"Trust God, everything follows"

(Story in the life of Ernesto B. Rizarri)

CEBU, Philippines - Ernesto B. Rizarri or EBR, as he is referred to by family, friends, employees and a long list of loyal clients, just turned 64 last month. He is the man behind EBR Servitek, the first Goodyear Autocare in Asia.

EBR is another success story to emulate, epitomizing a "pioneer," from a simple financially-strapped young man who arrived Ormoc City with only big dreams, guts and determination to owning the giant EBR Group of Companies.

The firm deals with fertilizer distribution, tire and auto care supplies and services, car distributorship, sand and gravel quarrying, poultry and port operations.

Still EBR remains low key to this day, often reporting to his office in a comfy polo shirt, purontong and loafers. He also drives around in a KIA Sorento, being a distributor for the car marquee. And who would have thought he once hitchhiked sugarcane trucks in the early days of his business life in Ormoc.

Born to parents who were public school teachers, EBR is the second to the eldest of a brood of nine who, despite modest and lean lives, all finished college. EBR graduated with a degree in Commerce at the University of San Carlos in 1968.

After graduation, he worked with various companies until he got into International Harvester, an American company selling tractors, trucks and heavy equipment at that time. The company did not last though, and he was not among the workers that the Chiongbians, the new company owners, absorbed.

For others it felt like "shutting of the doors," but for EBR it was God's way of opening a window for him. "It was my break," he recalls.

Reeling from being jobless, he got a partner and they tried their hands on distributorship for Atlas Fertilizers, choosing Ormoc as their station over other options, Bogo and Medellin in Cebu.

"That was the very start of my business venture," he narrates, and everybody in Ormoc then thought he was just working for the company. He had no car and would hitch rides on sugarcane trucks to get to OSCO, a sugar company that he dealt business with.

"This was in 1972 but my partner-friend eventually settled in the States. So in 1973, I put up the EBR Marketing. It was a small space at the annex in Pongos Hotel where the lobby is now," he says.

Sometime in between, he met Milagros "Daya" Rizarri, daughter of then city Mayor Iñaki Larrazabal. He courted her and they got married two years later.

EBR strengthened his ties with Cebu friends and made his company grow, with his name as a reliable distributor spreading fast. "Other suppliers came in as they looked at us as very good potential partners. I have a business philosophy na bisag wa na koy kwarta basta mabayran ang mga tawo on time and the suppliers," he says.

With this business philosophy, financial institutions began opening doors to him. EBR says: "I do not know exactly how much capital I had when I started … as you grow, you look to increase it. You will not get it right away, because not even banks are willing to bank on you."

Asked for other tips in growing a business, EBR says: "I always believed in investing in people. I always have that professionalism that makes a business very effective. I pay them well. Incentives are given that is why they (employees) stay long. Even now, I have children managing the other businesses but we still have the managers who've been with us since 12 and 13 years. Yes, I believe in delegation."

EBR counts himself "very fortunate to have the right people in his business. "You should remember that you can never push through with your plans if you do not have the right people," he says, adding that it is important to be always "two steps ahead of the competition."

EBR says he could not deny Daya is very much a part of who he is now. "Marriage is like a partnership. It boils down to how much you love each other. Daya has been very supportive with my business plan. She is an accountant so I always consult her."

The business empire he has could not have been achieved without God's grace, he submits. "I am a very religious person. I hear Mass on Sundays, on Wednesdays for the Mother of Perpetual Help and Fridays for the Santo Niño. I spend 30 minutes reading the Bible and in silent reflection. Wa ko'y laing gisaligan but ang Ginoo. I have so much faith and trust in God," he says.

For those who want to become the EBR of the future, he says, "there is still a wide room for every body who plans to go on their own businesses. What is important is to believe in yourself and put trust in the Lord. Everything will just follow."

EBR and Daya have four children namely Manelle, Monic, his junior "EJ" and Cris Andrew or "Ado." All are professionals and helping in the business, except for Manelle who've since migrated to Guam. (FREEMAN)