexander Lacson who wrote a little book, 12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To Help Our Country, which has catapulted “Good Citizenship” campaigns and projects into our national consciousness.

All of them and a host of other leaders offer great messages of hope for our country’s future. In fact, they are already starting to unite and inspire us as a nation and make us believe that “Yes, we can” change our country and turn things around.

I pray they will take up the challenge for change and say “Yes, we can.” I also pray that every Filipino in his own little way contribute to the development of our country by supporting these “little heroes” in our midst bring about the change we need. Your little effort can go a long way in ensuring a brighter future for our children.

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

The Gift (my soon to be published book)

My Gift To You
To The World

Here is my simple gift to You
I hope it will help You
I hope it will guide You
I hope it will transform Your Life

I hope it brings you Peace
I hope it brings you Healing
I hope it brings you Love
I hope it brings you a Better Life

But most of all, I simply wish that you find what you are looking for
In these few pages of Wisdom
Shared to me by an Old Man, a Voice and Albert Einstein,
In a dream
On the foot of the mountain
In the garden of “Sophia”

Dedicated to You
Created specially for You