When friendship matters more than financial reward

MANILA, Philippines - Gerardo Dumancas has made a name as one of the senior executives of Evergreen Line, where he touched the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of employees and associates in his entire 27 years there.

But he left the company, a big puzzle for most people who knew him well, to join his former subordinate, Eugenio Ynion Jr., now the majority owner of Le Soleil Shipping Agencies Inc despite the fact that he is very comfortable in Evergreen and could be retiring in that company in less than 10 years.

He told The Star his reason for leaving his “comfort zone” at Evergreen was because “it became so boring and I have taught my staff so well to the point that I have made myself redundant.”

“Each day that I went to the office was becoming very boring and I was looking for challenges and for things to be excited about rather than just waiting for the time I will collect my retirement benefit, which I have already computed,” he said.

Aside from the challenges of being in a new company of his previous subordinate, Dumancas said he admired the adventurous nature of Ynion—which he knew way back in 1993. But most importantly, he decided to leave Evergreen because of the deep trust that Ynion reposed on him. They have been the best of friends for 18 years now, Ynion said.

Ynion’s first job for six months was as med-rep of United Laboratories in August 1992 to February 1993. Then he put up his Thousand Cranes Taxi Services with 10 units but it failed. Then he worked as import account manager in May 1993 to June 1996 of Evergreen Philippines and his boss was Dumancas. At Evergreen, his job was to generate sales and maintain import service accounts in Metro Manila, which he easily and consistently topped the quota of 1,000 TEUs on the fourth month till he left in 1997.

Then in June 1997 he became the export account manager of Maersk Filipinas Inc. with export accounts in Metro Manila, Bataan and Subic. While at Maersk for one year, Ynion was assigned to a difficult client, Edward Buhana, a French-Jew, a very difficult client that no one in industry wanted to handle. Ynion faced up to the challenge.

By July 1998 to January 2000, he was director and general manager of Index Craft Inc. which manufactures and outsources handicrafts for export to the European and US markets using productive ties with 30 manufacturers from Pampanga, Laguna and Metro Manila. Here he had annual sales of $1.2 million on the first year and $500,000 in 2000 despite the export crisis in the Philippines.

In June 1999 until 2005 he became the buying agent of Le Soleil International, a buying agent of France Gift, one of the biggest importers/buyers of house furnishings in Europe which maintained steady gross sales of $200,000 a year. He kept meeting Buhana.

Buhana and Ynion became very good friends and now business partners. Ynion never realized Buhana was so rich until he was invited to the Buhana residence. “I didn’t know that he lived in a castle with a forest as his backyard,” he said.

In that meeting, he asked Buhana to arrange a meeting with the owners of Zim Integrated Shipping Lines of Israel, a good friend of Buhana’s and right there they forged a deal. Now, Ynion is the exclusive agent for Zim and its affiliate company, Gold Star Line Ltd., one of the leading shipping companies in the world.

At 41, Ynion is one of the youngest CEOs of a shipping agency. “I’m not sure if I am the youngest (shipping agency CEO) but I am sure that I’m the youngest CEO who did not inherit the business from his parents,” he said.

When Ynion applied in 1993 as junior account executive at Evergreen, Dumancas (then assistant VP) was his last interviewer. “He is good at sizing up a person’s character. He knew I was the happy go lucky type but I met my quotas. Each time I surpassed them he gave me commissions. But I noticed that each year, he kept increasing my quota. I looked at this as a challenge through,” Ynion recalled.

Dumancas is very professional in the office. But outside, he is the best of friend. “When I failed in my businesses and in my marriage, he was always there to lift me up,” Ynion said.

He said he has come to respect Dumancas for “his professionalism and management style but also for the way he cared genuinely for people. He had a personal touch with them, rather than just dwelt on their competence. Now that I have this opportunity, I offered him the job to run the company so I can focus more on synergizing our businesses and planning out expansions.”