Fifty years ago, on July 28, 1959, a fresh chemical engineering graduate of De La Salle College reported for work at the Republic Glass Corp. in barrio Pinagbuhatan, Pasig. Little did Rhett Ermita know that he would stay with the organization for half a century, never wavering in his decision to stick to it, and be part of its history and evolution into a processor of high value glass products. He rose from the ranks — first as laboratory analyst then to engineer, then to technical manager, production manager, vice president for manufacturing, then to executive vice president, president, and finally to chairman.
Today, at 70, he is not retiring, and the company considers him too good an asset to let go of. Rhett says, “I am happy, I’ve always been happy with my job. This has been my life, and I feel I have lived my life fully.”
He had just finished college and taken the chemical engineering board exam when his professor, Geronimo Velasco, invited him to apply at the glass company. Velasco was then company project director, and later became Minister of Energy. Rhett was one of the ten board exam topnotchers, and immediately he began working as a laboratory analyst at RGC.
Rhett recalls in his class yearbook that is still to be published, “Over the years, I became part of the team that pioneered in flat glass manufacturing and in the upgrading into various levels of manufacturing technology .The corporation was transformed from a producer of basic commodity glass into a processor of higher value glass products.’’ In 2001, Asahi Glass Company of Japan took over the company, and it is now part of the Asahi Glass Company Global Enterprise with operations in Europe and North America.
Glass-making was in a stage of development during Rhett’s first years with RGC. The old vertical process then in use was so complicated that there were times when the glass kept breaking the whole day. Sometimes the young engineer ran out of solutions; he would pray for answers on what to do. “Sometimes my solutions worked, and sometimes not.” The vertical glass manufacturing process, which was more of an art rather than a science, was so difficult that sometimes he came home with some burns on his arms.
The development of “float glass” technology made things easier. But Rhett had become so enamored with his job and the company and savored the challenges and difficult lessons he learned, that he decided to stay with it — even when another company offered to double his salary. The travails he went through made him feel part of the company’s success.
If Rhett’s loyalty is remarkable, so is his optimistic nature. His loyalty and optimism are intertwined. He is popularly known among his colleagues and friends as the “bionic man.” Aside from surviving the demands of managing the country’s top glass factory, he survived major medical procedures — a kidney transplant done by Dr. Enrique Ona in 1992, and before that, an angioplasty by Dr. Richard Myler at the Seton Hospital in Daly City. He also underwent a quintuple bypass in 1996 while on vacation, and another angioplasty in 2004, and still some other minor surgical operations. A few days after each procedure, he was raring to go back to work — and the golf course.
Rhett learned the value of hard work and perseverance early. His father was a physician in Balayan, Batangas, and his mother was a Magnolia dairy products distributor, but their income was barely enough to support eight children. Rhett and his older brother worked as gasoline boys in a cousin’s gas station, and Rhett sold ice drop and popsicles that brought him to barrio fiestas — this he enjoyed because he was fun-loving, cheerful, and made friends easily. For every ten centavo item he sold, he got one centavo.
He had simple dreams. He wished he could go to Manila, and far-away Baguio City. When he did get to Manila, it was to study at De La Salle College. He did not dream about going out of the country, although he would later go around the world several times with his wife, the former Isabelita “Belle” Hechanova of Negros Occidental.
Rhett is a survivor in the truest sense of the word. In his 50 years with the company, he survived not only major surgeries, but also six floods, two earthquakes, and two labor strikes. In one labor strike, his family, who lived inside the factory compound, was held hostage, and a chopper had to be hired to get them out of harm’s way.
His wife Belle recalls that when she and Rhett got married on July 4, 1964, his salary was P800 a month, with free housing and electricity. She still keeps his payroll records.
Rhett’s dedication to work rubbed off on his five children. He and Belle taught them the value of education — and hard work, and sent them to the best schools. The eldest daughter, Ma. Isabel “Jingle” Alejandrino, works at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Renato “Dingdong” is chief operating officer of National University. Vincent “Ting” is president of Vittrade Co; Victor “Tootsie” is an ophthalmologist, and the youngest, Karla, works with Robinson Corporation.
Rhett finds time for his advocacies. He has been a Rotarian for 30 years, a Kiwanian, a Christian Family Movement officer, and a Knight of Columbus. He is currently president of the Kidney Foundation of the Philippines, vice-president of the Federation of Philippine Industries — Glass Industries (FPI), and national president of the Flat Glass Alliance of the Philippines, Inc. (FGAPI).
Given a second chance, Rhett declares that he would gladly relive and cherish the 70 years that God has given him in service to his fellowmen. This, he says, is “what the Lasallian education afforded me. Animo La Salle.”
* * *
My e-mail: dominimt2000@yahoo.com