Beyond Business Interests

CEBU, Philippines - Filipinos have always been known for their resilience, an innate ability to bounce back from challenges. However, Typhoon Yolanda was one of the biggest tests of this resilience as it wreaked havoc throughout the Eastern Visayas late last year.

Another Filipino trait became apparent during relief, rescue and rehabilitation efforts - that of compassion for the welfare of fellowmen. This showed not just among individuals and concerned citizens, but in the business community as well.

 It's only in natural calamities that the resilience of the Filipino is proven. Even in tragedies caused by fellow humans the survivalist spirit of the Filipino prevails. One example is Cebuano businesswoman Janet Altamarino, the woman behind Ultimate Visa Corporation, a pioneering visa processing company in Cebu.

 This strong-willed woman is herself once a victim of illegal recruiters, or swindlers offering ghost jobs abroad. Her personal disaster came as she was trying to pursue her dreams. "I wanted to make it big; and they said that opportunities abound abroad," Altamarino recalls. She was lured by the promises of a recruitment agency that suddenly vanished after she gave them all the money she had saved.

The promised visa never came. She not only lost all her money but her dreams of making it big someday as well. She may be strong-willed, but not invincible. The sham left Altamarino frustrated, disappointed, and heartbroken.

But she did not give up. In 2009, equipped with a lesson painfully learned, Altamarino consulted a lawyer friend, Atty. Jonnah John Ungab, about establishing her own visa and immigration consultancy firm. Together, they worked hard to put up a company that "delivers compassionate and professional services to its clients at a reasonable cost."

 The rest, as they say, is history. Her company has since grown from being a one-woman operation into an enterprise with more than 50 employees. Aside from the Cebu office, the company now also has an equally bustling branch in Makati. And, in just five years, Ultimate Visa has reaped several recognitions from industry organizations and award-giving bodies, attesting to the company's credibility, integrity and success.

The recent spate of natural calamities that swept through the Visayas last year, Altamarino saw another opportunity for showing her compassion. "After hearing the experiences narrated to me by some of my employees who have relatives in Bohol, Cebu and Leyte, and also with what I saw on TV, I got deeply touched," she says. "I saw the helplessness of the people so my business partner and I decided to devise ways to help."

 She and her employees decided to forgo their annual Christmas party and, instead, donated to the typhoon victims what money would have been spent in the happy celebration. They thought it proper to refrain from merrymaking in deference to the sufferings of fellowmen.  Ultimate Visa tied up with the local Lions Club in Cebu and donated basic relief items such as bottled water, rice, noodles and canned goods. The company's employees were also encouraged to participate in continuing relief efforts in the affected areas.

 Altamarino's career plans have shifted from going abroad to being an entrepreneur in her home city. Ironically, she has learned to love the very industry that once cheated her. Sincerely assisting visa applicants has become her calling.

This indomitable woman believes that the best way to do business is by giving good and honest service. And she has been proven right. And it has been the guiding philosophy of Ultimate Visa Corporation to go beyond sheer business interests. (FREEMAN)