ASSIGNMENT
1. Choose one success story of any Filipino entrepreneur. (site the reference/ source) (15 points)
Underline the part of the story where any (3 PECs ONLY) OF THE PECs are shown (30 points)
Story of Filipino Success: Mariano Que, founder of Mercury Drug
Mariano Que once started as a regular employee at a drugstore located in Manila during the prewar period.
As a dedicated employee, he learned to love his job, the role it plays in the everyday living of the Filipinos. Then came
the war who took all, and destroyed everything that there is in the busy streets of the city. The drugstore where he
used to work was also severely destructed, leaving Mariano completely jobless. When the war was over, everything
went scarce, including the medicine. Being knowledgeable about medical prescriptions, Mariano realized that this
period could be a good opportunity for him to help others and also, improve his finances. He then started
retailing sulfa drugs, like the sulfathiazole tablets for a capital of P100, he peddled this in the most poor
streets of the city where medicine was really not available. And since his business was retail, he sold out his
items in no time. He used to peddle this items down the streets, but when he has accumulated enough capital, he then
bought a push cart or “kariton” and sell even more medical products. Many others has saw the potential in that
retailing business, so they copied Mariano. But instead of selling fresh and legit medicine like Mariano, other
peddlers resorted to selling fake and expired medicine. Through this, Mariano gained a respectable reputation
about selling medicine which are not yet expired. People started to trust him more.
By the formal end of the war, in 1945 Mariano has gained enough capital to put up a physical store which he
named Mercury Drug. The Roman god Mercury carried the caduceus symbol, which was largely associated with the
medical profession. However, despite the physical store, he still hired motorized vehicles to deliver medicines
to his valued customers. He also made his store hours 17 hours a day for the whole week, because he
believed that medication may be needed in anytime of the day. In 1952, the stores were open 24/7, which
made the drugstore become a valuable part of the community. As a matter of fact, because of this scheme,
Mercury Drug has been the go-to medical store of the Filipino people.
In 1960, the Ayala Group of Companies offered Mariano Que a space to lease in the shopping center that was
about to be developed in the heart of Makati. Thus, the second Mercury Drug opened, this time as a self-service
pharmacy. The rest is a history of more innovations and technological adoption of computer-guided controls and
biological refrigerators. These improvements allowed the drugstore’s expansion into other life-saving medications. The
newer branches of today are superstores as they carry more than just medicines but other consumer products from
food to household to health and beauty items.
Mercury Drug created a reputation that every Filipino household could rely on; and there was a store in nearly
every town and city accross the country. Today, there are about 700 Mercury stores, some of which are under
franchise. All these fulfilled Mariano Que’s goal of making safe medication available and accessible to every Filipino
community. Today, Mariano’s daughter, Vivian Que Azcona, continues to uphold his company’s visions and missions.
In return for their customers’ unwavering loyalty, Mercury Drug celebrates their annual anniversaries by
holding a free clinic to the indigent, for which the appropriate medications for their illnesses are likewise given for free.
Reference: https://ragstoriches101.wordpress.com/2014/02/20/mariano-que-mercury-drugstore/

The following PECs are shown in the success story of Mariano Que;

Opportunity Seeking - “Mariano realized that this period could be a good opportunity for him to help others
and also, improve his finances. He then started retailing sulfa drugs, like the sulfathiazole tablets for a capital
of P100, he peddled this in the most poor streets of the city where medicine was really not available.”

Demand for efficiency - “ Many others has saw the potential in that retailing business, so they copied
Mariano. But instead of selling fresh and legit medicine like Mariano, other peddlers resorted to selling fake
and expired medicine. Through this, Mariano gained a respectable reputation about selling medicine which
are not yet expired. People started to trust him more.”

Commitment to work - “However, despite the physical store, he still hired motorized vehicles to deliver
medicines to his valued customers. He also made his store hours 17 hours a day for the whole week,
because he believed that medication may be needed in anytime of the day. In 1952, the stores were open
24/7, which made the drugstore become a valuable part of the community.”
ASSIGNMENT
1. Choose one success story of any Filipino entrepreneur. (site the reference/ source) (15 points)
Underline the part of the story where any (3 PECs ONLY) OF THE PECs are shown (30 points)
Alfredo Yao’s Rags-to-Riches Success Story
Alfredo Yao, born in November 23, 1943 is a man who conquered poverty to be the successful person he is
today. At a very young age of 12, Yao has already faced heavy challenges in life. By that time, he has shouldered the
responsibility of being the family’s breadwinner, because his father died. Being a member of large family, since he has
5 other siblings, he has bore the need of helping his mother support their whole family. His mother was once a
sidewalk vendor, and since the income was not enough to support all of them, the young Alfredo engaged in several
sidelines to contribute to their budget. Because of this financial instability, Alfredo hardly finished his primary and
secondary education. Thanks to some of their helpful relatives, he was able to survive. During his college education,
Alfredo stopped; not because he did not want to study anymore, but because the family cannot support his needs, and
his sidelines were not enough to still him in Mapua Institute of Technology.
Despite not graduating in college, Alfredo’s dreams did not die out. He searched for better job
opportunities, in which case has found through the help of his cousin who worked in a printing press. He
then discovered that printing business makes a good fortune, and learned everything he need to learn about
it. Later on, he ventured into operating the same business. He named his very first business, Solemar
Commercial Press, in honor of his mother. The funds he used to put this up was all his savings from the numerous
jobs he had. This business thrived for twenty years, from 1959 to 1979.
In 1979, while the middle-aged Alfredo is roaming around Europe to witness several business exhibits,
he happened to noticed the newly invented doypacks. These are sealed plastic bags that are designed to
stand upright. Since his business was already, somehow related to the manufacturing of these packs he
started producing them too. However, there were no Philippine companies, mostly juice manufacturing
companies, who were willing to take the new packs. So what Alfredo did, to not put his effort into futility, he
himself started a juice manufacturing business.
A year after that, in 1980, Alfredo Yao started concocting fruit juices in his own kitchen. After several
consumer tests, and getting positive feedbacks for it, he launched Zest-O Orange. It is his very first doypack product.
It became an instant hit as every mother saw the practicality of putting the light but tightly-packed orange drinks in
their kids’ lunch boxes. Kids loved it that their chilled fruit drinks stayed cold and fresh till snack time.
Today, the Zest-O product has already 12 variants, which includes ready-to-drink doy pouch, ready-to-drink
PET bottle, ready-to-drink can, carbonated drinks, power drinks, dairy products, water noodles, condiments and a lot
more. Because of these products, Zest-O now holds 80% of the market for fruit juices. Aside from being the leading
company here in the country, this corporation has also expanded in other countries like China, Australia, New Zealand,
Korea, Singapore, Europe and in the United States.
Alfredo Yao has indeed travelled a path to success. From being a boy who used to work numerous jobs, he
has now a well-established business empire. Aside from Zest-O, he already has an airline which he renamed Zest Air
from being Asian Spirit in 2008. On March 12, 2013, Zest Airways, Inc. signed a share swap agreement with AirAsia
Philippines, a domestic airline with foreign ownership interest. The share swap deal involved exchange of shares
between the owner of Zest Airways, the Filipino shareholders of AirAsia Philippines, Inc. and AirAsia Berhad of
Malaysia. Less than a year after AirAsia and Zest Air’s strategic alliance, the airline was rebranded as AirAsia Zest. In
2016, the AirAsia Zest brand was retired in favor of the AirAsia brand.
With the right amount of determination, courage, patience and hardwork, Alfredo Yao sa reached his ultimate
life ambition. He has conquered poverty by never letting it define the limits for him. To some individual, this event of
poverty may be depressing, but let us all be like Alfredo. Let us look at poverty as a challenge that we should
overcome. Do not let life knock you down. Instead, face it with your head up, and take hold of it.
Reference: https://josephbuarao.com/blog/alfredo-yaos-rags-to-riches-success-story/