Metrillo at 25

For true-blue gun sports aficionados, Metrillo is a treasured name, and this goes for responsible gun owners as well who take good care of their guns. If you belong to any of those categories but have not heard of the name, you are either a newbie in the sport or not meticulous enough to notice that your mark is a little off, or not everything is right with the trigger, the slide, etc.

The Metrillo family of gunsmiths has been in the business for well over two decades, and in fact the family corporation that has bound the clan is now celebrating its 25th anniversary.

I discovered this gunsmith family through a common friend Lester Ronquillo, who is himself in the munitions business. I lost a tiny part of a gun while cleaning it, and Mar, one of the Metrillo siblings, took pains to restore it to its original mint condition. And I have been a Metrillo convert ever since.

The Metrillos are from Candelaria and San Juan in Quezon, originally a farming family until Nolie, the second of nine siblings, joined a group of gunsmiths going to Manila while still a student in Batangas. He apprenticed and learned the ropes from this group of friends, the first among his siblings to do so, and slowly, by osmosis, everyone among his siblings got into the act and indulged their interest and passion for this work as well. Interestingly, the patriarch himself, Bien, 75, was never a gunsmith, while the matriarch Acion, 70, was the traditional stay-in full time wife and mother who said they have instilled familial love and respect among all their children while growing up as a simple family. And in fact, this is the most amazing aspect of the Metrillo company of gunsmiths—all nine siblings work together in one company that Nolie started as a very modest back-of-the-house venture in their family compound in Paranaque where everyone lives. The first machine they used was borrowed from Nolie’s boss who was engaged in the business. Nolie acknowledges this generous act to this day.

The eldest, Kuya Pabling, is in charge of the warehouse and supplies where all the tools and spare parts are kept and carefully inventoried.

Nolie, who started it all, narrates that he and his brothers share the same passion of tinkering with guns of all makes, adeptly using their hands and eagle eyes, repairing anything though mostly focused on pistols. Most of our local sports shooters go to the Metrillo compound to make sure that their competition guns are in perfect shape before D-day, and the company’s expertise lies in the Open, Standard and Classic categories of competition-ready firearms. They repair and manufacture parts that cannot be found in the market especially for the older or phased-out models, and this is their niche. For those whose pistols are in perfect condition but who seek more on the aesthetic side, Metrillo is also the go-to place.

Noni takes care of accounting and finance, and at the advice of the family, she chose to get her college degree in Accounting to help out in the family business.

Mar and Romy, the chief financial officer, are both gunsmiths who help run the company’s operations and they echoed Nolie’s words, “Ang maganda dito sa amin, walang awayan tungkol sa negosyo.”

For indeed, the family business has gotten too big for their britches that they now have 50 employees to keep up with the demand. They are now well into manufacturing of pistols, on top of their repair operations, and they have acquired the latest in machineries for barrel setting, milling, polishing, etc. for their manufacturing concerns, and the hum of business resounds steadily in the compound day in and day out.

The sixth sibling, Ethel, was the only shooter in this family of gunsmiths, the face of Metrillo in shooting competitions until she sadly passed away.

Glo, a licensed pharmacist, left her job of 10 years of managerial work at Watsons to be the office manager in charge of over-all operations at Metrillo and she is ably helped in the office chores by Bernadette, the youngest girl who is a nurse by profession and who joined the family business after she got married.

Jason, still in school, is the youngest in the brood and it is he whom his three “kuyas” are training now to learn the ropes that tie this amazing business together. “To be honest, napakalaking pressure,” he says, and I don’t blame him.

It is rare for a family, a large one at that, of nine siblings, living and working together harmoniously in a compound to make the family business grow steadily over the years. 25 years to be exact. They are excited about how their modest manufacturing concern has grown, treading sure-footed and gaining their own loyal clientele whose trust they have gained through the years. Now, they make anywhere from three to four guns/month, but with the additional machineries they are poised to acquire soon, this could go up to ten, maybe more in a month. That is their target for now. No, they are not into manufacturing of ammunition yet, still focused as they are in gun-making, but who knows? Maybe in the distant future. The employees of Metrillo have now become family as well, and like the siblings who own the company, each have their own skills to contribute in perfecting a pistol that will only leave the compound when the seal of approval has finally been pressed on it by this family of gunsmiths who are driven to make every detail of a firearm as meticulously perfect as it should be.

“Sikreto po naming ay pagtutulungan”, says Romy. “Siguro po yung pagmamahal sa isa’t isa,” says Mar. “Wala po kaming inggitan,” says Pabling.

Well, perhaps there lies the secret, a chorus of harmonious voices that speaks of unity which binds a happy, peaceful family who continue to work together for the success of a family endeavor that has grown in leaps and bounds over a period of 25 years. When they celebrate this milestone on Dec. 18, you can be sure everyone will be there to share this happy and momentous occasion with a smile on their faces.

Mabuhay!!! Be proud to be a Filipino.

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