Henry Sy Tony Tan Caktiong

Believe it or not, Henry Sy’s story was a ‘rags to riches’ kind of tale. Born in Known to be the man behind the country’s famous bee, Tony Tan Caktiong is
China, Henry Sy was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Wanting to another rags-to-riches story – from owning a small ice cream franchise, to
escape poverty, Henry followed his father to the Philippines only to find out heading some of the Philippines’ most famous food chains.
his miserable state in a foreign country. Determined to become successful,
Henry worked hard day and night to provide for his needs. He started out a Born third of seven siblings, Tony Tan Caktiong was from a poor family in
small sari-sari store business which has helped them in their day-to-day life. China who immigrated to the Philippines in hope that they may have a better
Sy and his father used to live in a small space until the fruits of their labor life. His family helped each other out, establishing a restaurant business in
made them successful in the passing years. Davao which enabled young Tony to study Civil Engineering in the University
of Santo Tomas.
Sy struggled hard living in a foreign country as he had to learn English. When
the Philippine economy collapsed in World War II, their store got burned When he was 22, Caktiong decided to shell out P350,000 in an ice cream
down which made his father go back to China. But with Henry Sy’s parlor franchise. He opened Cubao Ice Cream House and Quiapo Ice Cream
determination, he stayed in the Philippines and built his own shoe business House. As their business becomes more and more successful, they started
in Marikina. Henry did not have an overnight success: he had to enroll to hire more people to help them manage it. Two years later, he decided to
himself to school, change legal names, give up on school, plus many other serve hamburgers, fried chicken, and spaghetti as people began to tell him
downs that happened in his life. But did he give up? No, because maybe he that they don’t want to eat ice cream all the time. It was then that they
knew that something big, which is what he has now is about to come. decided to rebrand and change their name to “Jollibee” as it represents them
as a company, and the people that they cater to – hardworking and happy.
After a series of failures in his business, Henry Sy stood back up and
persevered to attain his goal. Now with over 40 plus malls, he surely became McDonald’s came into the picture not many years later, but they failed to take
very successful in his feat. He is the most recognizable tycoon, with owned over Jollibee’s popularity as, according to Caktiong, they don’t know the local
malls dominating the whole country. Sy had to put up with the successes and food culture. Filipinos have a sweet taste on food, so Jollibee decided to
trials in his business, and now he’s enjoying the fruits of his labor. serve spaghetti with a sweeter flavour. Filipinos like to smell everything they
eat, which is the reason behind the “Langhap Sarap” tagline they have been
With his inspiring story, one can learn about the ideals of success. Henry using for a while now.
Sy’s story tells us not to give up on our dreams, no matter how far-fetched it
seems. Who knows, maybe yours is the next success story to tell! As years go by, the Jollibee group grew bigger. Caktiong partnered up and
established a couple other food chains including Chowking, Red Ribbon,
Greenwich, and Delifrance. Aside from bringing Jollibee, Chowking, and Red
Ribbon to other countries, they’ve also established new food chains in China
and Taiwan which suit the tastes of the people there.
As of 2016, Tony Tan Caktiong ranked 6 th in Forbes’ Philippines’ 50 Richest. went on to pursue other business ventures: from cornstarch manufacturing,
He was also awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year and the Ernst and Young to food production, to purchasing shares in San Miguel Corporation, the then
Entrepreneur of the Year in 2004. leading business in the 70s. He had a vision to make every Filipino fly thus
the creation of the low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific, in 2003 he established a
John Gokongwei Jr. mobile company, in 2004 he introduced C2 beverage, and all that comprise
Gokongwei Jr.’s empire, the JG Summit holdings.
Not all greats start from small beginnings. Sometimes, they are born
privileged, later to be taken away from them, but succeeding once again in It didn’t always go smoothly—in between these success come failure. He had

the future. This is John Gokongwei Jr.’s story. a hard time to get a loan, but fortunately one bank trusted him. He started
getting recognized at the business scene but before that he had to fight for a
You may have heard of Universal Robina Corporation, JG Summit Holdings, position. His loss and failures were broadcasted. But still he succeeded—and
Cebu Pacific, and the Robinsons Corporation. These are all John Gokongwei is now considered as a key player when it comes to the powerful business
Jr. ’s fruits of labor which he got from pure determination to survive. sector.

Gokongwei Jr. was once a scion of a wealthy Filipino-Chinese clan. He was Now, John Gokongwei  Jr. is the second richest Filipino in 2016, according to
born with a silver spoon—he was studying in one of Cebu’s premiere schools Forbes Magazine. Aside from being a business magnate, he is also a
(San Carlos University), and their family was known to be one of the richest philanthropist. And with all the businesses he owns in the country, he
in Cebu. Unfortunately, one day, all these things he enjoyed were taken provides thousands of jobs to people. With his story, he hopes to inspire
away from him when his father died. The creditor seized their home and cars, people to have the determination to bounce back in life without ever quitting.
their business were gone and suddenly everything he had had disappeared.
Socorro C. Ramos
They became flat broke. At 15, Gokongwei Jr. had to work to provide for his
family. His mother had to sell her jewelries. His siblings were sent to China National Bookstore is probably one of the most visited shops in the
where the cost of living was cheaper. He sold roasted peanuts and opened Philippines. From its humble beginnings as a school supplies and textbook
up a small stall in the market, where he had to compete with other vendors to store in Escolta, to its over 150 branches nationwide today – National
sell his goods. He sold soap, candles, and threads to earn money.   Bookstore is clearly a part of every Filipino household. All thanks to the hard
Determined as he was, Gokongwei Jr. knew he had an advantage as he was work and perseverance of Socorro Ramos, also known as Nanay Coring.
younger, therefore he used this as a strength in his job.
Nanay Coring has always been in the retail industry. As a young girl, she
It was in 1943 when Gokongwei Jr.  began trading goods from Cebu to helped her grandmother sell fruits at the local market in their home province.
Manila. When the World War II ended, he saw this as an opportunity to trade Life was hard and her mother decided to move to Manila to find better
goods in the Philippines. He put up Amasia Trading with his brother which opportunities. She attended a public school and took on many jobs during
helped bring back his siblings home to help out with the business. He then summer vacation – from wrapping bubble gum to sewing buttons on shirts.
After finishing high school, her family did not have enough money to send her Mariano Que
to college. She then worked as a salesgirl at a bookstore. It was there where
she met her would be husband, Jose. When Filipinos need medication, a couple of names usually come up:
Generika, The Generics Pharmacy, Watsons, and the most well-known of
They opened a stall shop in Escolta. They named it National Bookstore, after
them all, Mercury Drug. Mercury Drug has been synonymous with quality
their cash register. But things did not go uphill from there. In the 1940s, a
pharmaceuticals and it owes its success to one man who recently left us: its
strict censorship on books was implemented. Nanay Coring had to put the
founder, the late Mariano Que.
books away and resort to selling soap, candies, and slippers. After the war,
the whole of Escolta was burned down. This did not dampen Nanay Coring His company may not have been the first drugstore in the
and Jose’s souls. They opened another small store. This time, they sold the country, but his pioneering spirit behind the pharmaceutical
books they had previously put away and whisky. retail industry paved the way for all the rest that followed.

Gathering their earnings, the couple bought more school supplies and books. It all began with P100 and a bottle of Sulfiathiazole
They slowly rebuilt National Bookstore. They ventured into postcards and
greeting cards. They also partnered with international publishing houses and P100. That was all Mariano Que had in his pocket after World War II. An
reprinted books at lower prices. Aside from selling products of well-known employee of a drugstore prior to the war, Que knew that Filipinos would need
brands, National Bookstore also now manufactures its own school supplies – the “miracle” drug sulfathiazole, believed to cure many (if not all) sorts of
Best Buy. Keeping up with the times, they have teamed up with Kobo, a diseases and illnesses.
Canadian based e-book seller. National Bookstore is also visible on social
media and customers can even shop online via their website. Students, office He saw an opportunity to help his countrymen by buying the bottle from a
workers, and everyone else will find what they are looking for at National peddler in Bambang St. He then sold these tablets (which he knew was
Bookstore. genuine sulfathiazole thanks to the ‘W’ on the tablets) per piece to make it
more affordable. After making a profit, he was able purchase other medicines
In the words of Nanay Coring, “Work hard, very hard. There is no express and a pushcart so he can sell his medicines to the public.
elevator to success – you have to climb the stairs.
He continued selling medicines off of his pushcart until he was able to save
enough to put up the first Mercury Drug store on March 1 along Bambang St.

More than 70 years later, Mercury Drug is still at the forefront of Philippine
pharmaceutical services, with over 1,000 stores nationwide. It’s also the first
to use a central computerized and temperature-controlled warehouse, 24-
hour service, and pharmacy counseling.