Sarah Geronimo and Michael G. Tan exemplify filial piety

Honor your father and mother  which is the first commandment with a promise. — Ephesians 6:2

Filial piety is the root of all virtue. — Confucius

If self-made immigrant taipan Andrew Tan of Megaworld and Resorts World Manila was the biggest personal income taxpayer in 2011 with P60.1 million paid and Kris Aquino was the highest showbiz taxpayer with P49.8 million paid that year, it is possible that in 2013 and in the years to come, a new topnotch showbiz taxpayer will be the phenomenal rags-to-riches actress/singer Sarah Geronimo. 

As of April 18, the new film It Takes a Man and a Woman of Star Cinema, starring Sarah Geronimo and John Lloyd Cruz, has already made box office sales of P345 million nationwide, making it the second highest-grossing Filipino film in history. At a recent lunch in ABS-CBN, Sarah talked about her exciting new role in the new reality TV show The Voice as one of the four celebrity coaches.

One of the most striking ideas Sarah Geronimo shared is this — she believes that honoring God and obedience to parents will bring blessings and success.  Sarah had earlier also told Toni Gonzaga on TV: “Iba yung reward na ibibigay ng Diyos sa iyo kapag sinusunod mo yung mga magulang mo. (The rewards God will give you are different when you obey your parents).” Sarah’s parents are former PLDT lineman Delfin Geronimo and her mother is former beauty parlor owner Divina “Divine” Geronimo.

Apart from his self-made wealth and being the most generous in donating to charities, rags-to-riches taipan/philanthropist Lucio C. Tan is admired in the ethnic Chinese community because he exemplifies the traditional Confucian moral value of xiao in Mandarin or hao in Hokkien, meaning “filial piety.” Lucio Tan has for decades been donating to charities in the name of his parents Tan Yan Kee and Chua Kieng Ha, when they were still alive.

Lucio Tan’s son Michael G. Tan is president of the taipan’s investment holding firm LT Group Inc. Educated in Singapore’s Dunman High School, Peking University in Beijing and University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, Mike is known to be consistently filial to his parents. Mike also recently followed his dad’s civic commitments, being elected on March 25 as one of the new vice-presidents of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. (FFCCCII) where his father is chairman emeritus.

Xiao in Mandarin or hao in Hokkien isn’t just the ordinary Western translation of obeying parents, it requires total obedience, reverence for and living an exemplary life to bring honor to one’s parents and ancestors.

Filial piety is believed to be a source of life’s blessings in much of East Asia and this Confucian virtue has the strongest impact on Korea where it is called hyo. The late Hyundai Group founder billionaire Chung Ju Yung, through his Asan Foundation, established the annual Filial Piety Award in South Korea in 1991. Kim Ga-hoon wrote in The Korea Times: “Filial piety is the greatest heritage of Korea.”

In Taiwan, the late billionaire “Plastics King” Wang Yung Ching was well-known for his xiao or hao to his mother, this tycoon’s high-tech entrepreneur daughter Cher Wang is co-founder and boss of HTC phones.

Mike Tan recently gave Philippine STAR an interview. Here are excerpts:

Philippine Star: Congratulations to the LT Group’s recent raising of  P38 billion. Lauro Baja III of UBS said this is “the largest equity raising from public markets, the largest initial public offering (IPO) or re-IPO ever completed in the Philippines.”  What are the characteristics of your father Lucio Tan you admire the most?

Michael G. Tan: Our father’s top characteristics I admire are his great love for his parents, his passion for studying history, his perseverance, simple and disciplined lifestyle. He prefers to do things for convenience, not for luxury.

His health habits?

Our father always prefer simple foods, he avoids too much beef and avoids fried or oily food. He has been like that since his 30s. He exercises regularly by playing a few rounds of golf or swimming. He drinks tea every day. He used to swim every morning, but now it’s more golf of four or five holes every day mainly for the walking. 

Aside from your father, who among business people here or abroad do you admire most?

Li Ka Shing of Hong Kong, he started with nothing and now is Asia’s most accomplished taipan. I admire self-made entrepreneurs.

What are some words of advice your father has given you about business?

To be fair to all. He said that as businessmen we should let others earn, too, because my father believes that in business, all should be in a win-win situation.

He also advised that if you do maintain good quality in products and services, the clients will naturally come to you and, of course, the price should be affordable so there’s good value for the clients always. It’s mostly a manufacturing mindset.

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