Joseph’s entrepreneurial journey

CEBU, Philippines — Life was considerably hard and challenging for Joseph Pangatungan before, coming from a simple family in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.

At an early age of six, he lost his father, leaving his mother to fend for all of her four children including him, being the eldest.

Since life was hard for his family back then considering that his mother, who was a guitar polisher, had to do everything to make ends meet, Joseph had to be with his relatives outside Cebu and to various places to live and work.

Among the places he once lived included Zamboanga City, Surigao City and Manila wherein he took every job he could get from being a helper, janitor and laborer just to survive.

He eventually went back to his hometown in Barangay Maribago in Lapu-Lapu City.

At that time, tourism-related businesses in the city were booming, being home to some of Cebu’s well-known beach resorts.

But little did he know that this would be the start of his entrepreneurial journey.

Joseph, 52, now owns a budget hotel called Maribago Seaview Pension and Spa which he started in 2008.

The story of how the Alvarez family built Montebello Villa Hotel and Costabella Beach Hotel served as an inspiration for Joseph to start his own hotel business.

'I started as a waiter'

He used to work in Costabella Beach Hotel in 1983 for more than five years as a waiter.

"There I learned many things about restaurant business," the 52-year-old entrepreneur said.

In 1987, he resigned from work and was motivated by his uncles to work in Saudi Arabia as a carpenter.

"I was tempted by the bigger salaries they get. But that ambition of mine to go to Saudi Arabia failed," he said.

And so he withdrew the money that he deposited as placement fee and used it instead as his seed capital to start a trading business.

"I bought goods from the barter trade in Zamboanga City and brought it to Bacolod City via Iloilo City. I made several trips from Cebu to Zamboanga, Iloilo City and Bacolod City," he said.

Later in 1989 he worked in Tambuli Beach Hotel as a front office staff and eventually in Cebu Beach Club as front office manager and restaurant supervisor.

"There I learned many things about the hotel business. That is why when I was able to save money as initial capital while working as a licensed tour guide, my first choice was to build a small hotel," he shared.

In 1992 he resigned from that job and joined the tour guiding training seminar in Manila and became a freelance licensed tour guide, handling mostly Japanese tourists.

It was in 2008 when he built Maribago Seaview Pension and Spa, an 18-room budget hotel, located in Maribago, Lapu-Lapu City, which also has a massage and spa center and a Filipino-Thai restaurant.

Joseph now employs 15 regular workers in his hotel.

"Knowing my limited capital, I looked for a business where I can initially start while construction of the upper floor continues. I tried to venture into massage and spa business to sustain my financial requirement to finish my building," the hotel entrepreneur said.

He recalled his initial capital then was P1.5 million.

Other Ventures

Joseph is a licensed tour guide for the Japanese tourists since 1993 up until today.

He said income from tour guiding during those years was very good and that he was able to put up a foreign exchange business at the international arrival area of Mactan-Cebu International Airport from 2006 up to 2015.

He also has a rent a car business, which is still in existence up to now.

Also being an experienced waiter, he was the first to introduce the modified catering system in their place until many of his co-hotel workers followed the business system that he initiated. Joseph also had a billiard hall, an agrivet supply and many other businesses that he ventured into.

With all the hardships Joseph went through before he became a businessman, he is mostly thankful to God.

"He guided me in everything I do. He gave me wisdom to do business in order to help the less fortunate in our community," he said.

As an entrepreneur, he wants to promote jobs and livelihood to the locals and encourage them to venture into business.

Joseph was also thankful of the mentoring from the Kapatid Mentor Me program of the Department of Trade and Industry.

He was among the third batch of graduates of the mentoring program led by DTI and the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He said it was helpful growing his business especially that the technology plays a very vital role in marketing a business today.

The Cebuano entrepreneur also puts importance on education.

"I never forgot my ambition to finish my studies. While working in different hotels I continued my studies. I studied Political Science at the University of the Visayas and I also gained a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of San Jose Recoletos through ETTEAP program."

Joseph also tried running for public office and won as a barangay councilor for one term and now he is the incumbent Maribago barangay captain. (FREEMAN)