BIRTHDAY SPEECH (March 13, 2007)
Thank you very much for that wonderful audio-visual presentation. I feel so elated. But all those achievements could not be categorized as accidental. They would not have been possible without the Divine Intervention and the indispensable support of my family: ( the first generation Mr. Juanito Fontelera, the second generation comprised of my brothers, the members of the third generation Don and Sunday, et al.), the workforce within the REX Group of Companies, my colleagues from the publishing industry ( some of them are here tonight: one of the governors of the National Book Development Board Governor Roland Robles; the Secretary of the Philippine Book Federation (Philbook) Dr. Edgardo Paras; Philbook Legal Counsel Atty. Rodel Dascil; the President of the National Book Suppliers and Publishers Association Ms. Minyang Espiritu Santo; the President of Fabi’s Enterprises Ms. Beth Fabillaran; the President of Cesty Trading Ms. Cristy Ramirez; the members of the Philippine Reproduction Rights Organization (PRRO); my friends ( from San Beda : Mr. Mari Lacson, Mr. Kishu Sehwani, Atty. Pocholo Martinez, Joffrey Alajar) and my friends and neighbors at the Ayala Heights Village.
I feel so blest that this birthday celebration coincides with the inauguration of this new building. The inauguration was originally planned to coincide with the birthday of our Chairman, Mr. Juanito Fontelera but he unselfishly opted that it be held instead on my birthday as he considered me to be possessing a lucky streak. I hope through God’s help I will live up to said expectation. What was originally thought of to be a simple celebration blew up to this magnitude because of my close interaction with all of you.
We are thankful to our tenants — their presence of course brings prestige to the building. Our tenants cater to your various needs. If you are craving for food, we have the Chowking, Adobo Republic and the newly-opened RAP’s Steakhouse, for some grocery needs we have 7-11, for medicine we have the Botica ng Bayan, when
you want to go net surfing we have the Surfworld Internet, for other medical services we have the BDM Imaging and Trueform Prosthetics, for that excellent looks you can go to Benchfix Salon and for your that flawless skin and wellness you can visit the Derm Clinic and Spa. Special thanks also to Ms. Ver Verga who handled the negotiations with them.
In view of the mixture of named tenants, we have been encouraged to acquire the adjacent lot and presently, another building is being erected likewise with Gerry’s Grill manifesting its interest to get a space.
Thank you very much also to the sponsors of our building inauguration (Architect Owen Calma of the 2Cs Construction; Mr. Orly Javier , Branch Manager of Equitable-PCI Bank; Engr. Roland Santiago of Macro-CSE, Ms. Dina Soriano, Vice-President of BPI, Architect Albert Yu of Asya Design and Ms. Viring Malolos), and finally thank you very much to our special guest during our ribbon cutting ceremony, who is an international beauty title holder, no less than the Miss Tourism Queen International Ms. Justine Gabionza.
It’s great to be matured as it has many fringe benefits like going to the movies for free especially if you’re in Makati. Thank you very much for spending your time in attending this celebration. More power to all of you!
