The rule of three
Over the past week, I had separate lunch and dinner with three very interesting men over three international cuisines, and our topics of conversation ranged from architecture, to banking, and real estate.
A Japanese lunch with Gilbert Yu
On Wednesday last week, I had a reunion lunch with retired architect Gilbert Yu at EDSA Shangri-La’s Senju Japanese restaurant to meet his eldest son, Daniel Terence, who has basically taken over Gilbert’s architectural firm G& W, which was established in 1971 and is known for its architectural and engineering designs, construction supervision and project development consultancy.
However, since early 2000, according to Terence, G&W had already transitioned into Visionarch or Vision Architects that now include 200 architects and is ranked 62nd in the world, and works with some of the leading real estate developers in the country.
Gilbert, at 81, has basically passed on his legacy to Terence, and he is hoping that Terence’s only daughter will also take up architecture and continue his architectural legacy. Gilbert has another son who is also involved in the real estate sector, while his three daughters have built their own separate careers, one in the field of medicine and is based in the United States, and another daughter who has chosen a life as a housewife in Canada.
However, another daughter is in the field of consultancy. He is excited that after a long separation due to the COVID pandemic, his five children and grandchildren will all be able to finally spend Christmas this year in the Philippines.
There were a lot more stories he shared, but those will remain secret. He has built a successful career in the real estate sector and is now enjoying his quiet life with his wife, whom he pursued to such an extent that he even shifted school from Mapua to the University of the East just to be near her school at Far Eastern University.
A Chinese banquet with Arthur Ty
It was a very rare pleasure to sit down and enjoy a Friday lunch last week with Metrobank president Arthur Ty, who usually shies away from the press. However, the rare lunch with media people was to celebrate the bank’s 61st anniversary with a sumptuous banquet at the Grand Hyatt Hotel where we were served Peking duck, Angus steak, and lobster, along with several other dishes. Arthur revealed that he eats most of his meals at the hotel, and he admits to being quite picky with the quality of the food and is the first to criticize if the dish is not up to his standard. He is quick to explain, though, that the criticism is intended to help improve the quality of the food at the hotel.
Arthur’s picky palate helps him maintain his weight even though he does not really exert much effort to exercise. He admits that he used to go to a gym prior to the pandemic, but stopped when COVID hit. He, likewise, does not indulge in sports, acknowledging a restriction among Chinese families that normally heads of families are not allowed to take up dangerous sports like car racing, motorcycle riding or even activities like scuba diving or skydiving as it “makes sense.”
After lunch, we were treated to an interesting dice game that incorporated the bank’s 61st anniversary as the winning combination instead of the customary numerical combinations, and a game-changing use of a three numerical combination that would wipe out the gain of a 61 combination. (Clearly why this column contains the rule of three)
As usual and as a condition, Arthur preferred not to be quoted or recorded on comments regarding the banking sector and economic policies, admitting that making such comments “is asking for trouble!” He, however, had no restrictions on light conversation about the family and some real estate observations, commenting particularly on the booming real estate value of Bonifacio Global City, in which the Ty family has astutely been able to secure prime real estate. On the other hand, he observed that investors in the Bay Area, face a more dicey investment future with the departure of Chinese POGO operators.
On the other hand, Arthur also observed from his almost monthly visits to China, particularly to their Shanghai office where the Philippine Consulate is also located, a lot of Chinese nationals line up to secure visas to the Philippines. He notes that while they may not necessarily be investing in the POGO sector, a lot of Chinese nationals are going to different parts of the Philippines and doing business quietly. The same observation was noted by STAR columnist Wilson Flores, who has seen the unusual increase in the establishment of provincial Filipino-Chinese business chambers in the country.
A Spanish dinner with Manny Villar
Just this Monday, my dinner was with former House Speaker and Senate President Manny Bamba Villar at his quaint new Britanny Hotel located just beside SM Aura mall in BGC. Quite a few are still unaware that Villar has quietly acquired and transformed the former Dusit property owned by the Limcaoco family into his new project in Taguig. The Villar Group, he admitted, was not able to secure property in BGC early on, but has quite a formidable chunk of real estate right across C5 where he has his Camella properties and his Vista Land mall.
The Philippine STAR business desk had a Spanish dinner with the ever humble MBV who entertained and impressed us with his beginnings, his business experience, his family, and his future plans for Villar City. He also fed us silly with a selection of Spanish dishes that included cholesterol rich chorizos, breads, pates, soup, salad, chicken, mushroom paella, steak and an assortment of delicious desserts, plus a take-home cake prepared by the Brittany Hotel chefs.
Villar’s story is well-known and was the basis for his presidential campaign slogan of “Sipag and Tiaga “for the presidency back in 2010. But hearing it from him still makes one appreciate just how much more sweet success is if it is a long and hard-earned journey that basically does not change the man.
Despite our very rich Spanish dinner, Villar points out that his comfort food remains to be asado siopao, particularly that of Masuki, and pork hopia, which he used to enjoy when he was a young boy helping his mother sell hipon or shrimp in Divisoria. His favorite beverage is Coke Zero, as has he watches his sugar level.
Villar recounts that he had never really envisioned where he is now. He had actually thought he would succeed with a seafood and vegetable business, but sadly learned that the food business carries the risk of unpaid sales. Fortunately he was creative and smart enough to devise a plan that actually allowed him to recover his losses.
While he always wanted to be an entrepreneur, his brush with unpaid sales led him eventually to go into the hauling business for gravel and sand, that led him to independent construction of homes, that eventually led to his now formidable real estate business kingdom that spans the entire country.
Likewise, his education was something he had also not planned, enrolling in the University of the Philippines, for instance, was upon the prodding of a friend who wanted to apply, but who did not pass the examination while Villar did.
His path to UP was also the path to his wife Cynthia Aguilar, to whom he has been married for 48 years, and, he admits... he never agues with. More because, Villar humorously admits, “magbabatian din naman kami pagkatapos.”
It was a thoroughly enjoyablenight and a lot of more stories to share, but for now I end here to write another longer story of MBV on another day.
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