His legacy lives on

Fujian province in China has produced some of the Philippines’ most successful Filipino-Chinese businessmen. Among them are Lucio Tan Sr. and SM’s Henry Sy Sr. who were both born in Xiamen City, Megaworld’s Andrew Tan who was also born in Fujian, Liwayway Holdings’ Carlos Chan whose parents are also from there, and JG Summit’s John Gokongwei Jr. and the late DMCI founder David Consunji who both trace their ancestry to Fujian. It is also said that Metrobank’s George Ty, the late Alfonso Yuchengco, founder of the Yuchengco group of companies, Filinvest’s Andrew Gotianun Sr. and the Gaisano clan, among others, likewise are descendants of Chinese migrants from Fujian.

Just recently, I was fortunate to be able to visit a small village in Fujian called Yu Xi in Yong He town of Jin Jiang City. There, I got to talk to a number of residents who proudly told me about another Chinese migrant from Fujian to the Philippines, albeit more low key, who continues to make an impact on the lives of Yu Xi folks.

His name is Wong Chu King, who at the young age of 12, came here to the Philippines to seek greener pastures. Despite his business success (which was achieved amid the difficulties of World War II), having founded the La Campana Fabrica de Tabacos (predecessor of Mighty Corp.), and finding a new home and raising a family in the Philippines, he never forgot his hometown. In 1979, he founded the earliest rural health station in Jinjiang. For 30 years, he subsidized the tuition of students in Yu Xi Primary School. Wong Chu King also financed the building of several temples, among others.

According to accounts, when Wong Chu King died in 1987, his family complied with his will and distributed around 120 yuan to nearly hundreds of households, hoping to make even a small difference in the lives of the Yu Xi villagers.

He is also credited by the villagers as having made Yu Xi the first village in Jin Jiang to enjoy electric lighting and as having finance Yu Xi’s first village bridge.

Today, his family, through WCK Foundation, continues to help the Yu Xi Primary School. Since 2012, they donate about 200,000 yuan every school year for scholarships and teacher salary support.

In the Philippines, WCK Foundation is involved in educational and apostolic charities. It offers high school and college scholarships and has assisted parishes and dioceses all over the country, helping fund restoration and rehabilitation work for churches, especially those with great and historical and cultural value to communities.

Tomorrow, the family commemorates Wong Chu King’s 31st death anniversary, even as they continue their patriarch’s advocacies, both here and in China.

Shifting alliances

A number of businessmen have expressed concern about how the ongoing battle for leadership at the House of Representatives would affect pending and proposed legislation, especially those impacting business and the economy.

Following his ouster, former house speaker Pantaleon Alvarez might lose his membership in the ruling Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) party. It also seems unlikely that Alvarez and the new Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will both remain as PDP-Laban members and will be able to work together.

There are reports that the camp of Alvarez, who is PDP-Laban secretary-general, had asked his successor that they be acknowledged as the new minority bloc in the chamber.

At the moment, it’s a toss-up among the opposition party leaders for the bloc leadership. Unfortunately, Alvarez doesn’t even count as a contender. Likewise, it appears he doesn’t have a place in the majority coalition.

Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice said it will be highly anomalous to have a body where the majority and minority leaders belong to the same political party.

Alvarez’s close allies in the House, among them Cebu Rep. Gwen Garcia, tried to derail the ouster plot to no avail. Garcia, as deputy speaker, even declared adjournment immediately after the President’s SONA but most of the lawmakers simply ignored Garcia’s order as they arranged for a resumption of the session in order to formally vote and install Arroyo as the new Speaker.

It was mostly PDP-Laban stalwarts who plotted the coup, and not one of them pointed to presidential daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio as having a hand in the move.

Smear campaign

Just recently, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and Undersecretary Dominador Say had been accused of extorting money from manpower agencies.

According to one Monalie Dizon, secretary-general of a group called Kilusang Pagbabago National Movement for Change, the owner of recruitment agency Azzizzah International Manpower Services Inc., had given Say around P6.8 million to reverse DOLE’s decision to revoke the company’s license.

For his part, Bello said that an OFW by the name of Mercy, accompanied by a certain Ally Dizon, met with him where they asked the lifting of the department’s ban on Mercy’s employer, MMML Recruitment Services. The request was denied.

But it seems there is more to it than meets the eye.

Bello has accused his undersecretary Jacinto Paras, of being behind the move to oust him from office. DOLE sources earlier revealed that among the reasons for this plot to oust Bello is his refusal to accommodate those with vested interests in the lucrative overseas job market, especially in the Middle East.

There were reports that Paras enlisted the help of Dizon and contracted a certain Azzizah to execute an affidavit that accused Say of receiving bribe money from Azzizah’s agency.

But it appears that Bello is not about to go anywhere and still has the support of the President, especially after he was able to convince Kuwait officials to sign the memorandum of understanding for the protection of Filipino workers in Kuwait.

With Bello at the helm of DOLE, a total of 300,000 workers have been regularized following a directive from President Duterte to end all forms of illegal contractualization.

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