Research
Juan Carlo Lorenzo
BSBA 3-I
RAGS TO RICHES
Socorro Ramos
Founder and General Manager of National Bookstore, Inc.
For Filipinos, the name National Bookstore has become synonymous to school supplies and bestsellers. But the driving force behind the biggest bookstore franchise in the country came from humble beginnings herself—from working in another bookstore. Owner Socorro Ramos was 18 years old when she was a salesgirl for Goodwill Bookstore in Escolta, Manila. Because of her skills, she was eventually put in charge of the store. Ramos didn’t own a bookstore until she married Jose Ramos, and the couple invested in setting up their own shop. But they could not afford the extra help, so Ramos did everything from manning the cashier and keeping stock to scrubbing the floors.
But when the Japanese invaded during the World War II, their store burned to the ground. After the war, Ramos set up a general merchandise store that did fairly well until Typhoon Gene destroyed their store anew in 1948. Undaunted, the couple worked tirelessly to regain their losses. They diversified their products, procured licenses from Hallmark and international publishers like McGraw-Hill and Prentice Hall, among others, to reprint affordable textbooks. Today, National Bookstore boasts of over 145 branches nationwide and vast range of offerings for the Filipino school children and book lovers. John Gokongwei, Jr
Founder, JG Summit Holdings, Inc.
John Gokongwei is the head of his giant holdings company that owns Cebu Pacific Airlines, Robinsons Land Corporation, Robinsons Bank Corporation, Universal Robina Corporation, JG Summit Petrochemical Corporation, and the Philippines Long Distance Telephone Company. But from a net worth of more than $2.4 billion in 2011 (the third richest Filipino, according to Forbes), Gokongwei started without a penny to his name. Although he came from a wealthy family in Cebu, creditors seized their family’s assets when his
BSBA 3-I
RAGS TO RICHES
Socorro Ramos
Founder and General Manager of National Bookstore, Inc.
For Filipinos, the name National Bookstore has become synonymous to school supplies and bestsellers. But the driving force behind the biggest bookstore franchise in the country came from humble beginnings herself—from working in another bookstore. Owner Socorro Ramos was 18 years old when she was a salesgirl for Goodwill Bookstore in Escolta, Manila. Because of her skills, she was eventually put in charge of the store. Ramos didn’t own a bookstore until she married Jose Ramos, and the couple invested in setting up their own shop. But they could not afford the extra help, so Ramos did everything from manning the cashier and keeping stock to scrubbing the floors.
But when the Japanese invaded during the World War II, their store burned to the ground. After the war, Ramos set up a general merchandise store that did fairly well until Typhoon Gene destroyed their store anew in 1948. Undaunted, the couple worked tirelessly to regain their losses. They diversified their products, procured licenses from Hallmark and international publishers like McGraw-Hill and Prentice Hall, among others, to reprint affordable textbooks. Today, National Bookstore boasts of over 145 branches nationwide and vast range of offerings for the Filipino school children and book lovers. John Gokongwei, Jr
Founder, JG Summit Holdings, Inc.
John Gokongwei is the head of his giant holdings company that owns Cebu Pacific Airlines, Robinsons Land Corporation, Robinsons Bank Corporation, Universal Robina Corporation, JG Summit Petrochemical Corporation, and the Philippines Long Distance Telephone Company. But from a net worth of more than $2.4 billion in 2011 (the third richest Filipino, according to Forbes), Gokongwei started without a penny to his name. Although he came from a wealthy family in Cebu, creditors seized their family’s assets when his