A warm welcome

That vivacious and bubbly as champagne Cris Albert and mega hubby polo player Butch Albert welcomed internationally renowned Giorgio Aramu and Michael Yun from Fila Italy and Korea, respectively.

Cris A. arrived in a gorgeous black dress and a pair of bright red stilettos at the welcome gathering for Giorgio and Michael. Fila employees, dahlings, welcomed guests with champagne naturallement.  Filipino food was prepared for Giorgio and Michael. They gave huge smiles while their meals were being served.

The gang of four was enjoying their champagne while talking about their experiences in Fila. Aprés the get-together, Cris gathered the invitees in a conference room for her to present Fila’s five-year plan. The presentation was “all about how Fila is going to succeed in the business in the future; it was called the mini-strategic plan.” Giorgio and Michael were left speechless and they were in awe with the plan Cris had prepared for them, palanggas.

In the evening, Cris treated them to a gastronomic dinner at the Tower Club in Makati City.

The following day, Giorgio and Michael were brought to different Fila stores. They started with the top shops to the concessionaires. Giorgio and Michael would like to visit all of the stores but visiting all 330 stores is just impossible to do in just one week! So, Giorgio stayed in the office to audit past achievements of Fila.

The ever gracious host and Fila CEO Cris A. held a networking event for Giorgio, who was able to meet VIPs in the industry.

Fila chairman Butch Albert, Ana Abad Santos, Young Presidents Organization members  Simon Heo, Quinto Oreta, Basil Ong, Walter Lim, Geraldine Gaisano and Eric Yu, Zalora managing director Constantine Roberts, operations head Alessandro Duri, Tessa Prieto-Valdes, Anton San Diego, Rocio Olbes, Tim Yap, among other namedroppables, dahlings, indulged on the scrumptious food. Manila Strings serenaded guests and ‘90s hits were played throughout the night.

In his short speech, Butch thanked Giorgio for visiting the Philippines and for giving Fila more years for the business. He then thanked his loving and devoted wife for her hard work and for putting her heart into the business.

Following Butch’s speech was a speech from Cris. She was as bubbly as ever for the extra years given to Fila and teased the people with her plans for company in the future. She thanked guests for coming and she is very blessed to have these people in her life.

After the speech, dahlings, guests continued to enjoy the event, which went well while the invitees stayed and listened to great sound. Of course, bubbly flowed and the mood got higher with every sip, palanggas.

(From left) Fortune Life president Arnold Cabangon, Education Undersecretary Lorna Dig-Dino and Fortune Life EVP and GM Evelyn Carada with MaryLindbert president and CEO Linda Legaspi and EVP Albert Rosal.

Legacy of success

One man’s saga to success, palanggas, from walking barefoot to walking the corridors of power to becoming one of the wealthiest men in the country, is not just awe inspiring but worth emulating and sharing with the whole world.

Fortune Life Insurance is founded by Ambassador Antonio Cabangon Chua, who chose to first share his saga to success with the school children and educators of our country. And the “Values of Hard Work and Discipline Advocacy” was born in 2011, in partnership with MaryLindbert International and the Department of Education.

The advocacy, dahlings, now on its seventh year, recently celebrated the sixth Ambassador Antonio Cabangon Chua Gintong Parangal para sa Edukasyon held at the Bulwagan ng Karunungan of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Pasig City.

Seen gracing the event were Education Undersecretary Lorna Dig-Dino and other DepEd dignitaries, Tourism Assistant Secretary Ricky Alegre, Fortune Life president Arnold Cabangon and EVP and GM Evelyn Carada,  ALC Group of Companies chairman Edgard Cabangon and MaryLindbert president and CEO Linda Legaspi and EVP Albert Rosal.

This year, Fortune Life added another category called  Gintong Parangal Pamumuno to honor and recognize the administrators of the school divisions for their leadership, palanggas, in the promotion of hard work and discipline in all the schools and offices nationwide.

In her keynote address, Dig-Dino noted how timely the advocacy is, more particularly because it is a true life story of the ambassador who provides great inspiration to everyone, especially to teachers while starting to inculcate the same in the young minds of students.

Gintong Parangal Guro awardees, palanggas, were Aileen Apostol of Sto. Niño SPED Center, Tacloban City; Allan Delos Reyes of Minalin ALS Center, Pampanga; Ma. Regaele Olarte of Muntinlupa National High School; Vladimir Paraiso of Francisco Benitez Elementary School, Manila; and principal Ma. Lourdes Valondo of Dr. Felipe De Jesus National High School, Bulacan. Honorable mentions included  principal Jesus Insilada of Alcarde Gustilo Memorial National High School, Iloilo; Rene Rose Labasan of  Nueva Vizcaya; and Roderick Labay of Apnagan Elementary School, Oriental Mindoro.

Gintong Parangal Pamumuno awardees were school division superintendents Mina Gracia Acosta of Bulacan, Leila Areola of Cagayan, Wilfredo Cabral of Manila,  Vilma Eda of Ilocos Norte and Leonardo Zapanta of Pampanga. Honorable mentions were  Christopher Diaz of Rizal, Joel Lopez of Laoag City and Rhina Silva of Batangas City.

For the last seven years, PRC board member and K-to-12 consultant Paraluman Giron, UNESCO International consultant Pierangelo Alejo, together with our “Ambassador of Philippine Fashion” Renee Salud have been touring the country championing Fortune Life and the ambassador’s legacy on values education, hard work and discipline.

To date, the nationwide advocacy has directly reached 2,092 schools, over 3.5 million students from Grade 1 to 4 and interfaced with over 20,000 teachers.

Yes, palanggas. Ambassador Antonio Cabangon Chua’s legacy lives on! - Photos by Alex Van Hagen powered by MAC Center