THE late Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, “Amba” to close associates, has legions of friends. A few of his closest associates shared their most intimate moments with him.
The BusinessMirror’s chairman of the board, retired Judge Pedro Santiago, was a friend and confidant for 33 years.
“Alam mo kapag hindi siya nagmura, mamamatay iyan. If he is not cursing, that means he is not at ease with you,” Judge Santiago revealed.
He said they met while he was still a Court of First Instance judge in Quezon City, when Cabangon Chua attended his birthday party.
“He is humble. Maganda siya ngumiti. And he is not a show-off,” Santiago said.
Once, while they were exchanging banters, Santiago requested Cabangon Chua for him to be removed as chairman of the BusinessMirror.
“Don Antonio, alisin mo na ako na chairman of the board ng BusinessMirror,” Santiago said then.
Cabangon Chua retorted: “Hindi judge, baka bumalik ka pa.”
To which he replied: “Ngayon pa, matanda na ako.”
On the serious side, Santiago said that while he was still an active judge, Cabangon Chua offered that they should go together when he retires. He accepted, since he admitted that they both have the same weaknesses.
“Just do not broadcast what those weaknesses are,” he said.
On March 10, while he was paying a visit to Cabangon Chua in the hospital, he said a nurse came along, seeming to dance to an imaginary song.
“Huwag kang gaganyan-ganyan, papatulan ka ng kaibigan kong ito,” Santiago told the nurse.
He added that the late Amba had one motto—Spread the sunshine.
It is a trait that is manifested by the numerous charities and contributions to various institutions and individuals he chanced to meet in his lifetime.
As a measure of Cabangon Chua’s kinship with Santiago, the latter said that while still alive, Amba left a “living will” stating that it is only the judge who would give the order when to stop giving him the artificial resuscitator. And, if necessary, to inject him with painkiller so that he would not feel the pain of death.
“I was the only one who could do that. Imagine. I told the Ambassador, ‘Ang sama naman ng papel na ibinigay mo sa akin. Hindi ako makapapayag,’” Santiago said.
He added: “So, I gave him back the ‘living will,’ but he threw it back to me. Mabuti na lang at hindi ganuon ang nangyari.”
And when they last met, Santiago said Cabangon Chua asked him who would be the next president. He added that the late Amba also prodded him to get a post in Batangas, which he refused, saying he would not like to be a vendor.
Bishop Socrates Villegas, the archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan, Pangasinan, visited the wake of the late ambassador at the San Felipe Neri Parish in Mandaluyong City and shared his memories and anecdotes with him.
He said Cabangon Chua was a friend of the late Jaime Cardinal Sin and often came to pay a visit, because he offers financial support to the many projects of the Church.
“The cardinal gave him advice about ethics and about social responsibility. He told Cabangon Chua not to forget his poor beginnings and to consider always the poor ones who work with his group of companies,” Villegas said.
He said he had known Cabangon Chua for about 30 years. They worked together on projects for the poor and the Church.
“When I was assigned in Dagupan, I was surprised to find out that he has a number of businesses in Dagupan. There is Eternal Gardens, Fortune, Orchids Hotels and many others,” the bishop said.
He added: “He is truly a generous man who became rich not just in terms of money, but in the sight of the Lord. He always took care of God’s little ones. And to him, the little ones of God are the real treasures of the world.”
BusinessMirror President Benjamin V. Ramos was then with the Susana Group of Companies. It is a real-estate firm in Novaliches. The owner was also in the movie-distribution business.
Cabangon Chua usually meets Ramos to negotiate with him for some movie deals, because Amba owns four theaters in Novaliches. One day, he heard that Cabangon Chua bought some properties in Baliwag, Bulacan, including a mall.
When they met again in the mall, Cabangon Chua asked Ramos to manage the mall.
“That was my break,” Ramos said.
So he joined Cabangon Chua’s growing business empire starting in 1990. They became closely entwined, until Amba handed Ramos the central audit of his entire business.
“We have been together for the last 25 years. Practically not a day passed by that I do not see him. Maybe the longest stretch would be two days when we do not meet,” Ramos said.
Asked what bonded them so closely, Ben, as he is fondly called by friends, said maybe because they were both accountants by profession.
“We speak the language. Sometimes what he thinks is what I think, too. That is how close we were. All we have to do is look each other in the eye, and we would understand each other,” Ramos said.
He added that this ability to second-guess his boss probably prompted the late Cabangon Chua to one day tell Ramos: “Benjie, be careful with your recommendations and your suggestions. Pag-aralan mong mabuti, because I tend to follow your suggestions, kaya mag-iingat ka.”
“So that’s the challenge, hindi ganuon kadali. Siguro mas marami pa akong tamang suggestion kaysa mali, kaya tumagal ako sa kanya,” he added.
Ramos related one of Amba’s guidelines to him: “You decide. Put in your mind that you are Tony Cabangon Chua.” It was meant that he was being told to behave like him.
“Just imagine. You are his employee and he asked you to decide as if you are Tony, if you were given that mandate, what would you do?” Ramos said.
“Of course, you will try your best not to allow the company to fail,” Ramos added, admitting that the task given to him was extremely difficult, because he was actually being asked to assume a heavy responsibility.
“Many thought that because we are in conversation often that I really have a powerful influence over him. It is really a burden.”
Fortune General Insurance Corp. President and COO Mitch Rellosa vividly remembers sitting down with Cabangon Chua for a meal.
“He got a broiled fish and split it into two and handed one half to me, I was surprised. Tatak Amba talaga,” Rellosa shared.
He said that, from then, he looked up to his boss as a father figure and marvels at his earthy language. “He means what he says,” Rellosa said.
He eventually discovered why Amba seemed to like him.
“Kaya gusto niya ako, pareho kaming mama’s boy. Maka-mama siya, maka-mama rin ako. Nang mamatay ang mama ko, unang-una siya sa burol kahit hindi pa naayos. Nag-iyakan kami. I have never met a man like him, kaya hanggang ngayon nandito pa ako,” Rellosa said.
Rellosa used to work with the Ayala Group of Companies, where he was a management trainee until he became vice president. He said Amba’s Singaporean partner merged with them and he was appointed president because of the trust he earned from his boss. He had been with Cabangon Chua for the last 15 years.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano