A knight in Kapitan’s army retires

Twenty-nine years and three months is quite a long time. Some love stories don’t even last that long.

But not in the case of Ret. Lt. Gen. Salvador Mison who served in taipan Lucio “Kapitan” Tan’s sprawling business empire for nearly 30 long years before finally retiring last month.

One fine day last week, in the cozy al fresco Garden Pavilion of Grand Hyatt Manila, Gen. Mison, 89, made his final bow in a send-off gathering with some of his closest friends in the Tan Group.

Kapitan himself was not there. He has not been seen much in public for some time now after he successfully survived a bout with COVID-19 last year. Perhaps, Tan, 87, is being extra careful because we are still in a pandemic.

But his younger brother Harry and Tan’s son Michael, president and COO of LT Group were there – among Mison’s “friends for life,” said his son Fred, who served as general counsel at Tan-owned Philippine Airlines (PAL).

Present and past executives of the empire – including PAL president and COO Capt. Stanley Ng; the Tan Group’s keeper of the purse, Janet Tan Lee; former PAL president Jaime Bautista; Philippine National Bank president Wick Veloso, and Victoria’s Milling chairman Wilson Young – also graced the occasion to wish Gen. Mison well as he hangs his hat, or to put it more accurately, the many hats he wore while working for Tan.

From cigarettes to airport terminals

Considered as one of the taipan’s trusted old guards, Mison served as president of Fortune Tobacco and Basic Holdings, and was a spokesperson of the Tan Group.

He also played a key role in the bidding of the NAIA Terminal. “He fondly remembered how Asia Emerging Dragon Corp., led by Kapitan, supposedly won the bid,” Fred recalled. AEDC was later edged out by the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. (Piatco) in a controversial 1997 deal that eventually collapsed.

Mison’s speech was short, but powered by nostalgia as he recalled some of his “biggest exploits” while working for Tan.

These include Tan’s tax case worth billions, how it was reversed and won eventually, the massive labor strike of PAL, his role in the negotiations with the union, and how he nurtured relations with concerned sectors on behalf of Kapitan.

He may be considered the keeper of the seals (and secrets) in the Tan empire. Or to put it simply, he was one of Kapitan’s knights, standing by Tan’s side in all his dealings and, as in a game of chess, swiftly occupying the black and white squares to protect his king.

From Customs to a conglomerate

Mison, a native of Naga, is a retired three-star general who served in the army for more than three decades before being appointed as Customs commissioner in 1987. He successfully rid the notoriously corrupt bureau of graft and corruption back then.

He then joined the Tan empire in 1992, moving to a totally different battlefield where he helped the taipan navigate the country’s complicated business environment, made more challenging by the controversies that came to Kapitan’s way – labor strikes, tax evasion allegations, failed government contracts, etc.

Badge of honor

Being an old guard at the Tan empire is considered a badge of honor by business observers because they say, Tan, in his younger days, hired only the best in the business. He handpicked great minds and those with extraordinary skills – “skills” that could help him survive the ever changing political and business environment in the country.

Aside from Mison, some of Tan’s old guards included the late Washington Sycip, touted as the grand old man of Philippine business; Estelito Mendoza, the solicitor general during the Marcos era; and ace accountant Bautista who served as the long time president of PAL.

There were other prominent names who were once part of the empire – multi-awarded former Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr., Monetary Board Member Peter Favila and banker Omar Mier.

Many other executives have left in recent years, for reasons controversial or otherwise, but with COVID-19, it has become difficult to keep track of who else in the Tan Group retired, resigned or faded away.

As for Mison, retirement may see him perhaps spending more time on his farm in Cavite or with family and friends. I also heard he might write his memoirs.

I’ve had the privilege of chatting with him a few times. I first met him many years ago when I requested an interview. I was nervous because I had never interviewed an army general before, but it turned out to be a pleasant encounter.

Years later, he showed me around the PNB office and told me stories behind photographs and artifacts. He was always generous with his time and knowledge, one of the few remaining gentlemen of the old school, now as rare as fragments of the moon.

Knights retire when they’re too old to fight, but maybe in this case, most of the battles have already been won and the king, no longer in his fighting prime, is already taking it easy.

In any case, I’m sure Gen. Mison won’t fade away. After all, one can’t really retire from being great.

Iris Gonzales’ email address is [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at eyesgonzales.com