Saturday, February 02, 2008 Mixing politics and business By Henrylito D. Tacio
TALKING with Bansalan Mayor Edwin G. Reyes and knowing his dreams reminds you of the words of Theodore Roosevelt.
"There are two kinds of success," the American president once said. "One is the very rare kind that comes to the man who has the power to do what no one else has the power to do. That is genius. But the average man who wins what we call success is not a genius. He is a man who has merely the ordinary qualities that he shares with his fellows, but who has developed those ordinary qualities to a more than ordinary degree."
That is the kind of success Reyes is showing. He doesn't only share what he has learned in life; he also trains other people. Even before he became the mayor of the town of Bansalan, he was -- and he still is! -- a businessman.
In 1991, after working for only six months as custom broker for an international cargo forwarder, he immediately applied what he learned and started his own business.
With a college degree of custom administration from the University of Cebu, he founded YenMark Cargo Transport Corporation (named after his two children) and became its president. In 1992, he also set up the Metro Yen Motors with himself again as the head.
"For profit basically," he replies when asked why he started his own business enterprise. Another reason was to help the country moved economically.
Today, his two companies are doing well -- financially stable and even growing.
In fact, he has to travel back and forth to Japan to do business with other investors.
Looking back, however, he admits that it was a hard climb. "I studied well before venturing into what I am doing now," he recalled. "I conducted ocular inspection and prepared my own project study."
His companies are both based in Cebu. However, he looks forward to branching out in Metro Manila and in other parts of the country.
"I envision a national business enterprise," he said. "In addition, I want put up more businesses in other countries."
But despite carving a name for himself as a successful businessman in the south, he still longs to serve the town where he was born. After all, he once served as a councilor (officer-in-charge) for six months in 1986.
"When I was still young, I dreamed of becoming a good leader and a successful businessman," he said.
Can business and politics mix together? Reyes just couldn't forget Bansalan, where he spent his elementary years at Bansalan Central Elementary School from 1972 to 1975. He attended Nazareth High School from 1978 to 1982.
"Bansalan is my home," he declared.
"Business-wise, Bansalan has the potential of becoming a model in every aspect. I want to spearhead the economic development of this town," he added.
That was one of his ambitions for his town. So, in 2004, he returned to Bansalan and ran for vice mayor as an independent candidate. Being unknown, he lost in the race.
But like most professional businessmen, he dismissed the attempt as his "baptism of fire."
As he himself puts it, "It was a political experiment. I was testing the water of what will I do next should I run again and to ensure victory."
True enough, the man with "the winsome face, full- and bright-expressive eyes, and beaming mustachioed boyish face" emerged victorious in the last local election, defeating an undefeatable vice mayor (who ran for mayor) and a political icon who lorded the town for almost a quarter of a century.
Only 42 years old, Reyes became the youngest mayor to hold the office (aside from being the first ever Bansalan-born mayor).
But being young has its own liabilities, too. With no political backings, Reyes has to use "funds from my personal business" to hasten "delivery of public service" in his town.
There are also two sides of being a neophyte politician. On the positive side, it means less political issues to be thrown against him. The negative side: expense in political organization, he pointed out.
Mayor Reyes admits that as a businessman, he can't help but run the municipality as a business enterprise. "I want to apply what I have learned from my business," he said.
"And it is my business to always see that there are no backlogs in my office. I want to become sort of a model in all aspects - either as a public servant or as a businessman," he added.
