The Lina legacy

Tomorrow is a special day not only for business executive Bert Lina, who’s celebrating his 64th birthday, but also for Philippine sports which has been a beneficiary of his unbridled support for 15 years.

Lina began his love affair with sports in 1997 when he owned the Laguna Lakers franchise in the MBA. Two years later, he was team manager of the Philippine squad that captured the gold medal in basketball at the Southeast Asian Games in Brunei. In 2002, Lina began his journey in the PBA with FedEx. That same year, he revived the Tour of Luzon by calling it the FedEx Express Tour, later Tour Pilipinas, Golden Tour, Padyak Pinoy and now, on its first decade, Le Tour de Filipinas with a global cast and sanction by the Union Cycliste Internationale.

Lina has also sponsored PBL teams like Mail and More and Burger King. While he is a champion golfer with five holes-in-one under his belt, Lina is most passionate about his love for basketball and cycling. In the PBA, he owns the Air21 franchise and co-owns Barako Bull with George Chua. One of his biggest thrills was when Air21, coached by Bo Perasol, made it to the PBA 2007-08 Fiesta Conference finals even as the Express lost in the seven-game series. This year, Lina launched the “Higanteng Gilas” point guard academy which he hopes will develop relatively tall home-grown quarterbacks for overseas competition.

Lina is the second of 12 children born to Jose Sr., a teacher, and Dionisia. As a professional, he worked several years for a multinational company involved in freight forwarding until June 21, 1979. “My contract was not renewed on that day by the Board where I belonged to the minority,” recounted Lina, an honors graduate of the Philippine School of Business Administration, a Most Outstanding Manilan awardee and recipient of the Papal Award Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice from the Archdiocese of Manila. “In effect, I was terminated. At the time, I lived a comfortable life. I was travelling a lot for the company and I had three cars. But I was only an employee. That led me to do things on my own. If I didn’t get fired, I wouldn’t have created my own group of companies. I saw the opportunity in freight and I built my businesses around it. I’ll never forget 21 because that was the day when I opened a new chapter in my life.”

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Lina now controls over 10 companies, including Air Freight 2100, DOS-1 or 21 (the acronym for Dynamic Outsource Solutions, Inc.) and GO21 (a bike messengerial service). His other business concerns include Burger King (where he is chairman and a partner of PLDT chairman Manny V. Pangilinan and the Jollibee group), Waste and Resource Management (WARM), Mail and More, Corporate Air and Shopinas, an e-commerce or internet trading outfit.

“Those who work with and for Mr. Lina know he’s a hands-on executive, a visionary and a dedicated family man,” said Allan Gregorio, the Lina Group’s sports director. “He likes to stay in touch with his employees. Every day, he walks up and down four floors of the Cargo House Building and visits every floor. It’s about 800 square meters of space for each floor. It’s his way of interacting with the people, finding out what’s going on. I call it management by walking. Everyone loves Mr. Lina.”

Lina has four children, all daughters – April, 37, Donna Mae, 35, Sheila, 30 and Bertha, 25 – -and two grandchildren, Andrea, 9, and Alwynne, 6, with his wife of nearly 40 years, Sylvia Pacheco. His daughter April is married to PBA cager Wynne Arboleda while Donna Mae is married to restaurant owner Kenneth Clavier. Sheila is the Air 21 PBA governor. Bertha plays varsity football for UP. The entire family will leave for Japan to celebrate Lina’s birthday this coming week.

“On the day of his birthday, Mr. Lina will host the traditional ABL golf tournament,” said Gregorio. “It’s an occasion for Mr. Lina to get together with his friends. I remember that when he once won a car for a hole-in-one, he gave it as a prize to the winner of the Biggest Loser contest in the Lina Group. Maybe, he’ll hit a hole-in-one again on his birthday.”

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Gregorio said Lina’s passion for sports is consuming. “He loves sports and if only he could, he would watch every game in the PBA,” said Gregorio. “We in the Lina Group are lucky that our boss believes in sports as a vehicle to develop self-confidence, discipline and teamwork. He’s an inspiration, role model and shining example of a captain of industry who is God-fearing, compassionate and driven. I wish he enjoys the fruits of his labor and see the day his team wins a PBA championship and a Filipino cyclist getting a chance to compete in the Tour de France.”

Here are birthday messages for Lina.

Wynne Arboleda –“I wish for him good health and continued success sa lahat ng business niya at nagpapasalamat ako sa lahat ng blessings na naibigay niya sa aking pamilya.”

Air21 coach Franz Pumaren – “Wishing you continued good health and success in all your endeavors and may you be blessed more as you always continue giving back to others. More power to you and your family. Thank you for being supportive of Air21 and our needs. God bless!”

Barako Bull PBA governor Manny Alvarez- – “The age of 64 is a Beatles milestone (When I’m 64) to Bert, my boss, my partner, my friend. May you have another 64 years of good health and blessings and may you continue sharing the fruits of your success with the rest of mankind.”