Cover Ramon S Ang
Ramon S Ang
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Nothing slows down Ramon S Ang—prolific businessman, philanthropist, and one of Tatler Asia’s Most Influential 2022 honourees—in providing better lives for Filipinos
Aside from dealing with the full impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on its business operations and overall financial performance over the previous years, San Miguel Corporation was also able to complete or begin some of the most relevant, meaningful, consequential, and transformative projects in its corporate history.
San Miguel Corporation’s (SMC) president and CEO, Ramon S Ang, feels very proud of how the company responded to the urgent needs of many Filipinos throughout this pandemic. From supporting medical frontliners through donations of life-saving medical and testing equipment and protective gear to building quarantine facilities, providing free tolls and fuels for frontliners, and giving thousands of them free life insurance policies, SMC also embarked on its largest nationwide food donation drive to help impoverished communities, ensuring that all employees continue to receive their full pay and benefits. It also implemented vaccination for its network of 70,000 employees and its extended workforce, and supported the vaccination efforts of local government units. With this, Ang thinks SMC and its employees were part of the nationwide response efforts, showcasing the very best of our Filipino core value of malasakit (compassion).
In strategic projects, Ang is also proud of the Skyway 3 completion, which fully opened in January 2021. It’s a project that for a long time seemed unlikely, if not impossible, to finish because of many hurdles. But with the help of the government and the cooperation of stakeholders, they completed it. Now people throughout Metro Manila and neighbouring provinces benefit from the seamless connection and reduced traffic on major thoroughfares and even in-city streets throughout Luzon.
SMC’s Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) project, consisting of 31 new battery facilities spread throughout key provinces nationwide, is also significant to Ang. This is the first and largest network of its kind in the country and the largest as well in Southeast Asia. These battery facilities will help make reliable, high-quality power supply reach even the farthest provinces and islands. More significantly, this technology can make renewable power sources more viable, providing a solution to its intermittent nature.
There is also the New Manila International Airport and Aerocity developments. The airport alone represents the single-largest investment in the country by one company thus far. It is expected to generate over a million jobs nationwide and transform the Philippines into a major aviation hub and tourist and investment destination in Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, the aero-city will be the model and pace-setter for future green city developments in the country.
Lastly, Ang is elated with their efforts to clean up major river systems in Luzon. Last August 2022, SMC reported the completion of its clean-up of the Tullahan River, where over 1.12 million tons of silt and solid waste accumulated over the past two and a half years was removed. Last year, SMC marked the first year of its Pasig River clean-up and reported back then to have successfully removed more than half a million tons of waste. SMC’s next goal is to clean up river systems throughout Bulacan. All these efforts are part of our initiative to help mitigate flooding in Metro Manila and nearby areas and help rehabilitate the country’s long-polluted rivers.
What challenges do you see now in your respective industry? How do you intend to help address these challenges?
Ramon S Ang (RSA): There are many specific issues about various industries SMC is part of. But in general, we continue to face uncertainties in the supply chain, global politics, and climate, among others, that pose challenges and opportunities for us.
Our businesses continue to navigate these risks strategically, adapting to rapidly changing conditions to build resilience across our enterprise and the communities we serve. We continue to engage and work with our various stakeholders to try and address issues.
But overall, if you look at SMC today, many of the industries we are in—food production, power, fuel, and infrastructure—are all requisites to a better and stronger Philippines. So in terms of challenges, we share many of the same concerns that the government and our people have, such as food security and self-sufficiency; improving access to adequate and affordable power and better infrastructure; better stewardship of the environment, flooding, Metro Manila traffic congestion, among others.
Our approach is to continue investing in the Philippines, to enable continued development and innovation in these important sectors, create jobs and do what we can to support sustainable nation-building. This has been our reason for existing and continuously evolving for the past 15 years or so.
We are also committed to mitigating the effects of climate change and building our resilience against it. We’ve set out an ambitious sustainability agenda that aims to address major social and environmental issues that concern all of us.
Part of our strategy includes cleaning up our major waterways and reviving our polluted rivers. We’ve just completed the Tullahan River cleanup! We are happy to report that in just over two years, we’ve accomplished our primary objectives: to remove accumulated solid wastes from the river bed and deepen, widen it to increase its water holding capacity and reduce severe flooding. Meanwhile, we are progressing in our efforts to clean up and rehabilitate Pasig River. We’re also looking to start work on the heavily-polluted Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando river system (MMORS) to help solve the long-standing flooding problems in Bulacan.
Above Ramon S Ang (Photo: Vanessa Jean Rivera-Flores)
Ramon S Ang (Photo: Vanessa Jean Rivera-Flores)
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What can you say to those who want to follow in your footsteps?
RSA: For anyone to be able to do something big--whether it is in business, completing a goal, or even overcoming personal limitations or obstacles--I believe one of the first requirements is to be able to think big, consider all possibilities, even when others don’t see what you see. You have to rely on both your insights and your good instincts. Be bold, but do your homework first. Be willing to grind and work with others, especially with like-minded people who can help you achieve your goal. Ask yourself, ‘What would it take to achieve a goal?’ then be prepared to do it—stick to it even when the going gets tough. And most importantly, always serve a higher purpose.
Who do you look up to for guidance, inspiration, or mentorship?
RSA: I have had many people I looked up to growing up. In my lifetime, I have been fortunate enough to have met and known people—including our late chairman, Eduardo Cojuangco Jnr—who were generous enough with their time, experience, and knowledge to help me grow. I also look up to many of our country’s leaders, public servants, and even those in our partner organizations and NGOs, who help us implement our social and environmental programs, and who have dedicated themselves to honest, dedicated service. And lastly, my grandchildren are my constant source of inspiration. Looking at their faces, I see innocence, hope, excitement, and optimism. While it seems I have a lot to teach them, they teach me and inspire me to make a difference for their future.
Above Ramon Ang (center) with President Rodrigo Duterte (left) and Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III in 2016 (Photo: King Rodriguez / Wikimedia Commons)
Ramon Ang (center) with President Rodrigo Duterte (left) and Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III in 2016 (Photo: King Rodriguez / Wikimedia Commons)
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What are your plans for the coming years, and what keeps you going?
RSA: In the coming years, we will focus on completing major projects across various industries crucial to Philippine economic growth post-pandemic and for the longer term.
Perhaps the biggest, most complex, consequential, and transformative of these is the New Manila International Airport and Aerocity developments. NMIA will be the largest world-class international gateway in the Philippines, which will help turn us into a major regional aviation hub and among Southeast Asia’s top tourism and investment destinations.
The aero-city, which is being designed by Palafox and Associates, will be the model for green cities in the Philippines.
Also, we are looking to bring in foreign and local investments in science and technology, education, research, manufacturing, and many others.
With the least cost to logistics because of its proximity to a major airport, it can attract global manufacturers of semiconductors, battery power storage systems, electric vehicles, modular nuclear power assemblies, and other new and emerging technologies. We estimate it can bring in an additional US200 billion in annual exports, a major boost to our country’s GDP.
We are also investing in building an extensive network of rail and road projects that will make the airport and aero-city directly and easily accessible, whether you are coming from Metro Manila, central or northern Luzon.
Outside of airport-related developments, we are working on other major infrastructure projects—including the South Luzon Expressway extension to Quezon province and eventually the Bicol region; new facilities using clean and modern energy technologies that will augment our country’s fragile power security situation, and major food production and agriculture facilities to support food security and self-sufficiency.
There are so many things we’re busy with at San Miguel. Every day is a different challenge, but what keeps us going is simply the thought that someday seeing a country that is so much better than what we already have today—where people have more opportunities to lead good lives; where food, power, and other basic services are accessible and affordable; where pollution, traffic congestion, and other challenges to sustainable growth no longer exist; and efficiency, ease-of-use, connectivity, and environmental sustainability, are the norm.
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