She was born a performer. A former member of the UP Filipiniana Dance Troupe. A dreamer. An achiever. And, as fate would have it, a bigger stage beckoned, and, today, Cynthia Romero Mamon performs multiple roles on a daily basis for a different kind of stage and a much bigger audience. Topping her long list of roles is being the Chief Operating Officer of Enchanted Kingdom, the country’s first and only world-class theme park, which she co-manages with husband and EK Chairman Mario O. Mamon.
A highly regarded executive known not only in Theme Park and Amusement circles but also to many other sectors of society for her leadership and example, Mamon is the epitome of a woman whose drive and spirit are simply unstoppable. Having been recognized by the Filipina Women’s Network as one of its 100 Most Influential Filipinas in the World, the beloved COO shares her duties and responsibilities at EK. “As COO, I oversee the overall business operations responsible for the top line and the bottom line and focusing on providing safe and world-class magical experiences to all our guests.”
She also delves into the company’s IT development and dreams big for its future. “I plan to make EK as an IT showcase,” she says. By that, Cynthia hopes to bring Big Data Management into the fore through constant upgrades of the park’s IT infrastructure, business processes, Financial Management Systems, IT applications in Social and Digital Media Marketing Sales and other areas such as Queue Management. Under her direction, this dream won’t remain a dream, especially since Mamon, shall we say, is a veteran in the world of information technology.
A natural in IT
Cynthia’s involvement in information technology was borne out of necessity back in her college days in UP Los Baños, when she worked as a student assistant and, later on, as a Research Assistant for the Los Baños-based DOST Council, the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Resources Research and Development (PCARRD). She recalls, “When the need for computerization came up, being creative—though not knowing nor having studied Computer Science… I volunteered. I studied on my own, read books, underwent suppliers’ trainings and absorbed everything I can learn from consultants from the National Computer Center who helped me create the Management Information Services Unit which was expanded into a Division, thus making me the division head.” Her self-taught stint eventually led to 20 fruitful years spent in PCARRD, afterwhich Cynthia became the Secretary of the UNIX Users Club of the Philippines, with her former department PCARRD becoming one of its first users in government.
A woman on top
Being a woman did not stop Cynthia from dreaming big and achieving bigger. Her knack for IT and great business sense opened many doors for the future, as she stepped up to more leadership roles than the average goal-driven professional. From as far back as the late 1980’s, Cynthia’s rise was simply phenomenal. She breezed through positions in her former company Phil Sunsystems Products, Inc. (PSPI), co-founded by husband Mario, from marketing manager, to VP for sales to president of the company in just 3 months! “This promotion from marketing manager to Presidency of the company by the male-dominated Stockholders and Board of Directors was a very clear sign that the male founders of the company had their full trust and confidence in my leadership though being a female and a first-timer to lead an IT vendor company.” Truly, there is no challenge hard enough for Cynthia to face. It comes as no surprise that she became president of other IT associations, such as ITAP, PETEF, ITFP; a Board Member of professional associations like MAP, US Asean Business Council and the MBC; and earned a validating recognition, the Gateway Media Awardee for being “One of the Most Powerful Women in Information Technology.”
Values learned
Growing up, Cynthia was accustomed to the strength of character displayed by her parents, especially her mother, the late Dr. Florentina Clemente Romero. At the tender age of five, Cynthia’s father Isidoro, then the Regional Director of the Bureau of Soils, died at the age of 42. She recalls, “My mom was widowed at an early age of 39, with seven children, the eldest was then only 15 and the youngest was barely one year old.” It was her mother’s words during her father’s wake that stuck with the young Cynthia. “God will provide.” That was the very first scripture she learned, and still hold to this day.
Their mom, a senior dentist at the UP Los Baños Infirmary, raised her children single-handedly while instilling in them the values that would help them later in life. “Being the breadwinner, mom also taught us simplicity, charity, and emphasized on the value of education and lifelong learning.” Their mom raised them to be achievers, well-rounded and God-fearing, with a strong sense of faith, community and service. When Dra. Romero died in 2013 at the age of 94, Cynthia and her siblings set up the Dra. Florentina C. Romero Scholarship Foundation in honor of their dear mother. For her part, Cynthia remains active in community service until today. She is currently the Chairman of the Philippine Institute for the Deaf (PID), the first oral school for the deaf organized by the Sergia Esguerra Memorial Foundation.
Future plans
Today, the husband-and-wife team of Mario and Cynthia Mamon, whose names are synonymous with Enchanted Kingdom, play doting grandparents to their seven grandchildren, proud parents to their four grownup kids and to the hundreds of “adoptive children” they have at EK. Fondly called CMs or Cast Members in the “Kingdom,” these are the couple’s extended family whom they regard dearly like next of kin. EK after all, is the family they built, and just like their own family, they built it for the long haul.
As the COO of a big business, Cynthia shares her secret to success, a formula she has proven effective for all her demanding roles through the decades. “The key to any business is strategic management, strategic sales and Marketing founded on strategic thinking. And so, using my expertise on these, I was able to use the same basic principles to impressively attain financial growth at Enchanted Kingdom, with improved guest satisfaction while sustaining safe and efficient business operations.”
More milestones can be expected in the coming years for Enchanted Kingdom, with an exceptional woman like Cynthia Romero Mamon, leading and working hand in hand in strong faith with her equally exceptional husband. She finds strength as she claims her favorite scripture Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, and are called according to His purpose.”
That purpose will most definitely manifest as EK moves onward and upward to its 21st year and beyond.