Tony Tan Caktiong

Tony Tan Caktiong is the founder and current Chairman and CEO of Philippine fast food chain Jollibee. He graduated from the University of Santo Tomas with a degree in chemical engineering. Caktiong had initially planned an ice cream parlor when he founded Jollibee, then subsequently added additional dishes such as hamburgers, french fries, and fried chicken. Food and family are two essential elements behind the success of both Tony Tan Caktiong and his company, Jollibee Foods Inc.

While growing up in Davao (Southern Mindanao), he and his brothers worked in their family restaurant where their father was also the chef. From his parents, they learned two basic ingredients that led to the Jollibee phenomenon -- good food and humility. After high school, Mr. Tan Caktiong moved back to Manila to pursue an engineering course at the University of Santo Tomas. Upon graduating from the university, he and his brothers applied for a franchise of Magnolia Ice Cream House.

The business was already doing well but they noticed that the customers were looking for something besides ice cream. This gave them the idea to serve sandwiches and spaghetti. Pretty soon, the hot meals were outselling the frozen delights. Mr. Tan Caktiong decided to convert their two ice cream parlors into dine-in fast-food restaurants called "Jollibee." The story behind the name is as interesting as the company's. When Mr. Tan Caktiong and his family were brainstorming on a symbol for their business, they thought of a bee because it is known for its hard work. Bees also produce honey that represents the sweet things in life. In addition, they also wanted the name to connote happiness and prefixed "jolly" because people should be happy with their work to enjoy it. . With Jollibee, the Tan Caktiong team decided to focus on the Filipino taste. They made sure -- as their father had taught them -- that all the food that Jollibee serves must taste good.

And when they learned that the Number One fastfood chain in the world was making an entry in the Philippines, Mr. Tan Caktiong knew that they had only two choices: to be a franchise of the global brand or to stand on its own.

Today, it is a known fact that Jollibee is the undisputed leader in the local fastfood industry. Jollibee

commands 65% of the market, leading in three major segments -- Jollibee in chicken and burgers; Chowking in oriental fast food; and Greenwich in pizza and pasta.

Moreover, Jollibee is one of the largest franchising networks in the Philippines. From two stores in 1975, Jollibee can be found in around 900 locations in the country and 29 overseas. This phenomenon is due mainly to Mr. Tan Caktiong's persistent drive to innovate, to look ahead, and to learn from other companies' successes and mistakes. He is the toughest quality controller of Jollibee's products and services.

At the moment, Mr. Tan Caktiong is upbeat about doing business in China and Indonesia. Jollibee will explore opportunities in the Japanese dining segment through the US California-based Tomi's Teriyaki Japanese Restaurant.

He is not afraid to fail despite an unsuccessful venture in the Middle East. From a business standpoint, he considers the episode successful because of the valuable lessons he learned form it.

For his tremendous success, Mr. Tan Caktiong was recognized Management Man of the Year in 2002. He has also been presented an Agora Award for Outstanding Marketing Achievement, a Triple A Alumni Award from the Asian Institute of Management, a Golden Scroll Award, a Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Award for Entrepreneurship, a Star of Asia Award from BusinessWeek, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Asian Chain Restaurant Operators and Suppliers Series.

Mr. Tan Caktiong credits his parents for cultivating his entrepreneurial spirit and instilling in him the values of respect and humility, which are now ingrained in the corporate culture of Jollibee. Everyone in Jollibee -- from the CEO to a store's kitchen crew -- respectfully address each other as "Sir" or "Ma'am."

"If you take care of your people, they will take care of you," Mr. Tan Caktiong puts simply.

By people, he refers not only to employees but also to Jollibee's numerous suppliers, franchisees, shareholders and the public at large.

After all that has been said and done in the last 25 years since Jollibee metamorphosed from an ice cream parlor, Mr. Tan Caktiong returns again and again to the one basic question his parents would ask often of him: Have you made people happy? Only when he is certain that he has made people happy can Mr. Tan Caktiong say that he is truly successful.

BUSINESS
Jollibee Caktiong founded the fast food chain Jollibee in 1978, after having started it as an ice cream parlor in 1975. Jollibee became a household name in the Philippines even though it went head to head against fast food giant McDonald's. Through expansion and acquisitions of Greenwich Pizza Corp. in 1994 enabling it to penetrate the pizza-pasta segment. From a 50-branch operation, Greenwich has established a strong presence in the food service industry. In early 2006, Jollibee Foods Corp. bought out the remaining shares of its partners in Greenwich Pizza Corp., equivalent to a 20% stake, for P384 million in cash., Chowking in 2000 and Hongzhuangyuan in 2007, he has turned it into one of the largest fast-food chains in the world. As of August 2008, Tan's Jollibee has a total of 1,480 stores worldwide including Jollibee, Red Ribbon, Chowking, Greenwich, Manong Pepe's and Tita Frita's Uling Uling.

Eduardo Cojuangco Jr.

Eduardo Murphy Cojuangco, Jr. (born June 10, 1935), also known as Danding Cojuangco, is the chairman of San Miguel Corporation, the largest food and beverage corporation in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, former Philippine ambassador, and former governor of Tarlac. He was a candidate for the Philippine presidency in 1992, ultimately losing to Fidel V. Ramos. He tested the political waters in 2003, planning to run in the 2004 Presidential and Local Elections, but soon withdrew. He was a close adviser and personal friend to former President Ferdinand E. Marcos, which led him to become estranged from his cousin, Corazon Aquino, who after Marcos' ouster succeeded him as president. Cojuangco is of partial Irish, Spanish, and Chinese descent. Cojuangco was a member of the Rolex 12, a group of 12 men who were closest to Marcos and allegedly were his enforcers of Martial Law. He is also an honorary member of PMA Class 1951. Cojuangco also was accused by the military men at the scene of Benigno Aquino, Jr.'s assassination, as the leader who orchestrated the crime. He is currently the chairman emeritus of the Nationalist People's Coalition, the party he founded in 1992 which served as his vehicle to further his aspirations in the1992 presidential elections. He was also an advocate for sports in the country through using his company as sponsors for various events. He is notable for supporting basketball in a huge way since the 1980s as a basketball godfather for President Marcos with the famed Northern Consolidated teams of coach Ron Jacobs and the three SMC owned teams currently playing in the Philippine Basketball Association (the flagship San Miguel Beermen, the Barangay Ginebra Kings, and the Derby Ace Llamados).

He studied at San Beda College, De La Salle University, University of the Philippines, Los Baos and California State College. Besides English and Tagalog, he speaks Ilocano, the dialect of his mother and Kapampangan, the original dialect of the Cojuangcos. He is mostly photographed wearing plaid shirts or traditional Filipino formal wear, the Barong Tagalog. He is married to Soledad "Gretchen" Oppen, eldest child of Ernesto "Caruso" Montilla Oppen and Margarita Lichauco Cuyugan. She is heiress to the Montillahaciendas of Negros Occidental and Lichauco properties in Manila and Pasay such as the Cartimar. He and Soledad have 2 daughters and 2 sons: Margarita "Tina" Cojuangco Barrera, social advocate Luisa "Lisa" Cojuangco Cruz, businessman Carlos Roberto "Charlie" Cojuangco and Marcos Bruno "Mark" Cojuangco, a congressman of Pangasinan province and sponsor of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. He is the eldest child of the late governor of Tarlac at the beginning of World War II, Don Eduardo "Endeng Lalake" Chichioco Cojuangco who was a nephew of the legendary Doa Ysidra "Sidra / YC" Cojuangco y Estrella, and his Ilocana-Irish Canadian American wife, the late Doa Josephine "Nene" Murphy of Benguet, a former Miss Baguio titlist. His parents met in Paris, eloped and were married in the family chapel of La Ermita in Barrio Matalapitap, Paniqui, Tarlac Province, with no less than his father's aunt Doa Ysidra Cojuangco y Estrella and Paniqui town mayor and relative Agustin del Valle y Estrella as wedding sponsors (Agustin's mother, Eugenia, is a sister of Ysidra's mother, Antera), and with the blessing of Josephine's mother, Gregoria Beley, an Ilocana. Mr. Cojuangco is proud of his Chinese Filipino heritage. His maternal grandfather, the Spanish-American war soldier and Alhambra Theater owner John J. Murphy, was against his only daughter's marriage to Danding's father, whom he described using a Chinese racial slur. Upon hearing this, the young Danding slashed his grandfather's car tires. His siblings include Mercedes "Ditas" Cojuangco Teodoro (former Philippine assemblywoman to the Batasang Pambansa), philanthropist Isabel Cojuangco Suntay, Aurora "Rory" Cojuangco Lagdameo, beverage supplier Enrique "Henry" Cojuangco and pearl trader/orchid planter Manuel "Manoling" Cojuangco. He is known in his generation as one of the dearest grand nephews of the respected Doa Ysidra Cojuangco y Estrella (d. 1963) who herself built the family fortune by amassing over 36,000 hectares of arable land at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Due to his father's early death from kidney failure and meager access to the Cojuangco clan's financial resources, Mr. Cojuangco grew up fast and without the trappings of wealth. He worked while he was in high school such as a gasoline boy, he studied Agriculture in college (then an unfashionable course) and he was prodded to manage their struggling (Interwood and Ang Tibay) lumber businesses at a very young age. To this day, he continues to oversee the preservation of the family plot, the YC Compound, in Barrio Matalapitap, Paniqui, Tarlac Province, where the current mayor is Miguel "Dors" Cojuangco Rivilla (son of Doa Lourdes "Lulu" Cojuangco, who was the only surviving daughter of the unfortunate Dr. Antonio Cojuangco. Dors's father was the very handsome Spanish mestizo Luis Tirso Rivilla of Pasay and the Ormoc Sugar Central). He is head of the Eduardo Cojuangcos, one of three surviving branches of the family. (The senior branch are the Jose Cojuangcos. The middle branch are the Antonio Cojuangcos. The Juan Cojuangco branch died out in the 1970s.) While the Jose Cojuangcos remained in Central Luzon and the Antonio Cojuangcos established themselves in Makati and Manila, Danding Cojuangco branched out his business interests in Pangasinan, Negros Occidental, Iloilo, Isabela and Cagayan, as well as Australia, Vietnam, and Chinacreating a diversified portfolio. Philippine conglomerates identified with Danding Cojuangco (besides San Miguel Corporation) are Bank of Commerce, United Coconut Planters Bank, Jewelmer, ECJ Farms, Hacienda San Fernando, Hacienda Santa Isabel, Hacienda Balbina, Hacienda Araal, Hacienda San Antonio, Hacienda Balatong, Hacienda Cainaman, Hacienda Nieva, Hacienda Candelaria y Caridad, Hacienda Soledad, Hacienda Bonifacia,Hacienda Adelina, Hacienda Santa Fe, Purefoods, and Del Monte Philippines. A keen businessman, Danding Cojuangco commandeered cargo ships through Russian and Chinese seas, much to the disappointment of American competitors.

BUSINESS
San Miguel Corporation is the largest publicly listed food, beverage and packaging company in the Philippines. As of 2001, its business generated 3.6 percent of the Philippines' gross domestic product and 4.5 percent of the government's tax revenue. San Miguel is also one of Southeast Asia's leading food, beverage, and packaging companies, and "the dominant player on the domestic market. It has pursued overseas markets for expansion and to "reignite growth" within the group. The company had over 100 major manufacturing facilities in the Philippines, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Australia and exported its products to more than

40 countries outside the Philippines, the "San Miguel name is rarely attributed to anything other than its global brand, San Miguel Beer." Founded in 1890 as a brewery, San Miguel now makes nine out of every 10 bottles of beer, 87 percent of the soft drinks, 60 percent of the processed meat and 40 percent of the poultry sold in the Philippines. The tradename San Miguel originates from St. Michael the archangel. The company has over 100 facilities in the Philippines, Southeast Asia, China, and Australia. Its major operating facilities include five breweries, four glass plants, two metal closure and lithography plants, two plastic case plants, and a coconut oil mill. San Miguel is one of the Philippines' biggest private employers, with over 25,900 employees. The company reported a net income of $171 million in 2005. As of the first half of 2006, the company's net income had grown 15 percent from a year earlier to P4.36 billion ($83.4 million) following the consolidation of its Australian subsidiary, National Foods Ltd.

PRODUCTS
San Miguel Brewery, Inc. San Miguel Brewery, Inc. manufactures and distributes San Miguel Beer Pale Pilsen, the Philippines' No. 1 beer and a leading brand in Hong Kong and South China. The trade-name San Miguel, is from the District of San Miguel in Manila as well it originates from the local brewery of San Miguel, Barcelona, Spain. It is one of the worlds largest-selling beers and is among the top 20 beer brands in the world. Its products include San Miguel Beer Pale Pilsen, San Miguel Light, San Miguel Super Dry, San Miguel Strong Ice, San Miguel Premium Lager, Red Horse Extra Strong Beer, and "Cerveza Negra." San Miguel also produces a wide range of products that are runaway market leaders in their product categories. "Anker Bir" is the second largest-selling beer brand in Indonesia. Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. was incorporated in 1902 by Carlos Palanca Sr. as La Tondea Incorporada. San Miguel acquired a 70-percent stake in the company in 1987 and renamed it La Tondea Distillers Inc. Under San Miguel, La Tondea ventured into the bottled water and fruit juice businesses and became a publicly listed corporation. In 2003, the company's name was again changed to Ginebra San Miguel Inc. Ginebra San Miguel's flagship brand, Ginebra San Miguel, is currently the largest-selling gin brand in the world, with 22 bottles consumed every second in the Philippines. The company also makes the Gran

Matador brandy, Erg alcotonic drink, "Infinit" ready-to-drink alcohol mixes, Tondea Premium rum, GSM Blue variant and the Vino Kulafu Chinese wine. Kulafu is the head of San Miguel Beer Company.

San Miguel-Purefoods Co. Inc. San Miguel-Pure Foods Company, Inc. is the largest Filipino-owned food company, with nearly 3,000 employees deployed in a broad nationwide network of offices, farms, manufacturing, processing and distribution facilities. The Company was formed by Acquiring the stocks of the Ayala's Purefoods-Hormel Company. Purefoods then was one of the competitors of San Miguel before its Acquisition. It holds in its portfolio the names of some of the most formidable brands in the Philippine food industry, among them, Magnolia, Pure Foods, Monterey, Star and Dari Crme (Star and Dari Crme was owned by the Philippine Manufacturing Company-Procter and Gamble Philippines Inc. before acquisition by San Miguel). B-

Meg and Pure Blend, on the other hand, are the market-leaders in the animal feeds industry.
San Miguel Pure Foods' integrated operations range from breeding, contract growing, processing and marketing of chicken, pork and beef to the manufacture of refrigerated, canned and ready-to-cook meat products, butter, cheese, margarine, oils and fats, as well as animal and aquatic feeds. San Miguel Packaging Products San Miguel Packaging Products services many of the region's leading food, pharmaceutical, chemical, beverages and personal care manufacturers. The company serves clients in the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia, among other foreign markets. SMPP manufactures glass bottles, PET bottles, corrugated cartons, flexible packaging, plastic crates and pallets, plastic caps, metal closures and two-piece aluminum libog cans. San Miguel Properties, Inc. Established in 1990, San Miguel Properties, Inc. is a leading developer of residential and commercial real estate in the Philippines. Distinguished by and capitalizing on its blue chip parentage, SMPI is moving towards establishing itself as a market leader in the property sector through mixed-use developments with middleincome housing as its main thrust, property leasing, strategic real estate ventures and corporate real estate services.

Jaime Zobel de Ayala

Jaime Zobel y Fitz (born 1934), also known as Jaime Zobel de Ayala, is a prominent Filipino businessman and philanthropist. He was the last managing partner of Ayala y Compaa in 1967 when the company changed to a corporation. He served as both president and chairman of Ayala Corporation from 1983 to 2005 (succeeding his first cousin, Enrique Zobel). In 2006, Jaime Zobel de Ayala retired as chairman. He is chairman emeritus of the corporation. He has received numerous awards for business leadership and philanthropy.

After early education in the Philippines, Zobel attended Harvard College, where he graduated in 1957 with a Bachelor of Arts in architectural sciences. He attended the Advanced Management Program in the Far East, conducted by the Faculty from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in Baguio City, Philippines in 1963. He is married to Beatriz Miranda Barcon Zobel de Ayala. Together they have seven children. Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, born 1959 and the eldest son, married Elizabeth Eder, great-great granddaughter of theColombian industrial pioneer James Martin Eder. Fernando Zobel de Ayala, born 1960, married Catherine Marie Silverio. Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, is chairman and chief executive officer of Ayala while the younger son, Fernando Zobel de Ayala, is president of the corporation.

BUSINESS
Ayala Corporation is a holding company for the diversified interests of the Ayala Group. Founded in the Philippines by the Spanish and German Ayala,Roxas, and families during colonial rule, it is the oldest and largest conglomerate operating there. The company has a portfolio of diverse business interests, including investments in retail, real estate, banking, telecommunications, electronics, information technology, water infrastructure and management and business process outsourcing. In the late 19th century, Ayala participated in the construction of the Punte de Ayala over the Pasig River in Manila. Built of wood in 1872, the Ayala Bridge was reconstructed in steel in 1908, and was the first steel bridge in the Philippines. In 1888, the corporation introduced the first tramcar service in the Philippines. Ayala was mainly responsible for the development of Makati as the financial district of Manila and the Philippines after World War II. In April 2010, FinanceAsia named Ayala Corporation as the best-managed company in the Philippines, as well as best for corporate governance and best for corporate social responsibility.

Henry Sy
Henry Sy is a Chinese Filipino businessman and the founder of SM Group and chairman of SM Prime Holdings, the largest retailer and shopping mall operator in the Philippines. He earned his Associate of Arts degree in Commercial Studies at Far Eastern University in 1950. Acknowledged as the countrys "Retail King," he has come a long way from the modest shoe store he set up in Quiapo in 1946, to become Asia's biggest shopping mall operator with over 30 malls throughout the Philippines.

Henry Sy, Sr. (born December 25, 1923) is a Chinese Filipino businessman and the founder and chairman of SM Prime Holdings, the largest retailer and shopping mall operator in the Philippines. He earned his Associate of Arts degree in Commercial Studies at Far Eastern University in 1950. Acknowledged as the countrys "Retail King," he has come a long way from the modest shoe store he set up in Quiapo in 1946, to become Asia's biggest shopping mall operator with over 30 malls throughout the Philippines. He is the Philippines' richest man, gaining 1.4 billion dollars in 2007, amid the global financial crisis. The huge gain was due to his holding company, SM Investments Corp., which has interests in Banco de Oro Universal Bank, inter alia. Forbes magazine's 2008 list of 40 wealthiest Filipinos, revealed the Sy family's net worth was 3.1 billion dollars. Earlier, he was the 2nd wealthiest individual in the Philippines, next to Lucio Tan and (as of 2008) 843rd in the world. Sy is considered a Tai-Pan or tycoon of Asia. The Sy group is the operator of Banco de Oro Universal Bank and owner of China Banking Corporation. In 2006, he bought the remaining 66% of Equitable PCI Bank, the Philippines 3rd largest lender, in which he already had a 34% stake, and merged it with Banco de Oro Universal Bank in 2007. The merger created the Philippines's second largest financial institution with resources of close to $17billion dollars. A conspiracy tell that the Sy family has a personal stake of $4 billion in these 3 banks, although there are still no sufficient evidences that strongly substantiate such matter. Mr. Sy has recently sold his 11% stake in San Miguel Corporation, Southeast Asia's largest food and beverage conglomerate for $680 million. Henry Sy, Sr., was named "Management Man of the Year" by the Makati Business Club and was conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Business Management by De La Salle University-Manila in January 1999. He organized the SM Foundation Inc., which helps underprivileged but promising young Filipinos. Sy's retail chain is SM Prime Holdings, known as "Shoe Mart" or simply "SM". Several of his children now hold senior management positions in his companies, although he has groomed daughter Teresita Sy-Coson and his grandchildren Hailey Sy-Coson, Darcie Sy and Josiah Sy as his successors. Sy's holding company, SM Investments Corp., has consistently been cited as one of the Philippines best-managed companies. On May 20, 2006, The SM Mall of Asia, built in the reclamation area of Pasay City, was opened to the public. It is the sixth-largest mall in the world. Sy got his start by selling smuggled shoes from abroad.

SM Investments Corporation (SMIC) is the holding company of the SM Group of Companies. SMIC is engaged in four businesses through its subsidiaries: shopping mall development and management (SM Prime Holdings, Inc.), retail merchandising (SM Department Stores, SM Supermarket and SM Hypermarket); financial services (Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. and China Banking Corporation), and real estate development and tourism (SM Land, Inc., SM Development Corporation and Highlands Prime, Inc.).

SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (PSE: SMPH) or SM Prime is the parent company of the SM Groups shopping malls. It is the largest shopping mall and retail operator in the Philippines. It was incorporated on 6 January 1994 by Filipino-Chinese entrepreneur Henry Sy to develop, conduct, operate and maintain the SM

commercial shopping centers and all businesses related thereto, such as the lease of commercial spaces within the compound of shopping centers. It later went public on 5 July 1994 and subsequently grew to become the largest company listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange in terms of revenue.

Banco De Oro Unibank Inc. (BDO), originally known as Acme Savings Bank, was acquired by the SM Group in 1976. The SM Group is one of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines, with substantial interests in financial services, real estate development, and tourism and entertainment, founded around its core business in commercial centers and retailing. BDO listed its shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on May 21, 2002.

San Miguel Corporation (PSE: SMC and SMCB) is the largest publicly listed food, beverage and packaging company in the Philippines. As of 2001, its business generated 3.6 percent of the Philippines gross domestic product and 4.5 percent of the governments tax revenue. Founded in 1890 as a brewery, San Miguel now makes nine out of every 10 bottles of beer, 87 percent of the soft drinks, 60 percent of the processed meat and 40 percent of the poultry sold in the Philippines. The trade-name San Miguel originates from St. Michael the archangel.

Belle Corporation is a leading Philippine developer of high-end residential and leisure properties. Its products are located in a recreational area comprising mountains, rolling hills, and lakeshores about 12 hours south of Manila in Tagaytay City and Batangas province, with spectacular views of Taal Lake and the surrounding countryside.The Belle Group owns approximately 1,280 hectares of undeveloped land around existing finished and in-process projects, on which it will develop future projects over at least the next five years without the need for substantial new land acquisitions.

Highlands Prime, Inc. engages in developing leisure properties in the Philippines. The companys property assets comprise undeveloped land, subdivision lots, and finished residential units located in Tagaytay City, Cavite, and Batangas. It sells its products primarily to members of Tagaytay Highlands International Golf Club, Inc.; Tagaytay Midlands Golf Club, Inc.; and The Country Club at Tagaytay Highlands through accredited sales agents and brokers.

China Banking Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides commercial banking products and services to businesses and entrepreneurs, as well as to individuals in the Philippines. It offers deposit products, loans and trade finance, domestic and foreign fund transfers, treasury products, trust products, foreign exchange, corporate finance, and other investment banking services. The company also offers insurance brokerage, computer services, and asset management services.

SM Development Corporation (SMDC) was originally incorporated in 1974 as Ayala Fund, Inc., a closed-end investment company. In March 1986, it was renamed SM Fund, Inc. after the SM Group of Companies took

majority ownership of the company. Since then, SM Fund, Inc. remained as an investment company providing investors with a professionally managed vehicle to invest in diversified businesses in the country. SM Prime Holdings, Inc. or SM Prime is the parent company of the SM Group's shopping malls. It is the largest shopping mall and retail operator in the Philippines. It was incorporated on 6 January 1994 by FilipinoChinese entrepreneur Henry Sy, Sr. to develop, conduct, operate and maintain the SM commercial shopping centers and all businesses related thereto, such as the lease of commercial spaces within the compound of shopping centers. It later went public on July 5, 1994 and subsequently grew to become the largest company listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange in terms of revenue. As of 2007, SM Prime Holdings became one of the largest shopping mall chains in the world. The company's main sources of revenues include rental income from mall and food courts, cinema ticket sales and amusement income from bowling and ice-skating. Currently, it has 40 operating malls totaling a gross floor area of 4.5 million square meters located in Metro Manila, Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga,Tarlac, Lucena City, Pangasinan, Rizal, Angeles City, Bacolod City, Baguio City, Cagayan de Oro City, Cebu City, Davao City, Iloilo City and Naga City. On April 2, 2008, SM Investments Corp. (the parent company to SM Prime) announced that it would participate in a $1 billion casino project in Manila. The 40-hectare Bagong Nayong Pilipino-Manila Bay Integrated Tourism Project consists of a casino, hotels, shopping malls and other entertainment facilities.

Manny Villar
Manuel "Manny" Bamba Villar, Jr. (born December 13, 1949) is a Filipino businessman and politician. He is currently a Philippine Senator, president of theNacionalista Party Villar was born to a poor family in Tondo, an impoverished and densely populated district of Manila. After graduating from the University of the Philippines, he worked as an accountant and financial analyst, then launched a highly successful business in real estate. The number of homes built by Villar's companies has totaled to over 200,000 units, and his business career made him one of the country's wealthiest persons. Villar entered politics in 1992 when he was elected Congressman representing the district of Las PiasMuntinlupa, and later became Speaker of the House of Representatives. As Speaker, he presided over the impeachment of President Joseph Estrada by the House of Representatives in 2000. In 2001 he was electedSenator, and served as Senate President from 2006 to 2008. He was the candidate of the Nacionalista Party in the 2010 presidential election, which was won byNoynoy Aquino. Manuel Bamba Villar, Jr. was born on December 13, 1949 in Tondo, an impoverished and densely populated district of Manila. He was the second-born of the nine children of his parents in a poor family. His father,

Manuel "Maning" Montalban Villar, Sr., was a government employee from Cabatuan, Iloilo who worked as an inspector for the Bureau of Fisheries. His mother, Curita "Curing" Bamba, was a seafood vendor from a poor family in Orani, Bataan. The family lived in a small rented apartment in a run down slum area. Villar's father was eventually granted a year-long scholarship for higher education in the United States, which lead to a job promotion to a director position in the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources upon his return. Due to cramped conditions in Tondo, Villar's father obtained a P16,000 loan from the Government Service Insurance System, payable in 20 to 25 years, to build a home in San Rafael Village, Navotas. Manny Villar was born to humble beginnings in Moriones, Tondo, Manila. His father, Manuel Montalban Villar, Sr., hailed from Cabatuan, Iloilo and his mother Curita Bamba came from Orani, Bataan. At an early age, he helped his mother sell seafood at the Divisoria market in order to support his siblings and himself to school. With the burning desire for a better future and strong determination to improve his familys lives, Manny finished his studies at the University of the Philippines (UP) where he earned his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Business Administration. He started his professional career as an accountant and financial analyst for prominent corporations before venturing into his own business. Armed with an initial capital of only P10,000 and a solid determination to succeed, Manny went on to establish the largest homebuilding company in the country today. Manny Villar received several awards including the Ten Outstanding Young Men in 1986, Agora Award for Marketing Management in 1989, Most Outstanding CPA by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in 1990, and Most Outstanding UP Alumnus in 1991. In 2004, Manny Villar was named the Most Distinguished Alumnusthe highest recognition given by the University of the Philippines for his exemplary public service and achievements. In 1992, he entered politics and was elected Congressman of Las Pinas and Muntinlupa for three terms in a row, consistently posting landslide victories. In 1998, he was chosen Speaker of the House of Representatives. He was elected Senator of the Republic in the year 2001. In July 2006, with the staunch support of a

majority of his colleagues, he assumed the Senate Presidency during the third regular session of the 13th Congress. He has previously held the position of Senate President Pro-tempore and the chairmanship of the Committees on Finance, Foreign Relations, Public Order, and Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries. Manny Villar is the first post-war public official who became both Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate President.

He is the President of the Nacionalista Partythe countrys grandest political party. Manny Villar dreams to help and inspire Filipinos to fulfill their dreams thru hard work and determination (Sipag at Tiyaga) the same values that helped him conquer poverty and succeed in life. As a child, Villar initially attended Isabelo delos Reyes Elementary School, a nearby public school in Tondo. He also assisted his mother in selling shrimp and fish at the Divisoria Public Market, as early as age six, in order to help earn the money to support his siblings and himself to school. However, accompanying his mother interfered with his education and he was forced to drop out from school during Grade 1. He was then enrolled at Tondo Parochial School (later renamed Holy Child Catholic School), a private school in Tondo run by priests, to complete his elementary education. Villar finished his high school education at the Mapa Institute of Technology in Intramuros. He attended the University of the Philippines - Diliman and earned hisbachelor's degree in business administration in 1970. He returned to the same school to earn his master's degree in business administration in 1973. He later characterized himself as being impatient with formal schooling, and eager to start working and go into business.

BUSINESS CAREER
After obtaining his bachelor's degree, Villar began his professional career working as an accountant for Sycip, Gorres, Velayo & Co. (SGV & Co), the country's largest accounting firm. He resigned from SGV & Co. to start his first business, delivering seafood in Makati. However, when his largest customer was unable to pay him, he negotiated a debt restructuring of sorts, selling discounted meal tickets to office workers in exchange for receivables. He then worked briefly as a financial analyst for the Private Development Corporation of the Philippines, where his job was to sell World Bank loans. Wanting to start a business of his own again, he quit his job and availed of one of the loans, which offered attractive rates. In 1975, with an initial capital of P10,000, Villar purchased two reconditioned trucks and started a business delivering sand and gravel for construction companies in Las Pias. This eventually segued into building houses, as Villar took out a seven-year loan from a rural bank offering low interest rates, and began what would become the country's largest home building company, with an emphasis on low-priced mass housing. A notable innovation of Villar's companies was to sell house and lot packages, when the common practice at the time was to sell lots for future homeonwers to build upon. He initiated mass housing projects through economies of scale, utilizing the cost advantages of developing a large scale project in order to bring down housing prices. The number of homes built by Villar's companies totaled to over 200,000 units.

After EDSA revolution, Mr. Villar and his colleagues in the Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Associations (CREBA) influenced the Aquino administration in launching an aggressive mortgage financing program, the Unified Home Lending Program (UHLP) of the National Home Finance Mortgage Corporation (NHMFC) and the Pag-Ibig Fund. NHMFC, the financial coordinator of the program, was bankrupted. The funders (SSS, GSIS, Pag-Ibig) were stuck with billions in bad home mortgages covering Villar's houses and flirted with bankruptcy for a while. Eventually, these bad mortgages had to be covered by the national government using its tax revenues. In July 1995, Villar's flagship property, C&P Homes, was listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange and grew by more than a third in one day, ballooning Villar's 80% stake in the company to $1.5 billion. As of 2010, Forbes magazine ranks him as the 17th wealthiest person in the Philippines, with a net worth of US$380 million. In July 1998, Philippine Daily Inquirer obtained documents that revealed conversion of many Villar landholdings (around 5900 hectares) from agricultural to residential use was made without the required clearance from the Department of Agrarian Reform. Villar has received several awards for his achievements during his profesional and business career, including being one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men in 1986, the Agora Award for Marketing Management in 1989, Most Outstanding CPA by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in 1990, and Most Outstanding UP Alumnus in 1991. In 2004, he was named the Most Distinguished Alumnus, the highest recognition given by the University of the Philippines Alumni Association. SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co. (SGV & Co.) is the Philippines' largest multidisciplinary professional services firm with eight offices across the country. As of 2007, the company has employed over 1,800 professionals from various disciplines, including CPAs, lawyers, economists, HR experts, engineers, statisticians, financial analysts, and other business and technical experts. Since 1996, it has been the only ISO 9002-certified professional services firm in the Philippines since 1996. SGV & Co. became an affiliate of Ernst & Young International on June 6, 2002.