For Paz Malubay, life lessons for every age

MANILA, Philippines - In a country with such a large percentage of the population living below the poverty line, nothing is cherished more than a success story, where hard work, kindness and persistence win out over maneuvering and selfishness. Such stories are also close to Paz Vidal Malubay’s heart, because she’s lived that life, and then some.

With a hard life come valuable lessons that Malubay, now a partner at accounting firm Punongbayan & Araullo (P&A), believes can be of use to anyone seeking success in work and in life.

A work ethic is its own reward. “I had nine siblings. My parents worked hard to get all of us what we needed, but we all had to do our share,” says Malubay of her early life in the small town of Padre Garcia, Batangas. Her father tilled the farm on weekdays and peddled wares on weekends. Her mother took care of the children and, during her free time, sold produce in the market. “From them I learned how to work hard, and how to use my time properly, so that I could get all my chores done,” says Malubay, whose school days usually began with doing laundry for the family.

Out of necessity, Malubay’s college life was similarly, and voluntarily, regimented. “In college, I got into the habit of writing a daily calendar of activities that I would follow religiously. I would schedule everything I needed to do from the time I got up in the morning until the time I went to bed at night. Like most of my other resources, time was very tight, and I had to squeeze the most out of it . . . out of almost everything, in fact.”

Sacrifice is sometimes necessary, but with suffering comes learning. It was a hard road for the young Paz, who even had to take one year off between grade school and high school to wrap local candies at a neighboring factory. “Imagine being bent over from morning until late in the evening, wrapping candies,” she narrates. “But I had to do it to earn money for private school. There were no public high schools anywhere near where we lived, so working for tuition was the only way our family could afford to send us to high school.”

When she was starting out on her first post-college job, her ability to focus and get the job done impressed her superiors, who promoted her year after year and eventually sent her to Switzerland as part of an on-the-job training. Looking back, an amused Malubay notes, “I just did what it took to get the job done – if I had to keep longer hours, or double-check everything to make sure no comma was out of place, then that’s what I did. Sitting at an office and working with a calculator was peanuts compared to wrapping candies all day long or washing clothes for a dozen people.”

Family is where you find it. Malubay soon realized, though, that accountancy called for its own share of expensive textbooks. Good thing she found a way to game the system. One of Malubay’s friends from grade school was also at PUP taking up the same course, so the resourceful Malubay borrowed books from her friend to manage her expenses.

It’s that knack for making the most of what she has that served Malubay well in her rise to prominence at P&A. “I was lucky because I had supportive and understanding friends who knew what it was like for me. Because of my experience I got into the habit of creating support systems for the people under me in the department. I always go out and check how everyone is doing, because if they know you’re there for them, it creates a comfort zone. When a company is like an employee’s family, that employee will work harder than if he or she were working with people who are considered strangers,” says Malubay.

What is true on the inside radiates outwards. “My most trying time was when I had to go under the knife for a heart surgery a few years ago,” Malubay reveals. “Imagine the stress, the fear. But my family was lucky, because P&A really came through for us. Mr. Punongbayan, when I talked to him about my predicament, even took it upon himself to get me the best doctors.”

Malubay acknowledges that her story may sound exaggerated to some, but insists that that kind of care is something that Mr. Punongbayan insists on for his trusted lieutenants. “It took me time to earn that kind of trust, but it’s something that I try to impress upon the people I now work with – that P&A is a family, and that we care for each other just as much as we care for our clients,” Malubay stresses.

Looking back at her journey so far, Malubay is quick to share what she considers her formula for success: “I have always lived by this quotation from Proverbs that says, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.’ I couldn’t have gotten to where I am now without God, so ultimately all the credit goes to Him.”