Passion, drive and heart of an MVP

When I joined PLDT-Smart Foundation in 2011, our first gift to Chairman Manny V. Pangilinan (MVP) was a book entitled “Game of Life: Passion, Drive and Heart of an MVP.” The book put together what we think are three of MVP’s dominant passions: business, basketball and CSR. It also captured some of the precious moments of an exhibition game where he brought in some of the top NBA players to the Smart Araneta Coliseum. This amazing feat was topped by the Philippines’ hosting of the FIBA Games in 2023, again made possible by MVP’s single-minded resolve to bring the best of the sport to our basketball-crazy country.

But what drives MVP to go the extra mile, not just in basketball, is his love for the Filipino. In a 2005 speech, he said, “People often ask me why I decided to come back from Hong Kong. Why not stay in Hong Kong and live the comfort of a First-World environment? The simple answer is that this is home for me. I believe in the Filipino. I believe in the Filipino of Rizal, Bonifacio and other heroes – who all left home and after having touched the embers of enlightenment, came back. I believe in the Filipino because I know he’ll find a way to survive and succeed outside his shores. I believe in the Filipino most of all because of our values.”

This love of country propelled MVP to invest here in a big way, starting with the most needed utilities such as telecommunications, power, water and roads. He also took the risk and put his money in businesses sometimes considered complicated such as hospitals, mining, entertainment and recently agriculture. “I firmly believe that all business enterprises – large, medium, or small – have an impact on society beyond their established role of providing goods and services for a profit. Businesses transform societies. They not only shape our physical and virtual worlds, but also create new needs, new hopes, and new dreams.”

Aside from the transformative power of our business operations, we also aim to make our corporate social responsibility programs impactful on the lives of people, especially the underprivileged in our society. “At its very core, CSR is about poverty, and its alleviation – reflecting the view that