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The Man They Call Tatang - Part III

Thursday, Aug 16, 2018 - By Paul Arcenas and Beth Lacson

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Jose Sio, SM’s longest-serving Chief Finance Officer, now Chairman of the Board was an accomplished auditor for a large accounting firm when he got assigned to all the big businesses handled by the firm including Sy’s. As part of the auditing process, Sio would meet with Sy to ask him questions about the business. Sy found his curiosity so infectious that he invited Sio to join SM.

“I can already see what he was dreaming about. He told me he wanted to be the biggest retailer, the biggest bank and the biggest property developer in the country. I thought, this man really had a vision,” Sio said. Sio later found himself working with Sy for the next three decades.

The vision took shape, forged in a crucible of various economic and financial crises which also revealed Sy’s unconventional thinking and tenacity that led to SM’s unprecedented growth in the last six decades.

But there was more to the man than gaining success. Sio shared that Sy’s moniker, Tatang, had a deeper meaning.  “It was never just about the business. He always considered what he should be giving to the community, what he should be giving back to the people.”

Sio remembers catching Sy staring blankly at the ceiling one noontime in his office at the old Makati Stock Exchange, deep in thought.

“Mr Sy, ano iniisip niyo? Malalim (What are you thinking about Mr Sy? It seems deep.),” Sio asked Sy.

He finally told Sio, “I’m feeling the heavy responsibility that we have so many people here (in SM). We have so many employees, suppliers, tenants, so many children, daughters and sons relying on us, that if we’re not successful, what will happen to these people,” Sy said.

From his origins in retail, Tatang has had an innate desire to make customers feel happy when visiting his store and giving them value for their hard-earned money. From customer happiness sprung the larger goal of sustaining the communities that have grown around SM’s developments. This mindset has become rooted in the company’s values, practices and culture. 

“He has always taught us his own philosophy of the value of money. This is how the retail business has grown because he wants to give value to the money of the customer. If you go to the store, whatever it is you buy, you should feel that it’s worth it. So you would rather gain one peso and serve a million people than gain ten pesos and serve a smaller market. That has always been his philosophy, to serve millions,” Sio said.

- End of Part III -

Source: 
By Paul Arcenas and Beth Lacson

Other Special Features

Feature: The Man They Call Tatang
Aug 16, 2018
The Man They Call Tatang - Part II
Aug 16, 2018
Henry Sy’s Legacy in Education
Dec 20, 2018

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SM is the leading Philippine company that is invested in market-leading businesses in retail, banking and property. It also invests in ventures that can capture the high growth opportunities in the emerging Philippine economy.

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