Founding Green Cross

In 1949, during my second year bodegero, Uncle Quieng Sun Hing had a dispute with Manager Yu Cho Im, so he left Manila Commercial Company and returned to Gold Star Café. My uncle appointed me to succeed him as treasurer of Manila Commercial and my salary was increased to ₱50.

Before he left, Uncle Quieng gave me his keys to the office. It was just a bunch of keys held together by a ring made of thick wire. To this day, I still use the key holder. The keys have long changed, but the ring that holds my keys together is the original one belonging to Uncle Quieng. To others, this loop of wire may appear to be a worthless piece of junk, but I treasure it as a remembrance of my uncle who gave me my first big break.

Treasurer

I ceased to work as a bodegero and cusinero when I became the treasurer. Establishing a reputation for honesty and integrity, I was given the responsibility for the sales force for the Quiapo and Divisoria areas, where our prime customers were. My appointment to the post happened after the salesman in charge of the districts made a mistake and left Manila Commercial Company. That was when I learned how to sell, a skill that would help me later on when I started my own company.

In those days, selling was quite simple, not the hyped-up activity of retailers today. We had good products, which we offered to retailers and vendors. If the products sold well, they continued to buy from us. We were honest in our dealings and we make a reasonable profit from our trade.

Manila Commercial bought its products from Rabin Company of New York, USA. It was owned by an American Jew, Mr. Rabin, who came here with his wife. We met at the Manila Hotel. Rabin Company supplied Manila Commercial with face powder, skin lotion, face cream, other beauty products and isopropyl alcohol, called Gray Cross Rubbing Alcohol. It was the first time we encountered an alcohol product in the Philippine market.

Alcohol for Common Use

This alcohol product languished in the Jabonero Street bodega of Manila Commercial for a long, long time, probably because the salesmen didn’t know what to do with it. I had this idea that we could market it for everyday, household use. So, I brought it out of the warehouse and introduced it to the vendors in Quiapo. It sold at P2 per 500 ml bottle. (At that time, it was packaged in a glass bottle because plastic bottles were not yet being used.) That was the first time rubbing alcohol was introduced for common use in the Philippines and it started selling very well. In fact, it sold so quickly that we ran into problems with the stock. In 1950, during President Elpidio Quirino’s term, the newly established Central Bank imposed import controls. Manila Commercial Company could not import products, so we bought raw products from La Tondeña and made rubbing alcohol in the house of Mr. Yu Cho Im on Benavidez Street. We did this for a while, but we could not turn the tide for the ailing Manila Commercial Company, which continued to do poorly. In 1952, I decided it was time to move on. I resigned after putting up my own company, Gonzalo Laboratory, on 2500 Taft Avenue, Pasay City. It was a sole proprietorship. I owned 100% of the company.

No Turning Back

There was no turning back. I poured all my savings into my new venture—the princely sum of ₱3,400. The ₱400 was a gift that my father had given me several years before. For sentimental reasons, I had never spent it, but kept it as an emergency fund, something I could dip into should the need arise.

Now was the time to use it, so I put it in with the ₱3,000 that I had saved from my income as an English teacher in Sin Hing Night School. My father never held an interest in my business. In fact, while I established Gonzalo Laboratory, he continued working as a building contractor for his uncle, Vicente Gotamco. It was only in the latter part of 1952 that my father started coming to Gonzalo Laboratory. He would help out, sticking labels on the bottles or washing secondhand bottle caps. He did not infuse any capital into my business, nor did he manage it.

My ₱3,400 was enough for a humble start. For ₱90 a month, I leased one of two apartments at 2500 Taft Avenue from the owner, Mr. Ramirez, who later became my compadre. (Mr. Ramirez was the father of Donnie Ramirez, a famous lifestyle columnist today.) Then I bought raw materials from La Tondeña and some containers. Gonzalo Laboratory’s first and only product then was Green Cross Rubbing Alcohol.

I named the product Green Cross. I wanted to differentiate it from Gray Cross Alcohol, the product that I had successfully introduced in the domestic market during my stint at Manila Commercial Company. So I changed the word gray, a color that seemed so dark and foreboding, to green, which to me signified hope and new life. Besides, I was from La Salle, so I was partial to green.

Trademark Obtained

I went to the Bureau of Patents, where trademarks were also being registered, to register the name Green Cross. However, the officer-in-charge of the registry refused to give me a trademark for Green Cross Rubbing Alcohol. The name was too similar to Red Cross, he reasoned.

Refusing to be stymied, I approached the head of the bureau, Attorney Federico Agrava, who happened to be a member of the Order of the Knights of Columbus. Since I was also a member of the Knights of Columbus, albeit of a different chapter, he approved my trademark without further questions. Later, Mr. Agrava and I became good friends.

First Employee

Gonzalo Laboratory started operations on June 16, 1952. My sole employee then was Raymundo Dig, a former colleague from Manila Commercial Company. Dig, a good worker, confided that he was going to resign from Manila Commercial where he was not earning much. I told him that I was about to start my own company and invited him to work with me. I promised that, after a humble start, things would pick up, and I would be able to pay him good wages. He decided to join me in my new venture.

Early Customers

Dig mixed the alcohol and I peddled it. My first customer was Colossal Drug on R. Hidalgo Street in Quiapo, Manila. The owner was a distant auntie from my village in China. I will never forget her because she brought me good luck. Buena mano or a good start is important to any Chinese in business. A good first sale is said to be a portent of strong sales to come. And indeed I was not disappointed.

Gonzalo Laboratory had plenty of customers. Since I had no agent, I got to know the owners of the drugstores personally when I did my rounds. I sold my alcohol to Mercury Drug Store in Bambang. Mercury was owned by Mariano Que, whose right-hand man was Jacinto Concepcion. I also sold to United Drug (the forerunner of pharmaceutical giant United Laboratories or Unilab) in Sto. Cristo and, later on, Commander Drug also bought alcohol from me. SM, owned by Henry Sy, was just a small store on Carriedo. Henry Sy also owned a small drugstore in front of Quiapo Church and this was managed by one of my friends, Domingo Tan, who also bought alcohol from me.

Some of my other valued customers were Sin Lian Thay, a grocery store on Sto. Cristo, Keng Sen Trading, Bee Lian Trading and several others in Divisoria.

All the drugstores became my customers and Green Cross eventually became the premiere brand among locally produced alcohols.

Expanding Operations

Booming sales prompted me to expand my “factory.” In 1953, I occupied the second unit on 2500 Taft Avenue. I also brought in Raymundo’s brothers, Augusto, Horacio and Arturo, to help bottle the alcohol. Since we were not automated yet, they had to repeat the process over and over again—wash the glass bottles, dilute the 100% alcohol to make it 70% alcohol, filter it, bottle it, label it and then pack it for delivery.

Eventually, we were able to hire a driver named Salustiano Nordan, the brother- in-law of Raymundo. Then I also hired his other brothers-in-law, Jose and Benjamin Anquilo, and his cousins.

The 'KBL Era'

Back then, employers tended to hire relatives of good employees, providing a source of livelihood for families, sometimes even generations of families. This practice was almost feudal, with the owner of the company viewed as a patron to whom employees brought their concerns. Those times when this practice prevailed were later euphemistically described as the “KBL era.” Kasal, binyag, libing. Wedding, baptism and funeral.

Employers felt responsible for employees and their families almost from cradle to grave. In return for demonstrating concern for the workers’ welfare, employers reaped the workers’ loyalty and longevity of service. That was my experience, too.

Employee Relations

I augmented the salaries of the workers by providing free meals at work and giving a sack of rice every month to married employees. Later, I rented an apartment for Raymundo and his relatives. I relied on Raymundo to oversee the workflow at the factory, but the workers were free to approach me with their concerns and I tried to help them in their hour of need.

I was mild with them, even when mistakes were made. It was not a habit of mine to raise my voice to berate anyone because more could be gained by a reasonable discussion than an impassioned tirade. But I could not and did not abide cheating or stealing. The workers must have been happy because so many of them continued working for me for decades.

First Salesman Hired

I did all the sales myself until there were just too many customers for me to service. So I hired a salesman, Ruben Tizon, Jr. He worked with me for more than 20 years. Mr. Escobar was a later addition to my sales force and he also stayed with me a long time. The sales people earned a salary plus commission, so they were amply recompensed. Plus, they knew that if they could approach me in an emergency and I would always help them. Even when the profits were not yet big, I felt I had been blessed with much that there was enough to share.