St. Thomas More has been celebrated as “A Man for All Seasons.” I have a friend and business colleague who just passed away at the ripe old age of 96 who deserves the honorific title of “A Man for the Common Good.” His name was Cesar A. Buenaventura (CAB). Cesar should be considered a role model for any Filipino, as he used his talents as an engineer, top business executive, and public servant to work unselfishly for the welfare of Philippine society.

I want to hold him up as an example of a civic-minded Filipino who spared no effort to promote the common good—first and foremost in his capacity as the first Filipino CEO and chair of the Shell Group in the Philippines. This is where I worked with him at close range when I joined the Board of the Pilipinas Shell Foundation in 1982 and subsequently served as an Independent Board Member for more than a decade.

The Pilipinas Shell Foundation (PSFI) was the brainchild of Cesar, who understood clearly that the common good is defined as a social order which enables every member of society to attain his or her integral human development—a definition that was enshrined in the Philippine Constitution four years later. Although Cesar was not formally a member of the Constitutional Commission convened by then-President Cory Aquino, he was a close advisor to a good number of us serving on the Commission. He was in the inner circle of President Cory’s advisors, alongside Jimmy Ongpin and Jess Estanislao, among others.

Since its founding in 1982, PSFI has touched more than 15 million lives through diverse programs that respond not only to the needs of Shell’s worksites and host communities but to the rest of the country, especially in the most impoverished regions. Guided by its vision, PSFI aims to build the capacities of the most vulnerable sectors of society by working closely with partners, stakeholders, and Shell companies to contribute to the country’s sustainable development. At all times, the organization upholds the core values of honesty, integrity, and respect for people.

Among the many CEOs I have known as a business consultant, Cesar stood out for having the clearest understanding of the most vital service that both business and civil society can render to the poorest of the poor (who make up about 16% of our population of 115 million). This vision of his is captured in a column by Manuel L. Quezon III, who quoted from Cesar's memoirs:

“We need to do two things (for our youth). These are nutrition and education. Both, in turn, seriously hinder the ability of a child to learn, which becomes a permanent liability in life. The statistics are alarming and constitute a national emergency. For children fortunate enough to avoid stunting and wasting, there remains the next challenge: receiving a good, relevant education. Instead of surrendering to despair, many institutions and individuals are rising to the challenge and working to reverse these trends. The challenge before us is to scale up these efforts in a massive way before it’s too late…”

These twin ideas of Cesar’s have done much to mobilize the private sector and government agencies to establish food banks and feeding clinics to address the malnourishment of Filipino children, especially in poor households. There is an increasing effort to channel soon-to-expire food from manufacturers and surplus food from restaurants to orphanages, public schools, and other institutions. Indeed, in 2017, I joined other friends of Cesar to establish the Philippine Food Bank Foundation, which currently prevents the stunting of tens of thousands of children. It was also Cesar’s insight into education that inspired both business and academe to provide enterprise-based learning to students interested in technical skills rather than academic degrees that do not correspond to the real demands of the labor market.

I also worked closely with Cesar back in 1981, when a group of executives and economists began to silently protest the "crony capitalism" practiced by the authoritarian government of the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Again, from his memoirs:

“Back in 1985, Jimmy Ongpin zeroed in on what we collectively believed we represented: the ability to rise based on competence. This is the Filipino dream. A nation that not only believes in but also upholds merit is a nation capable of confronting any problem because it will find a right solution… On the other hand, when an entire people starts feeling that you can only go so far because the top places are reserved for a few—on the basis of mere inheritance, sheer brute force, or corrupt bargains—then you have a society in danger of self-destruction…”

This was a silent protest against martial law by business leaders led by the late Jimmy Ongpin, then-CEO of Benguet Corporation. It was Jimmy who coined the phrase “Crony Capitalism.” This movement evolved into the establishment of the Makati Business Club (MBC), of which Cesar was an incorporator. The MBC was founded by a group of businesspeople who, instead of merely protecting their own vested interests, actively worked for the common good even when proposed policy measures went against their self-interest. This is what the MBC continues to do today (now with Jimmy Ongpin’s son, Rafael, as Executive Director). Furthermore, the MBC has inspired other regions to organize similar groups, such as the Iloilo and Baguio Business Clubs.

For the record, MBC members like Cesar, Jimmy Ongpin, Jess Estanislao, and the late Jose Romero Jr. introduced Corazon Aquino to the media and world leaders, paving the way for her presidency from 1986 to 1992. I was a witness to this process leading up to the EDSA People Power Revolution, as I was busy giving economic briefings to various sectors, including the military (led by the likes of Colonel Honasan), the Church (led by Cardinal Jaime Sin), and various business chambers. I painted the economic scene as objectively as I could; despite my usual optimism, there was no other way to describe the economy but as one bankrupted by the corruption and incompetence of the "cronies."

A final word about Cesar: he had the advantage of being an engineer by training. He earned his bachelor’s in civil engineering from U.P. and his master’s from Lehigh University in 1954 as a Fulbright Scholar. This background gave him the discipline to go against the grain of the typical Philippine organization, where leaders sometimes fall prey to the “pwede na” (that's good enough) syndrome. In my business dealings with him, he always insisted on perfection in little things. He had an eye for the smallest details. He was a perfectionist—a trait unfortunately rare among business leaders who often settle for mediocrity.

May there be more men and women among our business leaders working for the common good, and may we overcome the cultural flaws that tolerate anything less than excellence.