Finance whiz Chaye has heart for teachers

MANILA, Philippines - June Cheryl “Chaye” Cabal-Revilla is a very sensible lady. When asked to describe her job, she pauses thoughtfully to compose an answer that is meaningful, encompassing, and ultimately powerful. “It’s a position of trust with no elbow room for mistakes because committing one would affect the integrity of the entire group.”

Chaye, known to those who matter, is the trusted finance whiz inside the Manny V. Pangilinan (MVP) group. Her turf - anything concerning finances. And if you know just how many corporations now belong to the corporation being represented by the MVP group, you will know simply that Chaye’s work is definitely not a walk in the park.

On paper, Chaye’s position is that of being the Controller and Financial Reporting and Controllership Head of PLDT. She is also a director/chief financial officer/treasurer of certain subsidiaries of PLDT including TV5 International , PLDT-Smart Foundation, Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation. And those are not even half of the many hats she wears. Anything and everything about finances, Chaye is right on the money.

“Our job in finance is the glue that holds everything together. It’s a key role; one that requires accuracy. A wrong placement of a decimal point, a wrong forecast, will mean disaster and make the company lose face,” says she who works for a company and its subsidiaries that earned a total of 39 billion pesos in 2011, the biggest core income made by a business enterprise in the country bar none.

Despite her success in the corporate world, Chaye is not oblivious to what’s out there. Her heart remains in the right place. She and her friends in PLDT decided to give back to the community. Others call it an act of kindness or generosity or volunteerism. But Chaye calls it Gabay Guro.

“We realized that since the government nor PLDT can’t give scholarships to all Filipino children, then the next best thing would be to encourage and uplift the teachers. “Changing the life of one teacher has a positive multiplier effect. Make one teacher feel important and he or she will become a better teacher to hundreds of students.” There’s the sensible lady talking again. And she puts money where her mouth is.

Throughout the year, Gabay Guro conducts trainings and programs that fortify the teachers’ knowledge and skills; provides for teachers opportunities for additional livelihood and income; helps in broadbanding public schools and in computerization; provides initial funding to finance housing projects and educational facilities; and initiates events and campaigns that pay tribute to teachers.

In 2011, the Gabay Guro Program was once again conferred an Anvil Award, a repeat from its 2010 feat, this time earning an Anvil excellence award under the PR Tools category. Its Teachers’ Treasure Chest Training subprogram was likewise acknowledged with an award for Merit.

Though such recognitions are cherished by Chaye and her group, it’s really how teachers appreciate them in their own way that thug at the hearts of the people behind the program and makes it all worthwhile for them. Chaye recalls a time when a group of teachers from the province walked all the way from EDSA-Guadalupe to the PLDT office on Ayala Ave. bearing a bayong full of vegetables as a token of their appreciation for all that Gabay Guro has done. “They said, ‘Teacher po kami, gusto lang po namin magpasalamat.’ I was speechless,” says Chaye, her voice softening from the recollection.

Then again, helping others is nothing new to Chaye. She comes from a family of public servants in Leyte, her dad being a mayor there, while her husband Strike Revilla, is Mayor of Bacoor City in Cavite.