Holy Week reflections
Holy Week.Time to reflect. I know and I can feel that the almighty God is still writing my story.And yours too. The biblical age of a human being is seventy. And if you’re a strong septuagenarian, it is the belief that you’ll reach eighty. And at eighty and if given more years, those are bonuses. It is said life can be summarized as one big cycle, but somehow after making it's round it will snap to make an end. It means the travel is complete. My life, yours and anybody,is three parts. The past, the present and the future.
There were more hardships than comfort when I was young since I was born at the time our country was devastated by the war. The comfort I had was I came from a loving family of nine siblings, with a very caring mother and a spoiling father despite the lack of material wealth. We were all sent to school, and luckily I chose the pontifical university which somehow gave the road map to trek a future. I became a media person. There is no regret until today. My being a media person gave me the needed tools how to grope into realities of life. It gave spices. It posed challenges. It gave rewards. within that time frame I became Max Sangil.
I was an ad man, hotel and casino manager, printer, businessman, public relation man, government information officer, columnist, radio-TV commentator, corporate man, being director of some of the biggest private ( Lucio Tan's Philippine National Bank and the Ayala's Fort Bonifacio Development
Corporation) and government owned controlled corporations like Clark Development Corporation, Clark International Airport Corporation, Bases Conversion Development Corporation, Poro Point Management Corporation, Bataan Technological Park Inc and BCDA Management Holdings Inc. I was a long time serving city councilor, vice mayor for one day and city mayor via succession for more than four
months. That was in 1998.
It is a spinning cycle. Pray to God that the snapping will come much later. ladder to achieve meaningful personal success is stiff, but I needed focus, patience, determination and perseverance, and my family as my perpetual inspiration. I am mighty proud that I had in my life so many friends, in social,political and business and in many places. In a corporate world where I tackled issues with the best minds in the corporate world where their sheepskins pasted on the wall came from the best economic schools all over the world. I went to places like Lousville, Kentucky with Manny Angeles and convinced the UPS people that Clark is a better hub than China, Vietnam and Thailand. I went three times with the late Levi Laus at the headquarters of Samsung in Seoul, Korea and haggled for the putting up an investment in Clark. Again with Laus in Korea for Sun Valley to invest in a tourism related establishments in the Freeport. I was in London with Alex Caugiran and discussed for two days with the Transport Ministry of the British government for air services rights. I was with Chichos Luciano and Nestor Mangio when we invited Singapore Airlines to put up a MRO facility in Clark.
So many tiring travels and exhausting panel discussions. In all these, and many more I thanked God daily that I did my best and that the derived benefits cascaded down to many people, workers and businessmen those living particularly on adjacent areas like Angeles City, Mabalacat, Bamban and Porac. The most gratifying is when I see people, kids playing, young lovers exchanging sweet nothings at the Bayanihan Park. It was an idea brought forth in a CDC board meeting to compel SM Mall owners to advance P70 million for the development of the park, the drainage and the roads around it. There are more stories I am proud to write but the space will not permit it. This is no way bragging, but listing accomplishments for my apos to read and be proud of me.