Enunina “Nina” Mangio, president of the country’s voice of business – the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) – remembers well the lessons she learned from her humble beginnings in Concepcion, Tarlac, and used these values as stepping stones in fulfilling her dreams and in carving a name in business.
“Coming from a poor family and very humble beginnings, I relied on the values of discipline, hard work, and perseverance,” said Mangio, a licensed chemical engineer from the Mapua Institute of Technology.
“These important life principles were strongly imbedded in me as I experienced difficulties of being a working student, while I took up my MA in Business Administration as a young mother,” said Mangio, who is married to Engr. Mario.
These virtues pushed her rapid ascent in the corporate ladder of an American chemical company that she worked for after graduation.
ON HER OWN
After gaining confidence from the corporate sector, Mangio decided to put up her own company called Mawell Chemical Corp. that she personally managed to ensure that product standards and commitments of clients are met.
This early success in business has paved the way for her to diversify. She then ventured into construction of low-cost housing as a PAG-IBIG Fund-accredited developer under a new real estate company – MPremium International Development Corp.
While operating these businesses, Mangio was recruited by a New York-based company engaged in hotels and resorts, casinos, renewable energy, and manufacturing, among others. The time difference between the US and Philippines allowed her to also handle her other domestic businesses at the same time.
“Probably because of my work ethics, I rapidly ascended the corporate hierarchy of this company and became its president and part-owner,” said Mangio.
She further spreads her wings into other ventures. The most recent is a restaurant chain business.
She may not be good at cooking, but her opportunities beckoned following her association with the Philippines-Korea Business Council PhilKorec. This prompted her to try the Korean eat-all-you can Samgyupsal concept.
“I observed then that Filipinos love this kind of food and I was enticed to try this out,” said Mangio as she realized that her Korean restaurant not only survived the COVID-19 pandemic, but continued to prosper, growing to 65 branches to date.
Mangio commits to maintaining its quality standards. “The competitive edge of Samguyupmasarap is our commitment to quality. We do not cut corners and sacrifice quality just to improve our bottomline. We do not use fillers and inferior raw materials,” she said.
Another factor that contributed to the success of her restaurant chain was the active involvement of her three equally successful children – Engr. Marwin, Dr. Mara, and Atty. Nina Marie.
BUSINESS LEADER
As business leader, Mangio is one with the government in the implementation of priorities to achieve inclusive growth. She believes that sound economic policies encourage the growth of businesses, particularly micro, small, medium enterprises, which account for over 60 percent of employment in the country.
She highlighted the need for more investments in education and skills development to equip the Filipino workforce with the necessary skills for the job market.
Other priorities include access to affordable healthcare, job creation and decent work.
She believes this can be done through the promotion of industries, greater access to financial services such as microfinance to enable individuals and businesses to grow, infrastructure development to improve connectivity and access to markets especially for rural and underserved area, and equitable taxation to be able to fund public services and infrastructure.
At the PCCI, Mangio has only the best intentions for the organization which serves as anchor for all businesses in the country.
“There are many committed and competent officers in the PCCI family. What I am doing is be able to harness their strengths -- their talents and skills, their insights and advice – so that we can continue to make our organization more relevant,” she said.
Just like business enterprises, Mangio said that organizations also have to continuously evolve to effectively adapt to the requirements of the times. “For example, we have to make use of new technologies to be able to communicate more efficiently with our members who come from all parts of the country,” she said.
For her term as president, Mangio’s main advocacies are focused on making local business more competitive in the global market and the Philippines more attractive to foreign investors.
The lady leader is more passionate about improving the ease of doing business in the country. ”There is still work to do so that registering a business and getting necessary permits will be faster and cheaper,” she added as she cited the high cost of power and logistics in the country.
The ease of doing business remains a constant source of disappointment among businesses. PCCI has partnered with and working very closely with the Anti-Red Tape Authority, the Department of Interior and Local Government, the Department of Information and Communications Technology to make the process of business licensing and registration easier and faster.
“We have encouraged many local governments to streamline their business permitting and licensing procedures. In fact, we have observed significant improvements in this area over the years when we conduct our annual search for Most Business-Friendly LGUs,” she said.
Noting the need to expand virtual and physical connectivity, Mangio highlighted the need to expand ICT infrastructure.
The PCCI is also a big on education and skills advocacy. “We need to strengthen our educational system and provide programs to further upskill our workforce, we have to ensure that are able to equip our workers with the necessary skills that our industries require,” she added.
She emphasized that innovation and new technologies, like artificial intelligence, are essential to improve the competitiveness of enterprises.
As the voice of business, Mangio said that PCCI is working closely with government at all levels on matters that affect the economy in general and business in particular.
Through consultation with its members, particularly the annual Philippine Business Conference (PBC) and dialogues with government agencies, PCCI generates resolutions that they present to government for consideration. These resolutions represent PCCI’s suggestions coming from the private sector lens on how to address challenges confronting the domestic economy.
HOPES
“My hope is when my term ends, I have contributed to make PCCI become a more responsive and effective business support organization, working effectively with government and other stakeholders to make our country progressive, sustainable and inclusive,” she said.
“When, after a couple of decades and the Philippines has become one of the most progressive countries in the world, we can proudly say that we did our best to help realize this dream,” she added.
As the third lady president of PCCI, Mangio said this position is not part of her dream. “It just so happened that when I worked hard when I was handling different responsibilities as Chair of the PBC&E and Vice President for Regional Affairs, senior officers in PCCI started to notice and urged me to run for the position,” said Mangio.
She was elected PCCI president, unopposed.