Senate mourns passing of FEM’s former DTI chief
THE Senate has expressed condolences on the passing of former Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Roberto Bobby Ongpin.
Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva sponsored Senate Resolution No. 468, taking into consideration proposed Senate Res. No. 523, expressing the Senate’s profound sympathy and condolences on the death of Ongpin.
The resolution was introduced by Senator Imee Marcos and Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, Villanueva, Sens. Pia Cayetano, and Francis Chiz Escudero.
Ongpin, or RVO as he is commonly known, built business empires, orchestrated deals that brought the Shangri-La Group into the Philippines and founded Tagaytay Highlands, PhilWeb, and Alphaland Corporation.
He later built his crown jewel, the Alphaland Balesin Island Club, off the coast of Quezon province.
“At the time of his passing, he was working on expanding the resort by building another resort on the Patnunangan Island nearby,” Villanueva said as he described Ongpin as a philanthropist who helped thousand of Filipinos through the Jaime Ongpin Scholarship fund, which he established in honor of his brother who passed away in 1987.
Sen. Marcos said Ongpin “deserves commendation” for his immense contribution to the country as she expressed her condolences to the family of the late business tycoon.
Ongpin served under Marcos’ father, former President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. (FEM).
“History will be Bobby Ongpin’s final judge. But the indisputable fact is during the 1980s, under my father’s administration, Minister Ongpin, without doubt, saved the country’s economy from abject and total collapse. For that, all Filipinos should be grateful,” Marcos stressed.
Sen. Pia Cayetano, who also extended her sympathy to the family, revealed that Ongpin was her former boss and remembered him as a “tough” boss.
“But inside, he was a softie.” If there is a lesson that she learned from her late boss, Cayetano said Ongpin taught her that there was no such thing as “saying no.”
“I also learned from him never to say no. That phone call that I mentioned was really just one of the many discussions we had wherein I learned from him to keep on trying, to never leave any stone unturned, to keep on exploring how you can get the job done,” Cayetano said.
AUTHOR PROFILE
Nation
