Latest news with #Borromeo
GMA Network
18-05-2025
- Health
- GMA Network
ESSAY: Rizal as teacher and ‘jowa' makes him more relatable as a hero
Decades later, as an elderly man, Marcial Borromeo described how he became Jose Rizal's student in Dapitan in 1894. The famous doctor and exile had recently set up a school for adolescent boys. Rizal told the young Borromeo to retrieve something he (Rizal) had left inside the darkening forest just up the hill from the seaside compound of huts he built from his lotto winnings. 'My heart beat loud and fast; I was pale with fright,' Borromeo recalled to an interviewer. 'On my way I heard cries and hoots, which frightened me even more.' But Borromeo did find the object (other accounts say it was a wooden cane that Rizal had carved himself), and when he presented it to the great maestro, Rizal patted him on the back and congratulated him for acceptance into his exclusive school. Other students who were already enrolled applauded and revealed that they were hiding in the forest and making the animal sounds to gauge his courage. It was the most unusual kind of admission test. I told this story the other day to an audience of distinguished doctors and professors of medicine. Rizal was looking for more than just intellect in his wards. He valued character, and traits like bravery and will. I shared with the doctors that I witnessed this Rizalian blend of intellect and character during the pandemic when I had a ringside seat as one of the first Covid patients. Filipino doctors stepped up bravely to the frontlines without hesitation to treat me and other pioneer patients. In the face of apocalyptic dread, ignorance and uncertainty, doctors emerged as the true leaders we needed. They kept hope alive through a determined search for solutions and a sense of urgency that seemed to elude our political leaders. Every year, at the annual convention of the Philippine Medical Association, leaders of the country's medical profession mount a Dr. Jose Rizal memorial lecture to remind them of the legacy of the O-G physician and what today's Filipino doctors have to live up to. I was deeply humbled by the challenge of delivering this lecture. As one of the anchors of GMA-7's election coverage, I silently asked myself as I scanned the emerging winners, where are the doctors? Didn't they prove their mettle as leaders of all time by guiding us through one of the worst crises in modern history? The whole orientation of doctors is to analyze a problem — in their case a patient's illness but their rigor and will to do so could just as well be applied to social problems — and then attack it with the best solutions their training and intellect can muster. In the Philippines, our national hero — often hailed as the 'first Filipino' — was an exceptional physician, much like many in my audience. But while Rizal's commitment to medicine was profound, his lifelong quest was the political endeavor of constructing a nation. Medicine served as his platform to demonstrate that a Filipino could match the excellence of any European, all while acquiring practical skills beneficial to any community. With such a genius for a founding father, why is the Philippines then still saddled with basic problems that often seem insurmountable? Where is the genius in our common DNA? The answer I know is complex, but perhaps we can start by making our superhero of a national icon just more human and accessible so ordinary Filipinos can hope to emulate him, rather than just admire the figure on a pedestal. Making him more accessible has been the mission of my documentary colleagues and me for the past 20 years. It's hard for the average Filipino to relate to Rizal as a world-class doctor or novelist. However, we can connect with him as a lovesick 'jowa,' as we portrayed him in a series of documentaries starting with 'Little Bad Boy: Binatang Rizal sa Europa.' That first documentary about Rizal's love life delved into his romance in Belgium with the infatuated niece of his boarding house landlady. In that girlfriend's letters to Rizal, she called him 'my little bad boy.' The exact nature of his behavior that earned him this moniker remains unclear. The last documentary we did on Rizal's love life was produced during the pandemic in Dapitan where as a political exile, he fell in love with the 18-year-old Josephine Bracken, who came into his world as the companion and foster daughter of an English patient going blind. Rizal and Josephine never married because the church excommunicated Rizal for his novels, and even Rizal's family disapproved of their relationship. But the couple lived happily together anyway in the last year of Rizal's life. I'm aware of the risk of trivializing his accomplishments by dwelling on his romantic side. But it's a hook to bring Rizal down to earth. Only a precious few will be intellectual giants, and no one aspires to be a martyr, but anyone can be a jowa, even one who defies social norms for the sake of love. Once that relatability is established, perhaps we can then appreciate certain sterling qualities as more attainable. Rizal was independent-minded, endlessly curious, gentle and pacifist, and committed to the common good. If more of us embraced that example, we'd be better off collectively and as individuals. As heirs to Rizal's legacy as a stout-hearted medical practitioner who dreamed big for his country, Filipino doctors can lead the way.
Forbes
28-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Philippines' Ayala Corp. Aims To Quadruple AC Health's Valuation To $2 Billion
Ayala Corp.—controlled by billionaire Jaime Zobel de Ayala and his family—is scaling up its healthcare venture AC Health into the conglomerate's next unicorn with $2 billion in equity valuation by 2035 about four times its current value. To get there, the venture will continue to expand its network of hospitals, clinics and drugstores both organically and through acquisitions in key cities across the Philippines, AC Health CEO and President Paulo Borromeo said. 'We are building a healthcare group for the long term,' Borromeo, who has helmed the startup since it began 2015, told Forbes Asia on the sidelines of Ayala Corp.'s media briefing last week. AC Health has capital to bankroll its expansion plans in the next two to three years but would need additional equity for hospital acquisitions, he said. AC Health currently accounts for 4% of Ayala Corp.'s net asset value (NAV), according to Borromeo. That's about 29 billion pesos ($515 million) based on Ayala's NAV of 726 billion pesos as of end-2024. AC Health is one of the ventures started and built-up by Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala and brother Fernando, since taking the helm of Ayala Corp. from their father Jaime in 2006. The healthcare company has joined the list of the brothers successful start-ups that includes mobile carrier Globe Telecom; Mynt, operator of fintech GCash, which is valued at $5 billion; and renewable energy behemoth ACEN. Ayala Corp. is also making a push into electric and hybrid vehicles through AC Mobility. Ayala Corp. president and CEO Bong Consing said the conglomerate has poured about 15 billion pesos into AC Health since it started in 2015, and has expanded rapidly in the past two years with projects including an oncology center. Consing expects AC Health to become profitable soon as the company has already scaled up to meet increasing demand for quality healthcare services and medicine. AC Health's group revenue rose 10% to 9.4 billion pesos in 2024 with its clinics and hospitals delivering an industry-beating 22% increase, according to a stock exchange filing. Despite the topline growth, the company booked a wider 610 million loss due to asset impairment charges related to online doctor consultation app KonsultaMD and ramp-up costs of the new cancer hospital. Excluding the start-up cost of the cancer hospital, AC Health has been core net income positive since 2023, Borromeo said, adding the company has been EBITDA positive since 2021. From an investment in Generika Drugstore a decade ago, Borromeo has put together a portfolio of 880 drugstores through two pharmaceutical companies including two drug importers licensed to distribute over 1,178 medicines. AC Health also includes a network of 236 corporate and multi-specialty clinics and six hospitals under Healthway Medical. Borromeo plans to expand AC Health's footprint to 1,150 retail pharmacies, 300 clinics and 10 hospitals in the next three years. There are still hospitals ripe for acquisitions even after the purchases by rival conglomerates that have moved ahead in healthcare, he adds. AC Health's expansion has been eclipsed by tycoon Manuel Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which has acquired a series of hospitals making it the country's medical center operator with 27 facilities. Mount Grace Hospitals, which runs the second-biggest network with 24 facilities and led by the billionaire Campos family, also grew rapidly in the same period. The Campos family also control Unilab, the country's biggest home-grown drug maker; and food, beverage and sauces company Del Monte Pacific. Borromeo is unfazed by competition as AC Health has built a netwok of healthcare facilities and pharmacies alongside a digital platform that's geared to take advantage of opportunities in the industry. 'The momentum picked up a lot only in the last four or five years,' Borromeo said. 'It spiralled up after the pandemic. For the first five years we were still experimenting here and there: pharmacies and diagnostic clinics. It was in 2019 that we began a series of acquisitions that were more meaningful.' Ayala Corp. is the country's oldest conglomerate that was started by the grandfather of Jaime Zobel de Ayala, the family patriarch, in 1834 as a distillery. Today, the Manila-listed company has expanded into banking, energy, logistics, utilities and real estate. With a net worth of $2.6 billion, the family is among the richest in the Philippines.
