Charlemagne Yu: A strong foundation built on diverse background

MANILA, Philippines - The strength of a building depends on its foundation. Only the strong structures are capable of withstanding troubles like strong typhoons, torrential rains and natural wear and tear.

Executives of property companies behind the towering condominium projects mushrooming in the metro know pretty well the value of a dependable foundation.

More so for Anthony Charlemagne C. Yu, president and CEO of listed Empire East Land Holdings Inc. and Megaworld Central Properties Inc. Yu relied on numerous foundation, which is his diverse set of experience – his achievements, family background, office work and advocacy – to lead two of the biggest and most active real estate developers in the Philippines to new heights amid previous economic uncertainties.

“My background has helped tremendously in preparing me for the enormous responsibility of being the CEO of a dynamic company in the field of real estate development,” Yu said.

The executive’s achievement-filled family, educational, legal and non-government organization (NGO) backgrounds set him up for the climb to the top of the corporate ladder.

“The rigorous academic training I had prepared me to withstand some of the most formidable challenges an executive can ever find oneself in,” Yu said.

Yu had extensive training in top educational institutions. Yu obtained his Political Science degree from the Ateneo de Manila University before pursuing law at the University of the Philippines. He also holds a Masters Degree from the University of London and has taken up Executive Education in Advanced Finance from the University of Michigan.

“The Asian economic crisis that brought every company to its knees could have broken even the toughest amongst us but I am fortunate that my solid academic training allowed me to face some of the most unimaginable odds during those years,” Yu said. In the midst of the crisis, Yu kept in mind that the real competition is with oneself.

In giving back to the academe, Yu served as a law professor for UP and Ateneo de Manila for around a decade, among other functions.

“The legal background I have allows me to be decisive when needed, without fear of all the so-called contingent liabilities, many of which are unfounded fears fanned by people who are afraid to make decisions they should be accountable for,” Yu said. As a lawyer, he uses the field of law for the execution of ideas and innovations in his organization.

Aside from the daily grind at Empire East, Yu is also busy with advocacies and NGO duties that also honed him for the big league.

“My NGO background has been instrumental in allowing me to see beyond charts and figures and truly understand that behind all these numbers are real people whom we are serving,” he said.

The property executive has been active in NGO work since his college years.

While decisions can be made by any cold and calculating mind with the requisite intelligence, Yu said he believes that the best decision “are tempered with a genuine understanding of the people to be affected: their wants and needs, their strengths and fears, and always with their welfare in mind.”

So far, he is the president of the El Nido Foundation that promotes sustainable development of the protected areas in Palawan and the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the ERDA Group of Foundations, or NGOs set up by Fr. Pierre Tritz, SJ to assist the poorest of the poor in our country through education assistance.

Yu is also a board member of IBON Foundation, a non-profit research and education development institution that provides socio-economic research and analysis on people’s issues. He is also a board of trustee member of Culion Foundation, one of the oldest health-based NGOs that attends to the needs of Filipinos afflicted with leprosy and other tropical diseases.

Aside from community and his achievements, Yu credits his family as the biggest foundation of his life.

“In (my parents), I found the strength to stand up against oppressive people and unfair policies. Through them, I learned that there is no compromise to doing good,” Yu said.

For their part, his wife Meriam and kids Oliver and Ryan serve as his inspiration to give his best in everything.

With a diverse set of background that serves as his strong foundation, Yu is now spearheading Empire East in the booming property sector.

For almost two decades, Yu learned the business from no other than property tycoon Andrew L. Tan who taught him a single-minded focus in achieving the objectives, finding solutions and free exchange of ideas.

“Seldom does one find such a successful person who has no insecurities and who is sensitive to the limitations of others who work with and for him,” Yu said.

Such learnings proved to be crucial for Empire East especially during the Asian economic crisis. Instead of laying low and waiting for the crisis to pass by, Empire East turned to innovation.

Yu said Empire East came up with the “no downpayment” and stretched the payment terms, opening the market that was once limited to people with substantial savings.

 â€œThis was so revolutionary at the time it was introduced that many of the major developers were skeptical that this new innovation would be successful,” Yu said. The payment scheme is now a standard in the property sector.

Amid the credit crunch, Empire East was able to launch new projects and post brisk sales while pursuing the construction of projects it previously launched.

“To this day, we can still claim that we finished the most number of towers and homes in the most difficult years of the Asian crisis and, in turn, we have earned the trust of the public,” Yu said.

Aside from the payment scheme, Empire East is now one of the leaders in cluster-type development and loft-type units, transit-oriented developments and resort communities.

“With a better understanding of their needs and cognizant of our past oversights, we are able to conceptualize new products, which helped increase our sales and maintain our lead in the real estate market,” Yu said.

With its top executive having the benefit of a strong foundation, Empire East is geared towards further growth.

“We are very aggressive in our property acquisition efforts in order to meet the demands of the public,” Yu said.

“We are looking to establishing a stronger presence in the CALABARZON region as well as other provinces in the country for the next five to 10 years,” he said, adding that Empire East will also take advantage of the growing tourism sector.

The listed property firm of the Megaworld property group allotted P25 billion in the next five years to launch and build new projects as it takes advantage of the property boom. In the nine months to September, profits of Empire East surged 36 percent to P128 million from P94.13 million a year ago as revenues jumped to P1.92 billion from PP1.73 billion.