From afar, I've been monitoring the growth and expansion of iloilo's corporations in the Philippine business setting and thus far, it made me realize that my province, my hometown has what it takes to help shape the course of business in the Philippines, thanks in part to its corporations that are aggressive in the business environment of the country. From this observation, I've collected a few corporations based in iloilo that are making its presence felt outside of its home province. Here is the article that started it all.
Corporate Iloilo
For several days now, I have been silently monitoring the different online threads about Iloilo. Usually, forum members of different websites would discuss our city’s rate of progress and development in terms of newly announced projects—how tall a proposed building would be, the entry of big name call centers, new malls, new restaurants, or big name coffee chains.
There is also a lot of reference to our past as one of the premier cities and this is accompanied by hopes that we could regain our prominence if we could have more big name brands coming in and taller buildings and more call centers.
I’m not against this. Probably, most of the forum members terribly miss Iloilo or are based in other places and feel proud about their hometown or are eager to showcase how sophisticated, developed and progressive our small provincial city is to other Filipinos because we have all the aforementioned.
However, I find it to be a skewed notion of progress and development. Of course, I agree that we should invite more investments and capital to come to Iloilo. However, we should also not forget our own local corporate brands that, I think, must be nurtured and patronized continually by Ilonggos.
In my mind, call centers, taller buildings and the entry of big brand names from Manila and abroad is but only a part of the equation when we talk about a locality’s development.
After all, in the field of economics, businesses will always seek out the more cost effective locations to add profit and save on cost. If not, then to expand to a hitherto untapped market because Manila and Cebu are too saturated with competition already.
Fact is, we should not measure progress solely in terms of what comes to our city from the outside world. Our development starts in our own backyard in the form of entrepreneurship because it is through this that the city can truly be competitive and be developed in its own right.
I think then that the measure of a city’s level of development is not to be based only on how many investments are coming in from Manila and abroad, but rather if the city is good enough to be the headquarters of its locally established businesses that are savvy enough to be successful in other places outside its home market.
In short, can our city be the corporate headquarters or the base of operations of several companies that have national reach? The answer is yes and we have many examples of that. Corporate brand names like Queen City Development Bank, Sarabia Optical, Bombo Radyo Philippines, Mang Inasal Inc., Coffee Break, Ted’s La Paz Batchoy, and Waffle Time are some of Iloilo’s homegrown corporations that have national reach.
They may not be household names in the national consciousness but they sure are making their presence felt outside of Iloilo. What is amazing is that the abovementioned companies have expanded and have maintained a successful business model while remaining based in this small provincial city of ours and not in the country’s traditional center of business and commerce, Metro Manila.
A brief visit to the website of Queen City Development Bank reveals that it has branches up north like Pangasinan, in other Visayan cities such as Cebu and Bacolod, and down south in Cagayan de Oro and Davao.
In a similar vein, Bombo Radyo has stations all over the country and is a national force in broadcast journalism.
Mang Inasal, as we all know, has now more than 70 branches nationwide and counting. It is amazing considering that it was established only five years ago.
Sarabia Optical, one of the nation’s most respected brands when it comes to optics, has branches nationwide and preferred by many celebrities in Manila.
Coffee Break, on the other hand, is an upstart coffee chain that already has branches in Cabatuan (at the New Iloilo Airport) and Boracay, which proves that it can thrive outside its home territory.
Waffle Time is now synonymous to the word waffle since it has done to waffle what Starbucks has done to coffee: it has transformed the waffle from a boring snack available only in two flavors into one that can actually be tasted with a variety of fillings.
Ted’s Batchoy, on the other hand, has now popularized one of Iloilo’s well loved dishes in Metro Manila and beyond. Their presence is particularly strong in the southern part of the metropolis, particularly in the muntinlupa-cavite-laguna area where a number of their branches are found.
These local corporate brands and many others of their kind are significant, because their presence sends a message that Iloilo may be a small city—it may not be as highly developed and progressive as Cebu or as internationally linked as Metro Manila—but Iloilo’s homegrown corporations can surely compete on the national level.
Their success showcases not only the quality and strength of our business schools for producing top-notch entrepreneurs and corporate executives, but also shows that the market in Iloilo is strong and responsive enough to not only support business but also, robust enough to enable them to expand on the national level.
I guess we can say then that Iloilo is one of the handful of cities outside of Metro Manila that is developed and progressive enough to support the expansion of locally established corporations. After all, is there any city in Luzon (except Metro Manila) that has headquarters of a locally established company with nationwide reach? How about any other city in the Visayas besides Metro Cebu?
On the other hand, it has been demonstrated by these Iloilo-based corporations that our entrepreneurs do not need be based in Metro Manila or even Cebu to be nationally competitive and successful, for they can start right here in our city.
Give them enough time and who knows? These Ilonggo corporations might someday go international. It may be farfetched, yes, but they have potential and potential is what Iloilo has in abundance to offer.
These corporations and not only the brand names and big corporations from Manila, Cebu or abroad that we so fervently pray to come, say a lot about the character of our city because they are one of the indicators of the robustness of our local economy, a measure of the strength of our city, of the Ilonggos’ capacity to be nationally competitive, of our potential to be global despite being based in the province, of the progress and development of our hometown, Iloilo.
__________________________
There is also a lot of reference to our past as one of the premier cities and this is accompanied by hopes that we could regain our prominence if we could have more big name brands coming in and taller buildings and more call centers.
I’m not against this. Probably, most of the forum members terribly miss Iloilo or are based in other places and feel proud about their hometown or are eager to showcase how sophisticated, developed and progressive our small provincial city is to other Filipinos because we have all the aforementioned.
However, I find it to be a skewed notion of progress and development. Of course, I agree that we should invite more investments and capital to come to Iloilo. However, we should also not forget our own local corporate brands that, I think, must be nurtured and patronized continually by Ilonggos.
In my mind, call centers, taller buildings and the entry of big brand names from Manila and abroad is but only a part of the equation when we talk about a locality’s development.
After all, in the field of economics, businesses will always seek out the more cost effective locations to add profit and save on cost. If not, then to expand to a hitherto untapped market because Manila and Cebu are too saturated with competition already.
Fact is, we should not measure progress solely in terms of what comes to our city from the outside world. Our development starts in our own backyard in the form of entrepreneurship because it is through this that the city can truly be competitive and be developed in its own right.
I think then that the measure of a city’s level of development is not to be based only on how many investments are coming in from Manila and abroad, but rather if the city is good enough to be the headquarters of its locally established businesses that are savvy enough to be successful in other places outside its home market.
In short, can our city be the corporate headquarters or the base of operations of several companies that have national reach? The answer is yes and we have many examples of that. Corporate brand names like Queen City Development Bank, Sarabia Optical, Bombo Radyo Philippines, Mang Inasal Inc., Coffee Break, Ted’s La Paz Batchoy, and Waffle Time are some of Iloilo’s homegrown corporations that have national reach.
They may not be household names in the national consciousness but they sure are making their presence felt outside of Iloilo. What is amazing is that the abovementioned companies have expanded and have maintained a successful business model while remaining based in this small provincial city of ours and not in the country’s traditional center of business and commerce, Metro Manila.
A brief visit to the website of Queen City Development Bank reveals that it has branches up north like Pangasinan, in other Visayan cities such as Cebu and Bacolod, and down south in Cagayan de Oro and Davao.
In a similar vein, Bombo Radyo has stations all over the country and is a national force in broadcast journalism.
Mang Inasal, as we all know, has now more than 70 branches nationwide and counting. It is amazing considering that it was established only five years ago.
Sarabia Optical, one of the nation’s most respected brands when it comes to optics, has branches nationwide and preferred by many celebrities in Manila.
Coffee Break, on the other hand, is an upstart coffee chain that already has branches in Cabatuan (at the New Iloilo Airport) and Boracay, which proves that it can thrive outside its home territory.
Waffle Time is now synonymous to the word waffle since it has done to waffle what Starbucks has done to coffee: it has transformed the waffle from a boring snack available only in two flavors into one that can actually be tasted with a variety of fillings.
Ted’s Batchoy, on the other hand, has now popularized one of Iloilo’s well loved dishes in Metro Manila and beyond. Their presence is particularly strong in the southern part of the metropolis, particularly in the muntinlupa-cavite-laguna area where a number of their branches are found.
These local corporate brands and many others of their kind are significant, because their presence sends a message that Iloilo may be a small city—it may not be as highly developed and progressive as Cebu or as internationally linked as Metro Manila—but Iloilo’s homegrown corporations can surely compete on the national level.
Their success showcases not only the quality and strength of our business schools for producing top-notch entrepreneurs and corporate executives, but also shows that the market in Iloilo is strong and responsive enough to not only support business but also, robust enough to enable them to expand on the national level.
I guess we can say then that Iloilo is one of the handful of cities outside of Metro Manila that is developed and progressive enough to support the expansion of locally established corporations. After all, is there any city in Luzon (except Metro Manila) that has headquarters of a locally established company with nationwide reach? How about any other city in the Visayas besides Metro Cebu?
On the other hand, it has been demonstrated by these Iloilo-based corporations that our entrepreneurs do not need be based in Metro Manila or even Cebu to be nationally competitive and successful, for they can start right here in our city.
Give them enough time and who knows? These Ilonggo corporations might someday go international. It may be farfetched, yes, but they have potential and potential is what Iloilo has in abundance to offer.
These corporations and not only the brand names and big corporations from Manila, Cebu or abroad that we so fervently pray to come, say a lot about the character of our city because they are one of the indicators of the robustness of our local economy, a measure of the strength of our city, of the Ilonggos’ capacity to be nationally competitive, of our potential to be global despite being based in the province, of the progress and development of our hometown, Iloilo.
__________________________
End of article.
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