Outrage against the machine

Okay, here we are in Luneta. May a million selfies bloom! If only to document this day. And our respective roles in it, from non-organizers to pocket picnickers to sawsaweros to pumapapels or epals. K lang, Labo-labo sa Luneta! Masaya!

Pero unang-una, salamuch poh, Pangulo kong PNoy, at mukhang nabasa ni’yo ang kulam ko, este column, last week na nanawagan poh sa inyong magsalita na tungkol sa PDAF. Ginawa nyo poh ’yan nuong Biyernes. Leyt yatang dumating ang STAR diyan, cguro poh dahil sa mga baha. K lang poh. All’s well that ends well.

Ows? Ah, di pa pala. Sana poh maging batas na’ng FOI, at makatulong ito sa inyong planong mareporma ang sistema ng hatian ng national budget para makarating sa lahat ng mga nangagailangan lalo na yung malalayo sa Maynila.

Kahit na poh may tawanan pa rin at baka raw palitan lang ang pangalan at maging BADAF for Benigno Aquino Development Assistance Fund, o BABADAF for Benigno Aquino & Butch Abad Development Assistance Fund, ‘di bale na poh, ‘la lang pikunan, pagbigyan na pohng Pinoy at di na mawawala ‘tong sense of humor natin.

Pero siryoso poh, aantayin rin poh ng mga nagsasanib-sanib ngyong araw dito sa Labo-labo sa Luneta ang pagsalang nga sana ng mga kaso laban sa mga nagkasala dito sa en grandeng babuyang nangyari. And we will also await developments as to the reforms that will be the foundation for whatever new system of disbursement will be set in place.

Sure, it will still be called pork or pork barrel; the term has stuck. But the awful features that attended it in the past need not stay. And for this we have to thank the thousands who expressed disgust and outrage, many of whom are here today.

Thank you, most especially, to Neocolours band frontman Ito Rapadas who first voiced out the idea of a protest rally, and to Peachy Rallonza-Bretaña who suggested the date and venue that have become this day in history here at Luneta.  

And so we can go on, if still guardedly, through this week while hoping that metaphorical rays of sunshine continue to bless us.

On Friday, Aug. 30, the Carlos Palanca Foundation and Anvil Publishing Inc. will launch the book Business Without Capital: Insurance Selling, authored by Bobby Madrid, at 5 p.m. in National Book Store in Glorietta 1, Makati.  

It is the first title in the planned Carlos Palanca Foundation Series billed as “I Did It, So Can You”  books that should serve to inspire Filipinos by way of serving up memoirs cum instructive narratives featuring individual success stories in a myriad of fields.

For this first book, the back-cover blurb has it:

“’Selling insurance is a business that can give you the life that you have dreamed of  for yourself and your family.’

“With these initial inspirational words, the insurance industry’s wunderkind-turned-guru Bobby Madrid leads the reader through the simple process of engaging in a business that needs no capital but dedication and determination.

“As he himself has continuously undertaken, the author outlines the steps that lead to success  including the ‘triggers’ needed to turn challenges into incentives.

“Indeed, selling life insurance can be a very profitable business. An agent ceases to be an agent by adopting the mindset of a manager  unti the non-monetaey capital he invests results in a lucrative enterprise.

“Bobby Madrid says that if he and many others have done it  crafted their own success stories  so can you.

“You can do it, too.”

Bobby Madrid is one of the pioneers of the life insurance industry in the Philippines  being the first to introduce Investment Linked products in the market in 2003.

A graduate of De La Salle University with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce degree in 1969, he joined the industry as an agent in Manulife Cebu in 1971. 

He quickly rose up the ranks to become the first Filipino president of Manulife. In just a few years under his stewardship, the multinational insurance firm increased its asset base ten times without any need for capital infusion  as it rose from 13th to the 4th rank in the industry.

He subsequently became the founding president and CEO of Pru Life UK in 1996, and was at its helm till 2007, and as board chairman until 2012. Pru Life of UK’s asset base grew a hundred times under his leadership  again driven by ground-up knowledge of sales and ability drive innovation with Investment Link products.

At present, Bobby Madrid continues to make waves in the industry as the AIA senior advisor to the regional chief executive and a member of the board of Philam Life. At the book launch, he will deliver a brief talk that will be followed by an open forum. 


Later on Friday, I look forward to attending a special dinner show at the ballroom of the Fairmont Makati, billed as“A Love That Will Last: Renee Olstead Live in Manila.”

The concert is yet another exciting event mounted by Hi-Definition Radio Inc. (HDRI), the company behind Radio High 105.9/FM  which first brought Olstead here as the band singer in the Chris Botti concert held last December.

The young and attractive singing sensation and Hollywood actress started her entertainment career at the age of 6 when she appeared in a TV ad for Levi’s Jeans in 1995. Other acting assignments followed, such as a guest appearance in the TV series Touched By An Angel, roles in movies (End of Days; The Insider; Space Cowboys; 13 Going On 30), and as a mainstay in the hit TV sitcom Still Standing and the teen drama The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

Mentored by mega-producer David Foster, Olstead also proved to be a phenomenal music talent with her unique, bluesy voice reminiscent of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. In 2004, she made an impressive debut with her self-titled album under Warner Brothers. The album peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard jazz charts  spawning contemporary radio staples like Summertime (for which she was nominated for a Grammy in 2004), Midnight at the Oasis, and the romantic ballad A Love That Will Last, which was prominently featured in the movie Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement.

She has performed on Oprah and on many stages all over the world, winning over critics and hardcore jazz fans, while performing with legends like Wynton Marsalis, Vinnie Colauita, Billy Childs and John Clayton. Now at 24, Renee juggles her TV appearances with touring, writing for the Huffington Post and Buzzmedia, and pre-production work on her first independent EP. She recently released the single “She’s Got Your Name”  a song she co-wrote with producer/musician Tommy King.

On Friday evening, dinner will start at 7 p.m. at the Fairmont Ballroom, with the concert beginning at 8 p.m.

We hope we still see US Ambassador Harry Thomas in that concert, as he’s been a regular supporter and fan of jazz performances by international artists as well as our exceptional Pinoy musicians. We say we hope to still see him because we know he’s at the end of his term of duty here. Even then, we’d still like to thank him for another, recent manifestation of his love and support for our country.

Our buddy Atty. Mike Toledo happened to pass on the information that Ambassador Thomas was instrumental in having the US government make an initial donation of US$800,000 (over P35 million) for Typhoon Maring relief victims through the World Food Program nd Catholic Relief Services.

The flood victims also received significant help from the MVP Group of Companies, per Atty. Mike, who’s Philex Mining SVP for Corporate Affairs and also head of the MVP Group of Companies’ Media Bureau.  

Executives and employees volunteered to undertake the repacking and preparation of relief goods for distribution at the evacuation centers in flood-hit areas. Everybody worked together for the benefit of the flood victims, regardless of rank or class status. They were joined in by entertainment stars as well as basketball players and coaches.

“It was really like one big family lending a hand,” said Esther Santos, president of PLDT-Smart Foundation, who last Wednesday joined other executives in carrying out the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program conducted at the MVP Tulong Kapatid Center in the Meralco compound along Ortigas Ave. Of course they were led by businessman and sports patron Manual V. Pangilinan, who is also chairman of the board of trustees of the Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation (PDRF).

Daniel Matsunaga, one of the stars in the drama series Misibis Bay on TV5, was on hand together with players of Talk ‘N Text and the Meralco Bolts, carrying sacks of rice from a delivery truck to the covered tennis court. His co-star Ritz Azul also helped employees of the Manila Electric Co. in repacking donated goods.

About 5,000 relief packs containing rice, canned goods, hygiene kits, and drinking water were prepared after more than four hours of work by volunteers from Maynilad Water Services Inc., Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), Manila North Tollways Corp., Philex Mining Corp., One Meralco Foundation, PLDT-Smart Foundation, TV5 Alagang Kapatid Foundation Inc., and the MPIC Hospitals Group.

Besides the Meralco Bolts players and the Tropang Texters led by their head coach Norman Black, the Ateneo Blue Eagles also came to help, as well as Chot Reyes, Gilas Pilipinas head coach and head of TV5’s Sports5. Other contract stars from TV5 who lent a hand in the CSR drive were Victor Silayan, who has a recurring role in Misibis Bay, and Gerard Sison, who plays the role of a soldier in the fantasy drama Enchanted Garden.

The relief packs were distributed to flood victims at the coastal villages of Metro Manila and in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga, Bataan, and Bulacan.

In December 2012, the MVP Group of Companies unveiled a holistic approach to giving assistance in times of disaster  from distributing relief goods and running soup kitchens to providing medical aid, building shelter for the homeless and reconstructing damaged infrastructure to creating livelihood for those who have lost their jobs.