In journalism, there are “sources” whom reporters endear for one reason or another.
I have a few in my list and one of them is P.O. Domingo.
I first met P.O. when I was covering the education beat in 1984. He was representing the Dalupan family in the controversial and failed attempt of the Maharishi to gain control of the University of the East.
I’m not so sure now what was P.O.’s official position in U.E. then. (By the way, the Maharishi that popularized transcendental meditation, was represented by Arthur Villaraza, whose law office went on to become “The Firm”.)
P.O was an interesting character to cover. One time, he invited our group of education reporters (Jane Subang of Businessday, Yvonne Chua of Philippine Daily Express, Lizzie Lazo of Journal, Jenny Santiago of Tempo and myself ) to Mandarin Hotel. Not to a restaurant but to a hotel room. There, he gave us some documents pertaining to the deal with Maharishi.
We were happy with the documents but not with the food. He just ordered fish and chips.
We kept in touch with each other even when all of us moved on to other beats and he, for a while, left U.E. He later returned to U.E as chairman and chief executive officer when the university was acquired by taipan Lucio Tan.
Jane, who has worked with him in some projects at U.E, said P.O takes pride of having revived a once a financially ailing institution and transformed it into a center of excellence particularly in the field of information technology which was his “baby”.
UE has a medical school, the Ramon Magsaysay Medical Center in Sta. Mesa. I remember P.O. being dismayed with the trend among doctors going into nursing as a passport for entry into the United States.
P.O. loved good food, which was a problem because of health-related prohibitions. The late Rod Dula, Malaya columnist and a gourmet, was his executive officer at U.E. P.O. would invite us to his office at U.E. for a delightful lunch and endless “on background” stories.
P.O.’s favorite dining place was Casino Español in Ermita, where he was a member. Those dinners were always a good occasions for us to comment that we had gone a long way from the fish and chips that he ordered for us at Mandarin. And he would laugh heartily.
P.O. was seldom late for appointments. Often, we were embarrassed to find him at the Casino Español ahead of us.
P.O. was such a genteel and gentle soul. His kindness and humility were inspiring.
In 2003, I joined a group headed by Rod and Jane that did the coffee table book for Allied Bank, where P.O. was chairman. The book also featured other Lucio Tan companies including the Tan Yan Kee Foundation, where P.O. was vice chairman and executive director.
The question often asked of P.O. was how he got to know Lucio Tan. He loved to relate the story when he was president of the Philippine National Bank, the country’s largest in early 70’s.
Tan’s Fortune Tobacco had applied for a loan to expand its production capacity.
P.O said he wanted to personally see the operation of Fortune Tobacco and a tour was arranged for him in the cigarette firm’s Marikina plant. Tan was there to guide him throughout the plant. After the tour, Tan invited him to a “pancit” lunch.
The loan was granted. That was the start of the friendship of “Kapitan” and P.O. When P.O. retired from government, “Kapitan” invited him to join his conglomerate. He turned over to P.O. the chairmanship of Allied Bank when he (Tan) acquired PNB.
In a speech in April 2002, Kapitan related the ‘pancit’ incident with P.O. “Long after we had fully paid our loan and the bank president and I had become good friends, he asked me why we only served pancit bihon for lunch during the visit. I told him that if we just wanted to impress we could have served a 12-course lauriat. However we were not there to impress him, but to show we could pay back what we were borrowing through prudent management of our resources. Hence the simple fare.”
Last Thursday, P.O. passed away at the age of 83. We will miss his dinner treats at Casino Español. Most of all, we will miss his friendship.
At 83, P.O Domingo had a full life. First time to meet his name but sure he has a good soul based on Ellen’s article.
Happy trip, Mr. P.O.
My sister is a graduate of UE. I’ll forward the above article to her.
The common saying is “Only the good die young.” Truth is that people, who prove to be useful in bringing to pass God’s plan, get extensions of their lives that a lot many good men and women have lived to the fullest and their works written “on the golden stairs” like this generous man.
May he rest in peace.
Look at the reversal of Fortunes (pardon the pun), Tan had to get a loan for his plant’s expansion from a bank he later bought for himself, the attending loan officer later also becoming his subaltern. I don’t know POD personally but suffice it to say, Kapitan chooses his men well.
I also had the chance to inspect Fortune’s Parang, Marikina plant (including another one in Vigan, Ilocos Sur)for an installation project some years back, what struck me upon entering was the big sign on the wall: “Thank you for smoking“.