Past president of both the Chamber of Thrift Banks and the Development Bankers’ Association of the Philippines Foundation, Ong says, "I hope more banks will shift their focus to assist small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs). That is our corporate and social mission in Asiatrust, that’s why we have the longest banking hours from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., because we wish to service the special needs of SMEs Some busy branches open even on Saturdays and Sundays. We have a preferential bias for SMEs. We are a development bank. We grant business loans as small as P500,000 and even lesser amounts for vehicle loans and other needs. My office is open to all entrepreneurs. I will give them my personal attention. I am willing to personally assist new entrepreneurs and small businessmen."
The banker also has a good sense of humor. In the middle of the interview focusing mainly on Ong’s dream of helping nurture more small and medium entrepreneurs, Summit Publishing boss Lisa Y. Gokongwei happened to call my cell phone. When Ong mentioned that Asiatrust supports her Entrepreneur magazine as an advertiser, Gokongwei said she would send him a free subscription of the magazine. Ong jokingly replied, "Tell Lisa not to send me a free subscription of Entrepreneur, instead send me a free subscription of her bestselling FHM magazine."
One of the idealists in the Philippine banking industry, Dionisio Ong graduated cum laude from De La Salle University with a degree in BA Economics. He earned his Master’s degree in Management from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, often ranked as the world’s No. 1 business school even ahead of Wharton, Harvard and Stanford. Philippine alumni of Kellogg include presidential adviser and top finance whiz Gloria Tan Climaco, SGV Group chairman Cesar Purisima and vice chairman Dave Balangue.
Ong’s father is an immigrant from south China’s Fujian province. He established the Madison Department Store in downtown Manila after World War II. Among his contemporaries are Henry Sy who put up Shoemart in Carriedo and also Lim Ka Peng of Good Earth Emporium.
As a student, Dionisio Ong was already required by his father to work part-time in the store during summer vacations. This was his earliest exposure to business and the Asian entrepreneurial culture. After college, he worked and trained in Insular Bank of Asia & America under the late Hadji Kalaw, and at Bancom Development Corp. under Sixto Roxas, and Union Bank. Among the numerous accomplished alumni of Bancom include former Finance Secretary Ramon del Rosario Jr. and now embattled PLDT president Manny Pangilinan.
Excerpts from the interview:
Philippine STAR: You have been trained in both the Western and Asian management systems, how would you compare the two?
Dionisio Ong: What I learned from my studies in the US is another way of looking at business. It was the Western and scientific approach. Asians are more intuitive in their approach, more consensus type, less rigid and less legalistic in their approach. I remember with my father, a lot of business transactions were done without contracts, with just one’s word of honor.
You are a La Sallite. Do you agree to the controversial claim by some of your alumni that compared to Ateneans, graduates of La Salle are better entrepreneurs like John Gokongwei Jr., the Concepcions of RFM, Danding Cojuangco, Alfonso Yuchengco, George Yang of McDonald’s and others?
(Laughs) I agree that La Salle produces better entrepreneurs. Why? It’s very simple. Ateneo has a very good liberal arts school, so if you want to be a Man for Others, go to the Ateneo. However, if you want to become a good businessman, a good engineer, computer science specialist, an accountant, you have to go study in La Salle.
Why did you publish two sets of pamphlets on basic financial management, and management and planning?
The problem we foresee for SMEs is that a lot of them are very busy. The small and medium entrepreneur is the CEO, the marketing manager, the finance manager, the collector, etc. He doesn’t have the time to organize himself. A lot of times, he wants to borrow money, and these pamphlets will not only help him organize his business so that he can justify his need for borrowing with banks, but these pamphlets will hopefully guide him to be better organized in his business operations. We give out these pamphlets for free, even if the entrepreneurs borrow from other banks or from us – it doesn’t matter – we just want to promote new entrepreneurs throughout the Philippines. The real economic future of this country is not in the hands of politicians, but should be in the efforts, hard work and creativity of small- and medium-scale entrepreneurs.
How significant is the share of SMEs in the Philippine economy?
There are documented studies on Philippine SMEs, such as that by the Asian Development Bank. The small and medium scale enterprises contribute half of the country’s total economic output or gross national product (GNP), and two-thirds of total employment. These are rough estimates, but you can see the importance of SMEs to the economic life of the Philippines, that’s why banks and the government should exert more efforts to support them.
A tycoon once told me that it is great to be a banker because of the prestige, influence and less hectic work, unlike the businessmen or industrialists who work long hours and have hectic careers. Do you agree?
He is talking about the past golden age of banking – it’s the reverse now. Today the customer is the king and bankers like us are now the slaves, especially due to the intense competition.
How do you assess the leadership of President Gloria M. Arroyo?
I believe she is doing her best. The President knows where the future of the Philippine economy should be, where we are good at, like in tourism, agriculture. A lot of business people are impressed with her choices of officials. Who’s better than Richard Gordon in Tourism? Who can be better than Lito Camacho in Finance? Who is better than Mayor Duterte in fighting crimes? I think she’s going the right direction. Her stance of having a stronger political leadership will also be good for business, for how can a leader succeed if he is politically weak? Actually, I think I am just echoing the sentiments of many business people. That’s why I hope President Gloria Arroyo ignores these legislators in Congress and push for the approval of the Special Purpose Vehicle bill. Three years ago, Asian countries like Thailand, Malaysia and South Korea had already passed their versions of this bill, and they have already implemented this law. Unfortunately, our Congress has not yet passed this crucial bill. You know, if this bill is passed, it will help free up the capital of banks which can be lent out to entrepreneurs. This bill will help free banks from non-performing loans (NPLs). For example, if the NPLs today account for 20 percent of the entire banking system’s financial resources, the approval of this bill can at least free up additional 10 percent funds from banks to the businesses nationwide. I really look forward to President Gloria Arroyo continuing her strong leadership style on the issues of crimes and other problems, even in handling the Congress and the need to urgently approve crucial legislation.
Is your preferential bias for SMEs also due to the fact that Asiatrust is a medium-sized bank? How do you position your bank compared to the giant universal banks?
Asiatrust has P9 billion in financial resources. Yes, it is not among the biggest banks, but we are efficient in our service to all our clients. In a recent poll of bank clients in Metro Manila conducted by the New York-based Audits and Surveys Worldwide (ASW), Asiatrust Bank was rated as one of the best 20 banks in the country in terms of customer service. We have talented and accommodating staff, efficient service delivery and clients value their relationship with us. We have a department called the SME Help Desk, which provides financial and business advice to small and medium entrepreneurs.
In terms of industry position, we wish Asiatrust Bank to be like a Singapore, seeking and creating our niche efficiently, hardworking, disciplined in a small area but a great big success. We also want Asiatrust Bank to be like a Hong Kong in niching, despite its small size, it is very entrepreneurial and innovative. Both Singapore and Hong Kong are small, but they are giants in efficiency, productivity and economic importance. Small and medium entrepreneurs may not be economic giants, but they can be the most efficient, profitable and economically important catalysts for national progress. I wish to measure our success as bankers not only in terms of asset size, financial resources or profits, but by our positive contributions to the proliferation of more small and medium entrepreneurs nationwide.