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Thursday, August 25, 2005
An accolade for NQ
By Jenara Regis Newman
Role model Norberto Quisumbing, Jr. will get the highest accolade a University can give – a doctorate in humanities, honoris causa – from the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R). He is the third recipient, in all the University’s years of existence, of such an honor. The award is given to a person who has achieved great success in his chosen field, as well as great success in his commitment and sharing to his community.
A lawyer by profession and a businessman in practice, NQ, as he is usually referred to, chose Mandaue, Cebu as his base of operations for Norkis, pioneering in the manufacturing of Yamaha motorcycles, as he felt that it was the mode of transport needed then, in the 60’s. With his initial capital of P500, he has been able to build a business empire of about 30 companies, engaged in the manufacturing of motorcycles and multicabs, and in allied services, in financing, in travel, and even in a ranch.
But the flagship company remains Norkis, with branches or outlets in all major cities throughout the Philippines. The Norkis group now has over 6,000 employes nationwide with a salary outlay of P30 million a month, and almost double that, if benefits are included.
NQ did not start out to become a businessman. Schooled in La Salle (elementary) and Ateneo de Manila (high school), he set out to be a lawyer (studying at the University of the Philippines and the ML Quezon University) and was an apprentice lawyer in a Manila firm when his father called him to Cebu to help in the family business, Panomatch, which manufactured matches.
When his father sold the company, NQ remained in Cebu and started Norkis. And the rest is, as they say, history.
How did he do it? With perseverance, of course, and by taking care of his people. As he said, “You can’t succeed if you don’t care for your people. You have to work as a team.” He also ran the company the way he was brought up: he had to live on the meager allowance his parents gave. If he overspent on snacks, he would have to walk home. This was "experience that hardens you.
Having only what you need or just enough has a humbling effect.” But this experience helped him in his business, to stay within the company’s means, so that “through the ups and downs, politically and economically, Norkis never lost money.”
The one thing he expects from the people around him is honesty. Once you break his trust, out you go. This is part of the moral code expected of all Norkis employes.
As a successful businessman, he was actively involved in the Mandaue Industrial and Commercial Association, in the Cebu Business Club, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Round Table of Business Leaders (which he founded). He is also a member of the Cebu Integrated Bar, a co-founder of Cebu, Inc. and involved in the Center for Research and Communications, the Cebu Development Foundation, Inc., a past chairman of Namfrel-Cebu and chairman of the Union of Tri-Media Foundation (Cebu) Inc.
He has also reached out to the community especially in the field of education. He established Punla, which funds the high school education of deserving scholars from both the Norkis family and from the elementary school graduates of the public school system. Part of Punla is exclusively Norkis-funded, but another part is funded by friends of NQ who share in his vision of giving “a young person quality education for him to become a quality professional and a quality citizen.”
Also in the field of education, he opened the Masters Degree in Management for Executives and Managers Program, as an outreach program of USJ-R. Initially, this was open to Norkis executives who wanted to pursue higher studies. The classes are conducted in Norkis. Now, the program is open to other executives, with classes still conducted in Norkis.
NQ is also founder and chairman of Filipino, Inc., which yearly showcases Filipinos of usually humble origin who have helped to make their community a better place, or who, by their bravery or honesty, have shown what it is to be a noble Filipino.
NQ says he considers himself a Cebuano, and not just because he became an adopted son of Mandaue in 2001. “Being Cebuano is irreplaceable, Cebuanos are friendly, sharing and reliable and humble. They treat everybody alike, whether rich, poor or middle class. And people in government are always approachable.”
For Cebuanos, his Q Park in Compostela is open. It is still in the process of completion but those who want to make the Stations of the Cross in a hillside setting can already do so at the Q Park which will also feature Filipino heroes, all in NQ’s hope that their example may live on in the youth and citizens of the land.
Through his years as businessman, NQ has had several citations – Perlas awardee in the field of business and industry in 1988, most outstanding Upsilonian, most outstanding businessman given by the Mandaue Jaycees in 1975, Exemplary Young Citizen in the Field of Commerce and Industry from Y’s Men’s Club of Cebu in 1970, Executive of the Year from the Cebu News Correspondents Club in 1961, and 1st place, National Toastmaster Speech Contest in 1967. But this year’s award, of an honorary doctorate of humanities, honoris causa, to be given by USJ-R on August 26, caps his lifetime of achievements in his chosen field of business, citing his countryside investments and his being one of a hundred notable Cebuanos in the past century and his pioneering presidency of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as his achievement and sharing in the field of education.
Norberto Quisumbing Jr., who turns 75 this month, is married to Britta Quisumbing with whom he has six children.
(August 25, 2005 issue)
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