Rex Book Store partners in education
MANILA, Philippines - By engaging in this kind of business we have become a partner in education,” says lawyer Dominador Buhain. The chairman of the Rex Group of Companies says that this partnership is the impetus that drives the company to constantly reinvent itself to produce innovative and easy-to-use teaching materials. By retaining the passion and drive to develop the company’s product lines in children’s textbooks and reference books, Rex Book Store has managed to remain an important player in the Philippine publishing industry throughout the years.
More popular as a publisher of Philippine law books, Rex Book Store celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2010 — no mean feat in any field or industry. From one bookstore in Manila during the 1950s, it has diversified its business portfolio to include publishing, printing in 10 strategically located outlets in Manila, Eastern and Western Visayas and Mindanao.
“We champion the Filipino entrepreneurial spirit,” says Atty. Buhain. He lists “love of God, love of country and maximizing time and opportunity” as key factors in the survival and growth of the company.
Rex Book Store had its beginnings when two people who had a natural love for books and business formed a personal and professional partnership. In post-World War II Manila, Juanito “Manong” F. Fontelera, an orphan who worked his way through school, opened the New Republic Book Store in Azcarraga. This was next door to the Rex Book Store owned by Jovita “Manang” Buhain, a pharmacist and widow of Dominador M. Buhain. Instead of business rivalry, however, deep affection based on friendship and mutual respect ensued between the two entrepreneurs. They were eventually married and the stores were merged. Through Juanito’s keen business sense and Jovita’s able handling of finances, Rex Book Store was propelled through a period of significant growth in the 1960s.
“I was only nine years old when my (biological) father died,” muses Buhain, who has pleasant memories growing up with Juanito Fontelera, who took on the role of family patriarch. The current company chairman was a young lawyer when a fire razed everything that that his parents built in 1969. Miraculously, one book entitled Jesus Save Me remained intact under stacks of burned books, ashes, and rubble.
“That gave us the courage to go on,” Buhain says. Deeply rooted in their faith, the family took it as a message to rebuild their business. So instead of wholly devoting his time to the practice of law, Atty. Buhain became more intent on helping the family enterprise succeed.
“We have had our share of challenges but we believe that these have made us stronger and wiser,” says Roger John Fontelera, company finance and administrative manager. Like other members of the Buhain-Fontelera family’s third generation, he willingly does his share in helping the company grow.
“Rex is born of resilience, commitment and vision,” adds Don Timothy Buhain, chief operating officer. He believes that among the things that set the company apart is its “belief in the talents of Filipino authors.” Between 200 and 250 titles are published every year.
Most recently, Rex Book Store has partnered with ABS-CBN’s Bayan Academy and The Knowledge Channel for the Excellence in Educational Transformation Awards (EETA.) The award’s goal is “to recognize the concerted efforts of the different school stakeholders who are responsible for creating an effective learning environment for the students.”
By taking “cognizance of the manner by which the school’s systems and processes paved the way for the transformation of schools into institutions that promote learning effectiveness and school efficiency,” the EETI is in keeping with the processes that Rex Book Store follows to promote a good work ethic among its employees.
“What we aspire to instill in the company is discipline and integrity,” says Don Buhain, who does not believe in the adage of the end justifying the means. “We want to be an organization that will espouse good people. We ask ‘How did you sell?’ and put weights on processes for outcomes. Growth is a plurality game and you don’t have to sell 100 percent every time to win.”
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December 15 is the deadline for the EETA Awards sponsored by Rex Book Store, ABS-CBN Bayan Academy and The Knowledge Channel. To learn more about it, log on to www.abs-cbnbayanfoundation.com
