Prof Jorge Life Story and Defining Moments

'Quamplurimi et quam aptisimi" (As many as possible of the very best)

Jorge Saguinsin at Slideshare



One of our activities for the second session is drawing our lifeline and sharing this with the friend.  I appreciate that some of you will upload this to share with those outside the classroom so that they will be instructive and inspirational to others.

I wrote this as a guide/template for our activity today

1.  Born to a poor couple, Mother was an elementary graduate, Father was high school graduate, a laborer at a provincial govt office.  They were both children of farmer and fisherman Grew in a place that was not ours (now called informal settlers)

2.  Exposed early to many challenges. very early in life Mother planted rice, did laundry for others, etc.  Ate "bakaw" fish and shrimp scrounged from seashells (suso) to be fed to ducks at fish port, riverbanks.  Helped mother with duck, chicken, and pig raising.  Had to lift cement bags when we went into cement retailing.  Accompanied trucks drivers to cement deliveries when  there were bulk deliveries

3.  Graduated with honors at elementary.   This gave me a test of being a winner and can do attitude.




4.  In high school, I met very competitive classmates.  I studied high school at Rizal High some 20 km from home, and gave me the exposure to different kind of educational and social environment.  I changed me from a town man to a provincial man.  My achievements there, and being second there (I belonged to section 1 of 40 sections which was an achievement in itself) gave me a sense of supremacy.  The principal there influenced me to:   1.  to be on time (she has the gates closed) if you are late for flag ceremony,  2.  she never cancels class, even if the Pasig River, which was the boundary of the school was flooded.   3.   Our class was constantly being called to her office (gave us experience on how to deal with adversities early on)  Some great leaders in the movement:  Benito Tiamzon, Wilma Austria, Eugenia Magpantay, Ricardo Reyes were contemporaries

5.o  Education at Ateneo.   This was another call for flexibility and hard work.   Although I was a class salutatorian at Rizal High School, these seemed to be nothing at Ateneo.   There were guys who werre smarter.  So you thought there were guys who are rich and dumb.   The telecom scion was no such guy, He was super rich and super smart.  And then, you had very brilliant classmates from public schools (just like me.  It was the time when Ateneo was recruiting scholars from public schools)  You can imagine how competitive the academic environment was.  Couple this with tough Jesuit priests professors and lay profs like Rolando Tinio, National Artist Bien Lumbera,  and you can just imagine the boiler plate that I joined.  And then something happened.  It was the time of protests and anti imperialism etc.  And like other romantists, I dreamt of being a hero ie that I could change FM, the Philippines and help drive away the colonial imperialists  And we had the First Quarter Stor of 1972.

There was the rally at Congress in l971, Battle of Mendiola in l972.  I was writing actively for the underground.  I happened to be the News Editor of Pandayan(formerly Guidon. I won the prize for suggestion that Guidon will be renamed Pandayan) I got sick before the finals and my grades plumetted that is why I did not get the top Latin honors.

After graduation, I chose to work for the establishment.  And there was this martial law declaration.

I chose the status quo.  Many of my peers went to the mountains.  I nearly did.  Some of them Edgar Jopson, Sonny Hizon, Billy Begg.  I thought:   we cant fight superior govt military in terms of numbers and equipment, we cant change the govt by producing more widows.  I chose to be good in what I would do and create more jobs, and help fight poverty.  A peer, Dr Manuel Dayrit,  would live among the poor of Mindanao and Samar. (doctor of the rebels)  He later became DOH Sec, now Dean of Ateneo

6.  Working at Unilab.  After working as a Training Assistant at Philbanking which was in line with my Behavioral Science major, I shifted careers to marketing. I took a stock of my career, and decided that HR was a non job.  Marketing would give more financial rewards and develop me as a person. Ateneo I felt did not prepare me to face the world,  (like even conversing with ladies) And so I decided I would be a marketer and be exposed to business, and help pursue my mission of helping others and help lessen poverty. I was a detailman at Unilab.  Other names:   drug rep, ahente, Professional Service Rep.  Training was tough.  You have to be anll around man:     inventory clerk, cargador, cash assistant, promotions man  (you do your own sampling ske)  PR man  - you attend dances, met with Mayors in the province. You book your own travel.  You work from 6 am to 10 pm.  You have to work very hard.

The defining moment was when I bought a pirated copy of Cerneys Book 12 Steps to Personal Power.  There was a worksheet, where you write down your goals, and your good and bad traits.

Reading the book made me decide:

    1. That I would quit detailing and join my parents in business;

   2.  That we would be well known in our town because we would be rich



7.  Working in my hometown, Angono Rizal

Angono is now being marketed as art capital of the Philippines  It is home to 2 National Artist -  Botong Francisco and Lucio San Pedro.  But it was a very poor town very much dependent on farming, and fishing.  Its population then was only 20t (it is now over a 100t) and its municipal revenue
was not over a million.

       1.  I joined my mother as Asst Manager of Rural Bank of Angono (est in 1965) It was owned by investors from Angono. Its President chided me as AM that it was business from Marikina that kept it afloat  -  loans and deposits.   However, he often motivated me (as he would motivate a former activist) to help my townsfolk.   And so I did:

The problem was not that people were not saving more, there was nothing to save. It was having more livelihood.  I did many things for the bank to be involved in Masagana 99, Masaganang Babuyan (CB ALF program) Overseas Employment forum by BES and National Seamen Board  (At that time I was taking MBA to understand more about business)   I had to travel from Angono to Padre Faura Manila, quite a task.

I managed to double the income  performance and deposit level of the bank

     2. The  following year, I quit the Rural Bank because we put up Maunlad Savings

     3.  Then we developed a subdivision compound after taking up REBL Seminar. It was 2 hectare property which we did with debt/  We were able to sell this out in one year.   We used  Maunlad Savings to finance the balance, and the payment was used to up the deposit

    4.  We put a Real Estate Company with the bank (a la BF Homes) and we developed a prime property in front of the market.  It was under capitalized.   But we did produce a very nice subdivision which connected the church and the market.  The front of the subdivision became a new town center.

   5.  And then our President, my uncle tried to fire me.

   6.  And then we sold the bank to HIGC, which later was sold to Antionio Torralba, He renamed this Active Bank

  7. Business expansion

 I suggested to my parents to use the proceeds of the sale to consolidate our real estate holdings. The initial purchase was a for a upscale subvdivision - Richmond. and a memorial park

     That was the time start of many businesses that the family through my planning and execution :

    1.  Mall

   2.  Financing companies

   3.  Memorial Parks

  4.  Funeral homes

  5.  Chapels

  6. Crematorium

  7 More subdivisions

  8.  Water company

  9.  Retailing company

When I met my former classmates at Ateneo who were SVP of their huge companies, I said that I could not do what they did  But they said they could not do what I did, ie starting these businesses from virtually nothing

8.  Being ousted from company that I  put up

Just like Steve Jobs at Apple, I was ousted by my brothers and sisters after they inherited from my parents.  I made sure that they got their 20% share.  Their 80% enabled them to vote me out using the provisions of Section 28  of the Corporation Code.   My younger brother who took over: did not give me my deposits at the financing  company, did not give my retirement pay, did not acknowledge my ownership of a the Crematorium company.  I did not get my last pay.  It was coup de tat.  I had a choice of making the lawyers and judges rich by suing them.  I chose not

I was left with no resources and no manpower.  I had to rebuild from the ground up.

I am just focusing on innovating, making the businesses left me to be better, acquiring putting up new companies

This experience shocked me and looked back on what I have done.  How I deserve to be treated as one.  Brother and sister will turn their back against you just for money.  No money problem.  Plenty of money more problems .  And to think, that I convinced my parents to put up businesses so that our family will be recognized in the town

It also enabled me to see a lot things clearer and to be able to move around lighter and quicker (beting detached, being indifferent in Chris Lowney's book)