Riding all the way to the top

October 11, 2008

by: Candice Tijam

In every rollercoaster ride, there will always be a fair number of ups and downs. But for Tita Puangco, riding her life seem to be more of the ups –or maybe that’s just how she treated each fall.

At 58, Tita still has that spark of enthusiasm as she welcomed me with a wide and friendly smile for the interview. Her simplicity was seen clearly as at that time, she was about to have her merienda break and took out a sandwich and a banana from a big lunch box.

Tita D. Puangco grew up in a small town in Tarlac with a big family with 4 sisters and 2 brothers. She found her childhood very enjoyable for she was an active and adventurous person among her siblings. She was named “escape artist” since she loved to escape household chores and go lakwacha all day. She would often hobnob through the small streets that led to the town. Compared to her sisters who were more of the conservative and high society type, she indeed saw life as an exciting adventure and developed many friends. Because she didn’t like cooking, cleaning the house, and only mastered washing plates, she did only minimum house work. But don’t think she only loved to make excuses, hang out and do nothing. No one ever viewed her as a lazy girl, because she always excelled in school. She was always at the top of her class and was a scholar up to high school.

 

She took up Journalism in the University of Santo Tomas and graduated as magna cum laude. Thinks she’s just all brains? Tita was like a 10-in-1 kind of girl, an energetic and a passionate student that she also became the president of Central Board of Students, now known better as Central Student Council. She found happiness in mass action inside the campus especially that it was the Marcos era; she joined in protesting against the 1st quarter storm when many were switching as leftists. Not to forget her writing skills, she was at the same time the associate editor of the Flame, the student publication of the Faculty of Arts and Letters. She fondly joked about not wanting to go back to the province. “I have to preserve my honors or else my father will ask me to go back to the province, and that will really be misery for me, di ba?” Tita laughed.

As she grew older, she spent ten years doing mass media work, from feature writer, radio producer-announcer, training officer to film and TV producer. “I really love it, every day may action, laging may action and you always get to be updated with the news,” Tita shared.

Then one day in her hectic-scheduled lifestyle, a blessing disguised as a car accident, provided that sudden turn to a better path. It was the biggest challenge for her because she obtained a fracture in the right leg.
She was not able to work and walk, and stayed in bed for 10 months. She felt wanting to go to work, “remember malikot ako, I like to be active but then I heard God’s voice saying, dyan ka lang Tita, dyan ka sa kama,” she recalled.

Despite her critical condition, she considered those times as the most precious 10 months of her life. She shared that aside from the advantage of having a paid vacation, she had a lot of time for herself –crocheted, embroidered and read a lot of books but above all, she realized what is important. “Akala ko dati what’s important is making money for myself and family and building relationships,” she said. But she found out that doing the will of god is the most important and not pursuing your own will. Tita told me that if she followed her own will, which was mostly making lakawacha and living a happy-go-lucky life, she will never see her true purpose.

At that time she was the head of the Regional operations of media production center and on their way home, bad weather brewed but Tita ignored it, placed her faith in the driver and did not wait for the next day for she was in a hurry to get back to Manila. The couple that bumped into their ride died and their car got ditched.

“The Lord told me, from now on you will never travel unless it is My will, unless it is the will of God, you check with me every time you travel.”

“The Lord told me, you can die anytime, ang buhay mo ay di sayo. Life is not yours, do not be self-centered. Life has to be at the service of family and other people,” Tita said.

Meeting the Chiara Lubich’s Focolare Movement at 22 years old made a big change in her life. When the accident happened, Tita was already married with one child. She realized active life is not meant for married people. So she reflected, “Lord, ano ba gusto mo sa akin?”

Her prayers were answered when surprisingly San Miguel Corporation invited her to become as organization development consultant. Tita was shocked at the offer. “What kind of animal is that?” she kidded and laughed vigorously.

She pondered upon it and concluded that probably the company based her great skills in organizing and in the classified training background as a scholar of Communications at the University of Chicago, Michigan state in Indiana.

“When God loves you, He shows you that you’ll be ok here,” Tita said happily.
She eventually resigned from the media world, and started her first year in San Miguel Corp. with a desk job. At first, she found it boring for she had to go to work at 5am and just sit all day. The job was complete opposite to Tita’s personality but she realized it was part of doing will of god. It was time for her to live a tamer life.

Tita was clueless but she focused and studied well. After 2 years, she finally became manager of her group in San Miguel Corp. Five more years passed, when she ran into an old acquaintance from the National Students of the Philippines who is currently working in the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) in Ayala.

She then became busy rushing from one meeting to another as the vice president executive for public relations, head of training and development center and also the director of the BPI Foundation. Tita was tight with jam-packed schedules. She found herself responsible for so many people while making money for herself and her family. BPI sent her to study at the Asian Institute of Management, wherein she turned out to be a professor.

From vice president of BPI, she made that jump to entrepreneurship and started a business, currently with 50 people involved, based of 700 clients.

Tita Puangco is now the founder and chief executive officer of Ancilla, enterprise development consulting. It was founded 18 years ago, after she met the Economy of Communion, which was the direction of the Chiara Lubich Focolare movement. It was said that Chiara Lubich urged the people that have the capability to set up enterprises and businesses wherein the profits will be shared. It aims that one part of it will go to the poor, another part to create structures to spread the Gospel, and one third to be brought back to the enterprise –to be re-invested so that the enterprise would grow.

When she was asked about her secrets to success, she comically answered, “Mahirap ata yan ah”.

“The first one is to know what the will of god is for you, to listen to that voice: Should I stay here, should I move? Consult the boss in your life. As for me, God is my boss.

Second, is to prepare yourself well, study and work hard, hard and smart, because of my preparations and excelling in studies, opportunity just come to you,” she explained.

Tita said that it’s just a series of events that will help you in reaching one’s purpose. As for her if she did not excel in college, enter media, and attained scholarship abroad, San Miguel would not be interested.

“Opportunities are created because you are prepared and capable. I am still a learner, to be a continuous learner is very important. Excel in everything, whatever you do, you do it well,” Tita noted.

As a writer, her phrasing and work was very good and close to perfect that the only thing that her editor corrects are commas and periods. That’s why Tita practices the same demand from people.

Tita too provided an advice for Journalism students:
“Journalism is a very solid background for it is knowing how to express oneself. It is a fundamental grasp of the language and that is important in any career you want to pursue. You have got to excel, there are many good writers out there. One is to live a faith-based life, to become Christian writers, to master their craft… if I was to choose among 5 people, the one who shows mastery will get it. Magaling ang mga Thomasians, have faith and let God lead the way for you. Put Him in the center of life and you will never get lost.

“Study well, there are 3 types of work: one is the palpak na trabaho, the other one is the pwede na and third is the pulido, may degrees eh, so go for the pulido! The person who goes for it will always find success. Do not to measure how much you make; money is just one of the indicators. I’m not saying you don’t run for money, you do. But the bigger measure is how many people are you able to serve and serve well.”

Tita also writes a weekly column for The Philippine Daily Inquirer.

She insists that success also should not be particular with gender in terms of capability. In her opinion in terms of mental set, “women are more none-threatening”. What is essential is “to honor diversity in work, to love all, it doesn’t matter rich or poor, sometimes my children complain about the workers in the business, so I tell them you have to be able to help them rather than to put them down.”

Tita was very religious and ended the interview by sharing the email she sent her children, entitled: Advice for wonderful children at work. It said, as we try to do perfect work, Jesus is in us, He is being expressed. The Jesus in others may be not prepared. Their attitude may not be healthy, some smoke drink and gossip. In this journey of life, some are still trying to perfect himself to become Jesus. God never gives up on us, why should you give up on others? St. John of the cross said, if you don’t find love, put love and you will find love.
Tita joyfully concluded, “In the workplace, we have to live a Christian life. Jesus is not outside of the workplace.”