Son shine: How Vic Batungbacal made his parents proud

It was hardly a charmed life for this scion who eventually graduated with a BS Math/Computer Science degree from the Ateneo de Manila University. When he was only 14 years old, he would be taken by his dad  (the late Guillermo T. Batungbacal) to the family business Asiaphil, where he was assigned to the factory floor that manufactured electrical switchgears. 

During one summer, he was sent to work at the Asia Brewery plant in Cabuyao, Laguna. He would  get up early every morning to catch the 7 a.m.  bus and travel two and a half hours to Cabuyao. His duty was to count the number of deliveries of dump trucks that were bringing in sand into the construction area of the brewery. When his father suffered a stroke in 1983, his whole summer was spent in Mindoro to tend to his father’s properties there. With only the family driver as companion and some allowance for public transportation, it was there when he started to learn how to deal with people from all walks of life.  He had his first taste of business, or shall we say, negotiating, when he sold some of his father’s properties in Mindoro. His father was not afraid to expose him,  he allowed him to make decisions, and if he made mistakes, that was fine.

His late mother Filomena Tancungco was an enterprising woman. All the vendors in Sta. Mesa market owed her money, so she hoarded beef, pork and chicken in two chest freezers in their home. Vic Batungbacal sold the meat to his mother’s mahjong players, to the Ateneo college cafeteria and to friends. His entrepreneurial savvy would encourage him to look for other sources of products to sell. He would  drive to Balayan, Batangas just to buy all the banagan (local lobster) to sell to the French restaurant du jour of the late ‘70s, Au Bon Vivant, Hard Rock Café and The Peninsula Manila. He would carry his supplies in a crate through a steep and narrow flight of stairs. He was not ashamed to get his hands dirty. From all those, he would earn P300 weekly, just enough to take his college sweetheart to a decent date at Gene’s Bistro. In the mid-1980s, that was a splurge.

Before graduating from college in 1986, he was hired by  IBM as a channels marketing representative. After that he worked with his father at their mango plantation in Zambales, but that didn’t work out. He then joined Yutivo Corp. in Binondo to start their computer training department. Finally, in 1988, upon his father’s request, he joined his father again in Asiaphil. 

Today, 25 years later, he no longer works at the factory floor. He is now president and CEO of the company that started  out as an electrical supplies and installations company, founded on July 11, 1973. In September, he shall have worked in Asiaphil for 25 years.

The challenge of working for Asiaphil in the beginning entailed running a financially-distressed company. Asiaphil was operating under a regime of negative equity. The business environment was difficult because of high bank interest rates, no available loans and limited business opportunities. Moreover, this was the time for the transition of the business from the first generation to the second generation. All these were overcome with much effort. Through it all, Vic found time to enroll in an MBA course in the Ateneo (1990 to 1993) and to work for government as a member of the Board of Administrators of the National Electrification Administration (1998 to 2001).

Next month, Asiaphil turns 40.

“Asiaphil fulfills power needs! From power substations to transmission line assets to power distribution facilities to the electrical needs of factories, malls and high-rise buildings, Asiaphil  is  ever present in the Philippines and around Asia. We make sure of the products and systems we supply, but at the same time, ensure the safety of the community. As long as there is continued growth, Asiaphil will play a significant role in nation-building,” says Vic.

It was not an easy task for Vic, and he attributes the success of the company to his loyal employees and of course, to the support of his family. And of course — hard work, lots and lots of it.

Family to Vic is his college sweetheart, the former Rina Narvasa, with whom he raised three children — Robie, Aldo and Bea. In his free time, Vic enjoys spending time with them, going to their beach house, watching movies, eating out and travelling.  He makes it a point to organize at least one trip a year with all of his four siblings and their families. With regard to the third generation, he thinks that the opportunities nowadays are vastly different from those during his time, so he finds that he is restrained from raising his own children exactly the way he was. 

When under stress from work, he dreams about trading jobs with Anthony Bourdain or Adam Richman, but growing older has meant having to lessen and control the one thing he really enjoys — eating!

What are his plans for the future? For now, their dream retirement house is in the works. Since he and Rina got married in 1992, they have lived very happily in the Narvasa compound. 

With regard to the business, Vic says he does not see himself still at the helm when Asiaphil turns 50. “I see Asiaphil Group being led by younger, more capable leaders. My role? I become their coach! And watch satisfactorily while the business grows further. Isn’t that what a successful Asiaphil should be?”

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