Mags Albarracin Will Miss Awarding This May

      by Willie Vergara, 5-18-09

Brod MAGDALENO ALBARRACIN will not be able to make it this coming May to receive an award called THE MOST DISTINGUISED BETAN IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR. Instead, he asked to host a dinner with me and Pogs Gaspay a few weeks ago in downtown San Francisco.

Brod Mags was the fraternity adviser during the time of Pabs Panares as GP and Tootsie del Castillo as frat sweetheart. He remembers his contemporaries when he entered the frat in 1953, including his cousin, Narciso Albarracin, who now lives in Ohio. His photo as our frat adviser is posted at our website, specifically halfway through at MEMORY LANE I. Below you may view photos of this meeting.

What most of us know about Mags are those we read in the news, as in being considered the “Warren Buffet of the Philippines”. During this 2.5-hour meeting, I learned that Brod Mags is a man of few words -- a most humble, profound person with his mind set on leaving an enormous and lasting legacy to our native land. He said that it is good to leave "just enough to one's children “so they will experience the joy, fulfillment and victory of having to make it on their own." He has retired from his executive duties, and that he is just a consultant in his companies. Among his volunteer involvements is as 'observer' of the Department of National Defense procurement of goods and services. He believes that "most Filipino bureaucrats want to be honest" but it is the bad eggs that are spoiling everything.

Mags appeared to me as one who eats, drinks, sleeps “UP”. He continues to be UP's chief fund-raiser and so far, he is able to raise PhP8 billion. His solutions to problems are simple and long-term. He suggests that each of us may want to consider leaving a legacy to UP via a provision in our respective will – 10% of our estate, which to him is too small for our own children to even complain. On the matter of the vast idle lands owned by UP (18 hectares?) in the vicinity of Diliman that are presently tenanted by squatters, he says that UP has neither competence, capability nor the heart to solve this problem. “Why not just lease the property for a song on a long-term basis to companies that could make the place a productive one, let them take care of the problem, develop the area (Ayala Land for instance) and after 25 years UP would have so much in additional assets and facilities?” he suggests.

Given all his accomplishments in life, Brod Mags has a rather receding personality. He is the contrast of a know-it-all type of person, and is always prudent in answering big questions. This I saw when our conversation turned into a brief discussion on politics. There no iota of pretense that he had a right answers to complex problems, except on the matter of overpopulation in the Philippines which he believes is eating up most of our economic gains. He encourages as many Filipinos to sign an appeal to concerned parties to adopt a more effective population program for the Philippines.
 
On the topic about the fact that the fraternity has grown, his answer was “It is better to have a lean-and-mean membership than a big one that is unwieldy.”

The topic of “UP producing some crooks in government" gave me and Pogs the chance to promote our UPBSFI agenda. This agenda was something Pogs and I brainstormed a few days before this meeting. I mentioned that UPBSFI is very much involved in the programs of the resident body, and that one of the projects that we may introduce is for Beta Sigma to lead a revival of the true essence of Greek societies in UP, and that a series of training programs that would run from year to year be conducted. This long-term project would include preparing our residents for after-college skills and proper values to be able to lead the country to the right direction afterwards -- stuff that are not part the UP curriculum. He was agreeable to concept, including the reality that some funding is necessary to make this work.

It was a very productive meeting, indeed, with some ideas that we could all seriously think about.

L-R: Dr. Pogs Gaspay, Dr. Mags Albarracin and UPBSFI Pres. Willie Vergara

Plus Mrs. Albarracin

Plus Tess Vergara and May Gaspay (rightmost)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UP Beta Sigma Diliman, 1964: GP Pablito Panares, Sweetheart Ms. Tootsie del Castillo, Adviser Dr. Mags Albarracin.

[Web note: reposted here from Memory Lane I]

(Back ---> Announcements)

(Back ---> Features)