At the recent December 4 annual election of the Anvil Executive Club held at Rockwell Club in Makati, the new set of 17 officers immediately approved numerous new projects including canceling the annual Christmas reception so funds raised would be donated to the typhoon victims and our proposal for the Anvil Prize for Global Competitiveness. The officers went late at night to the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) headquarters in Port Area, Manila to immediately give the check to PNRC Chairman Richard Gordon and to pledge more support for their efficient relief efforts.

After our election as president, we nominated Confederation of Garment Exporters of the Philippines (CONGEP) president George Siy and steel industrialist/Manila Bay Rotary Club past president Jeffrey Ng to be co-chairmen of this Anvil Prize, which seeks to honor individuals, groups, corporations or institutions promoting a culture of Philippine global competitiveness. Other newly-elected officers of Anvil supportive of the innovative Anvil Prize for Global Competitiveness include EVP Roy Chua (who will organize the First Anvil Golf Cup and the First Anvil Badminton Open in 2005), VPs Danny Ching and Alvin Uy of Ortigas Home Depot, directors Bernard Go of Contract Designs Furnitures, Ronald Alan Ko, William Co Villanueva, incoming PAREB real estate group national president Bobby Sy, Wilfred Co of Robinson Handyman/Do It Best, Michael Chenglay, Jeffrey Cobankiat, Mark Sy Cabilangan, Eduardo Cobankiat and Charlton Ng.

Anvil Executive Club is an organization that molds future leaders not only in business and industry, but also in different professions and civic causes. The focus is on promoting traditional Confucian values, entrepreneurship and professional excellence. Instead of surrendering to the onslaught of globalization, giving up, migrating to greener pastures in the west or other parts of the globe, the consensus of the Anvil officers and members is to help reform the Philippine economy to become more globally competitive.

Past Anvil officers include Michael G. Tan of Asia Brewery and David Chua of Cathay Pacific Steel Corp., both of whose fathers were past presidents of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry Inc. where they are now active; real estate businesswoman and PACES founder Elena Tanyu Coyiuto; Philippine Amalgamated Association of Supermarkets (Pag-Asa) president Steve Cua; Ateneo math whiz Prof. Dr. Queena Lee-Chua, flour mill businesswoman Aileen Uygongco-Ongkauko, Philippine Association of Electrical Industries president Peter Go Mangasing, and others. Can these and other Anvil officers help propagate a spirit of dynamic competitiveness, so that our many obsolete and inefficient Philippine industries will not perish but become future world conquerors and top exporters?

Former Anvil director Berck Y. Cheng first met his bride Lisa Y. Gokongwei of Summit Media/Entrepreneur magazine at an Anvil event. An Anvil member told us, instead of Summit Media licensing foreign periodicals like Cosmopolitan, Entrepreneur, Seventeen and FHM, maybe Lisa and her staff can export to the West their own homegrown brands like Preview or Yes magazines instead? A former Anvil member is Agriculture Secretary Atty. Arthur Yap; can his tenure possibly see the day the Philippines will again export agriculture like sugar and other commodities like decades ago? Another former Anvil member is Chamber of Thrift Banks past president and Asia Trust Bank president Dionisio Ong. Ong actively espouses the idea that encouraging small and medium-scale entrepreneurs with world-class quality standards is the true hope of the Philippine economy.