Children of the future
MANILA, Philippines - The summit has given me an overdose of inspiration,” says Jenica Dizon, a delegate from the Ateneo de Manila University. “As a student leader, there have been countless times when I get overwhelmed by various responsibilities.”
Last Aug. 16, the Aboitiz Future Leaders Business Summit (AFLBS) commenced in Cebu. It’s been about three weeks since the conference, and Jenica shared her insights on how the summit has shaped her into the student leader she is today. “Hearing Aboitiz family members and executives candidly share about their journey to success and the challenges they encountered along the way was very encouraging.”
The AFLBS is an annual event that gathers some (if not most) of the brightest minds in the country. After months of waiting and processing, the 88 delegates’ acceptance into the two-day summit is their pay-off. They’re the cream of the academic crop, and they were mentored on how to push their skills even further. That’s the advantage of being in the summit: they got a front row look at the business conduct and practices of one of the most successful companies in the country.
Throughout the summit, the delegates all got a chance to learn about the Aboitizes, meet the other delegates and get a feel of what the summit is really about.
A student takes a photo of the Instagram gallery of the Persimmon condominiums taken by iGersCebu. A look into the AboitizES
One thing that confused me most about the high-profile Aboitiz family is how low profile they can be. When we visited Don Ramon’s (patriarch of the Aboitiz group) ancestral home, the young delegates and the media weren’t at all allowed to take photos of the premises. The tour guide explained that aside from the strong protection of their reputation, their privacy is also something of a gem to them. They were very keen on expanding their empire like any good businessmen would, but they intend to keep their family life separate.
Fading pictures of the Aboitizes’ past adorned the walls of the old home. Family portraits of Don Ramon and his wife Lolita were amongst many of the few photographed. The makeshift museum held many memories for the Aboitizes — one they wish people would take on with respectful admiration.
The present Aboitiz hope is to carry on the Don Ramon’s legacy with their work ethic and practices today. Starting the AFLBS was almost an organic decision; a move that made sense to them.
Jon Ramon, the chairman of the Aboitiz Equity Ventures said, “The reason why we do this (AFLBS) is because we want to encourage them (the delegates) and what we do is we share with them the values and the experiences that we’ve had and we want to tell them, “Hey look, you’ve got a great future. You’re smart boys and girls, you have the right attitude.” There’s so much that can be done and achieved and our country needs young men and women like them. (We want) to create a passion to play the vision for what they would like to do in the future.”
The 7th Aboitiz Future Leaders Business Summit
The 20-something university representative were obvious go-getters; not only were they working on the cases given to them for the summit, but some of them were also using their down time to catch up on work for school on Wednesday. They were seriously determined to go the extra extra mile. It was crazy. Even the theme for this year’s summit, “Significantly Changing My Philippines”fit their go-getter personas to the teeth. Truth be told, I felt a little bad about myself for not having the moxie to make a gigantic gesture for enticing national movement, but Godofredo Martin from the University of the Cordilleras says that big gestures aren’t always the way.
“As I am a student right now, what I can do is change myself in order for the people to see that, even if this person who isn’t so well-known…could actually make a difference by doing small things…by looking for opportunities where he could practice his good values.”
The delegates’ knowledge were tested on the business cases given by the AFLBS. But help came in the form of several speakers from RockEd’s Gang Badoy and the Aboitiz executives. “The most important thing I learned (from the speakers) was focused strategy. Even though we have priorities, we have to focus on the one thing most important to us,” says Michaela Golajer from the University of San Carlos. The AFLBS was a chance for the delegates both to best other teams, as well as to have a fun time getting to know everyone else.
Three days down, and it was done. “I’m going to miss the community siguro, the people. It’s exciting. It’s rare to be part of a community such as this,” said University of the Philippines Diliman student, Joe Enriquez .
The students hit the closing of the summit on a high note. They left the warm and friendly city of Cebu imbued with newfound drive and elan; hopefully, characteristics that will play a part in their possible roles as change-makers of our country.
