Alfredo M.

Yao (ZEST-O)

“Credibility is built, not given. Respect is earned, not bought” – Alfredo Yao

Alfredo M. Yao was born on November 23, 1943 to the simplest of families. The eldest
among his siblings, he had to sacrifice a lot at an early age. He lost his father and became
the family breadwinner at the age of 12. He started a printing business at age 17 with a
Php 3,000 loan from what is today known as the Development Bank of the Philippines.

He never got to finish school even though he wanted to, because he was already a full-
fledged businessman by age 18. He’s gone through the ringer, so to speak: he’s been a
street vendor and at times, slept on cardboard box on the sidewalks of the street.

Alfredo M. Yao is a Filipino businessman who founded the privately held Zest-O
Corporation and the publicly listed Macay Holdings, Inc. and Philippine Business Bank.
He served as the Special Envoy to China for Tourism and Cooperation in 2009. Of
Chinese descent, he was born and educated in the Philippines.

He’s one of the most resilient businessmen in the Philippines, and has built his legacy on
hard work and perseverance, as well as showing tenacity for always finding better ways
of doing things.
Corazon D. Ong
(CDO Foodsphere,Inc.)

Corazon D. Ong is a dietitian by profession who used her knowledge to create

affordable processed meat products that could compete with the already well
known and established processed meat brands. Initially, it was only a hobby
where she could put to good use her creativity and skill in culinary arts. She came
up with corned beef, hotdogs, meatloaf, hamburger patties and ham, an entity
that she later sold as a home business.

She founded CDO Foodsphere in 1975; as the product’s reputation for affordable
quality became widespread, the demand for CDO products likewise increased.
The creative homemaker understood every mother’s need for quick lunch fixes
for their children but convenience should also come in affordable
packages. Corazon likewise understood the taste preferences of Filipino children
but her knowledge of ingredients and their nutritional values gave her product
the advantage.
Socorro Ramos
(National Bookstore)

Socorro Ramos was all of 19 years old when she and her husband Jose opened
a small sari-sari store along Avenida, Rizal in Manila. This was the beginning of
National Book Store. Today it is the country’s largest retail chain of bookstores
and school and office supplies.

National Bookstore is probably one of the most visited shops in the Philippines. From its
humble beginnings as a school supplies and textbook store in Escolta, to its over 150
branches nationwide today – National Bookstore is clearly a part of every Filipino
household. All thanks to the hardwork and perseverance of Socorro Ramos, also known
as Nanay Coring.
Mariano Que (Mercury Drugstore)

All great things come to those who works and waits patiently for it. This is the quote
which best fits the story of how Mariano Que became a successful person. Starting from
the bottom, he made his way up by working passionately, and waiting for the perfect
timing patiently. Let us all be inspire by the story of the person who made the success of
Mercury Drugstore.

Mariano Que once started as a regular employee at a drugstore located in Manila

during the prewar period. As a dedicated employee, he learned to love his job, the role it
plays in the everyday living of the Filipinos. Then came the war who took all, and
destroyed everything that there is in the busy streets of the city. The drugstore where he
used to work was also severely destructed, leaving Mariano completely jobless.
 Engineer Gregorio G. Sanchez, Jr.
(Lactopafi)

Gregorio G. Sanchez, Jr. is a civil engineer by profession formerly engaged in civil

construction works. He served as a Provincial Board Member in Cebu City, where one of his
concerns was the malnutrition among the pigs being raised. On his own, he went into
research and performed experiments using only pots and pans and a small tank as his
equipment. His persistence finally led to the development of a food supplement that would
smother the bad bacteria in livestock, which he called “LactoPAFI Probiotic Bacteria.

The success of the probiotic bacteria developed by Engineer Sanchez later on gained global
recognition as a superior bacterial strain for its ability to restore good bacteria to the body.
This gave the engineer greater confidence for developing a health drink (LactoVitale) and
personal care products like soaps, shampoos and toothpastes with LactoPAFI as an
important ingredient. As a result, his LactoPAFI products are now being exported to
Norway, France, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan and the U.S. The US FDA issued
its approval of the product in 2005 while locally garnering recognition for product
excellence from different award giving bodies.