By Timi Nubla
No matter their political differences and varying styles in leadership, there will always be one thing that the last four Presidents of the Philippines will have in common:
a PEZA chief that delivers.
Back in the early ‘80s, a feisty Filipina lawyer volunteered to help in the prosecution of an Australian national who murdered a young Filipina for insurance money. The victim was fooled into believing that a lucrative job awaited her in Australia. “He brought this young girl to Australia and pretended (to immigration officials) that she was to be his bride. He got a large insurance for her and then drowned her,†recounts Lilia de Lima.
Lilia won the highly celebrated case after two weeks of rigorous litigation. Because of the media exposure it generated, many other Filipinos working in Australia began to seek her out. They would stalk her hotel each night to seek legal counsel for various cases of abuse and unfair treatment at work. “This made me think, why do they even need to leave the country? If only they can find jobs back home,†she laments.
That was a past long gone but her question never faded. And in shifting gears, she found an answer.
Order of business
Fast forward to 1995. With the economy at the center of his platform, President Fidel Ramos asked Lilia to trade her post as Commissioner of the National Amnesty Commission, for the more challenging task of leading the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) as its new director general.
Eager for a new challenge, Lilia immediately accepted the offer. The opportunity to finally play a more pro-active role in creating jobs and investments was something she couldn’t pass up. She thought to herself that if she could make this work, then fewer Filipinos would have to leave the country and work overseas.
True enough, it was a challenge. Cleaning up an organization, after all, is never easy. When she took over PEZA, the agency was overstaffed and was riddled with graft and corruption. Her first order of business was to slash the workforce by half and weed out the bad eggs, a process that proved to be both tedious and emotionally draining. “There were threats. Malapit ka na, (Your end is near). Isang bala ka lang (All it takes is one bullet). I just had to do what was right because the organization was overstaffed,†she explains.
She worked relentlessly to create a new culture in the agency, until her efforts gradually paid off.
In Lilia’s first year alone, PEZA investments soared by nearly 500 percent, from P9.6 billion in 1994 to P52.5 billion the following year. Impressive as these are, such numbers are a fraction of what she has achieved now.
Twenty years and four Presidents later
Today, PEZA investments have reached an impressive P3 trillion (Almost half of this came in the last five years during President Noynoy Aquino’s term). The number of eco-zones have ballooned to 334 in 2015, from a measly 16 in 1995. The expansion has also created over a million jobs, and more than five million in indirect employment.
PEZA is also the lone government agency that received ISO certification for all of its processes nationwide — an international seal of approval for good housekeeping.
Lilia attributes these results to two major reforms: no red tape and corruption; and a 24/7 non-stop service policy. PEZA is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week (except on Good Friday) to service all of its investors’ concerns. Someone is always on duty at the economic zones and at the airport, to assist its investors in whatever they need, a service unrivalled by other eco-zones in the world.
“Any time raw material arrives at the airport, PEZA has people who can bring them to the eco-zone. That same night, they can start manufacturing, and ship out the finished product the very next day,†she shares proudly. This, she adds, is how they make up for the traffic and port congestion. The agency moves heaven and earth, and works round the clock just to keep their investors happy.
In fighting graft and corruption, this iron lady enforces an uncompromising policy. “If I catch them, walang patawad (no mercy). Out they go.†This strict stance has led to several lawsuits, some even reaching the Supreme Court, but PEZA has successfully won every single case.
Youngest child
For her toughness, values and driven nature, Lilia credits her family. She grew up in Bicol as the youngest among 11 children of a public school teacher and a housewife.
Her father often told them stories of former US President Abraham Lincoln who earned the monicker “Honest Abe,†for always fighting for what was right and practicing uncompromising integrity. This was what inspired her, and other members of her family (former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is a niece), to pursue the legal profession.
Although the youngest, she was also not given special treatment and was trained to be tough by her older siblings. She recalls, for instance, that when she was being taught how to swim as a little girl by her older brothers, they would throw her in the river and ignore her cries for help. This compelled her to learn to tread on her own. “I would cry but they wouldn’t save me, until I was forced to learn how to swim,†she shares with a laugh.
Little did she know that this tough-love approach would prove helpful in the years to come.
For her hard work and many accomplishments in public service, Lilia has reaped recognition both here and overseas. One of her most prestigious awards is the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold, Silver and Star — Japan’s highest award to a non-head of state, given by no less than the Emperor Akihito himself, for her effort in bringing in hundreds of Japanese investors to the Philippines.
Locally, Lilia is the first woman to receive, the prominent “Management Man of the Year†award, while also joining the ranks of other distinguished women as an awardee of “The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service†(TOWNS) for the field of law. Even UP Los Baños has named a flower after her, called “Hibiscus Rosa Sinesis Lilia B. De Lima.â€
It then comes as no surprise, that although her position is co-terminus with the President, four administrations have opted to retain her in the past 20 years. In fact, President Noynoy Aquino even said during his sixth State of the Nation Address, that he wanted “more†of her. “I have already tasked the DOST to hurry up and clone her,†he joked.
Painting with the President
But it’s not all work for this tireless achiever. During her free time, Lilia loves to paint, a passion that is clearly evident when one enters her office floor and sees her beautiful paintings of various flora prominently displayed. She shared that she picked up the hobby from the late President Cory Aquino. “One time I saw her at an event and she told me: ‘Lilia you look so haggard. Why don’t you paint?’†she laughingly recalls. To push her to get started, Cory even referred her teacher Jeff Consumo and sent her painting materials. “She can be that persuasive,†she adds with a smile.
The painting bug soon bit her. She ended up creating a group with the now Ombudsman (and fellow PeopleAsia POY awardee) Conchita Carpio-Morales and other friends who met once every week, after work, to paint together. “We formed a group with other harassed executives,†she quips.
But the artworks she values the most are her collaborative paintings with President Cory. “We could not paint together, so she would start work on a painting, then send the rest for me to finish,†she explains.
Lilia recounts that one time, one of her siblings, a Catholic nun, staged an art exhibit to raise funds for an orphanage. The former President was invited as a special guest, and two of their collaborative paintings were included for display in the show, but they were not for sale. When Cory learned that the event was a fundraiser, she persuaded Lilia to sell their paintings that night. “She told me to sell them and I said ‘but Mrs. President, I want to keep your paintings.’ She said: No it’s okay, we can make more,†she fondly recalls.
Their creative partnership continued, with some of their pieces eventually being transformed into commemorative Philippine stamps.
When asked about her personal life, this charming lady confessed that she has stayed single by choice. She admits to having had her share of suitors in her younger years, but didn’t quite find the right chemistry with anyone. “The mind and the heart just never matched,†she says. “Even when my mind said the person was okay, my heart just didn’t agree.â€
To the nation’s benefit, she has instead devoted her life to public service with passion, excellence and integrity. Cloning her would indeed be a worthwhile pursuit.
Photography by MAU AGUASIN / Hair and Makeup by Carmi Locsin
