CEBU, Philippines - Presidential aspirant Manuel Villar Jr., is banking on his entrepreneurial skills, especially on his managerial ability, to eradicate poverty in the country, if he gets elected to the presidency this coming national election.
“We are not just poor. We are poorly managed. (And) the reason why we are mismanaged is that we don’t include management skills in the criteria of (the country’s) presidents,” he told editors and reporters of The Freeman in a roundtable discussion held last Wednesday.
Villar said that being result-oriented and “madiskarte” are also some of the qualities of chief executive officers of successful businesses like Camella Homes, one of the companies that he owns, that the next Philippine president must possess to move the country’s economy forward.
“A brilliant CEO thinks fast and provides quality decisions. A good CEO understands finance, is innovative and creative, know how to motivate. (These are needed for a company, or a country) to keep up with the competition. There is always competition in industries. I have managed to make Camella the number one in the housing industry,” he said.
If elected president, Villar said one of his objectives is to change the mindset of the Filipinos that only the Chinese are good in owning and running a business, saying that Filipinos are also potentially good entrepreneurs.
Businessmen-turned-politicians Efrain Pelaez and Glenn Soco earlier told The Freeman in separate interviews that transparency and foresight are two of the entrepreneurial qualities they have that they can apply if elected in their respective posts, as Mayor of Lapu-Lapu City and Vice Governor of Cebu.
Meanwhile, Villar said that he hopes that Filipinos will realize that he is making true the dreams of ordinary citizens to be able to put up a good fight with the country’s “traditional political families” and that a Filipino who rose from the ranks can lead the country.
“Destiny is different from birthright. Just because their father or mother was (a former president), it does not give them the birthright to also become President,” he said.