Doris Magsaysay Ho: Nation-builder

For almost 20 years, the “RVR Award for Nation Building” has recognized business leaders who best exemplify the thoughts, words, and deeds of the late Ambassador Ramon V. del Rosario. These ideals can be summed up in three: First, entrepreneurship; second, national and global impact; and third, corporate citizenship and social responsibility that put people and communities at the core of business.

ON THESE BASES, the award has been granted to a very limited number of upright business leaders: Ambassador Howard Dee (2024), Dr. Tony Tan-Caktiong (2022), Dr. Jaime Aristotle Alip (2019), Diosdado Banatao (2018), Dr. George S.K. Ty (2017), Henry Sy Sr. (2016), Manuel V. Pangilinan (2015), Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (2014), Vicente Paterno (2013), Washington SyCip (2012), Oscar Lopez (2011), and Senen Bacani and Jesus Tambunting (2010).

These awardees were nominated by the Manila Jaycees and vetted—without their knowledge and application—by a board of judges meticulously chosen by the award sponsors: Junior Chamber International Manila, Asian Institute of Management, De La Salle University and the Phinma Group.

Since the inception of the awards, I have humbly been asked to chair the board of judges. Joining me this year are former finance secretary Ramon R. del Rosario Jr. (cochair), Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia Jr., AIM President and Dean Jikyeong Kang, JCI Manila President Edison Chan Ke, and Jose Mari del Rosario (representing the Del Rosario family).

The board is always conscious that this rare award is given to business leaders who are not only successful in producing growth and profit for their stockholders but, more crucially, have contributed to the prosperity of the Filipino workers and their families.

All told, the board of judges, after a thorough discussion, unanimously chose Doris Magsaysay Ho, chair and chief executive officer of the Magsaysay Group of Companies, as the first and only lady recipient of the “RVR Award for Nation Building.” She will be honored at a formal ceremony on Nov. 19.

HAVING INHERITED THE COMPANY from her father Robert C.F. Ho, grandfather Don Ambrosio Magsaysay, and uncle Miguel Magsaysay, she was undeniably born into shipping royalty. Still, she assumed stewardship at a time when a woman’s presence was seen as an exception. Naturally, she had to steady the moorings against tides of skepticism, including her own hesitations.

Through her relentless entrepreneurial spirit and global vision, she transformed these doubts into the fuel that forged her silver spoon into gold and platinum. She took a domestic fleet and molded it into a sprawling global enterprise, turning the Magsaysay Group into the backbone of maritime human resources. Nonetheless, she exhibits none of the bluster or entitlement associated with generational wealth and entrepreneurial ingenuity.

Looking at her empire, I do not see mere container vessels, oil tankers, bulk carriers, or cruise liners plying the perilous waters of the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea, or the Panama Canal. I behold a sea of 60,000 Filipino workers yearly—three-fourths on active duty and one-fourth on rotation or training—whose lives have been uplifted through education, specialized training, and genuine corporate care, not just while on duty but long after they have docked for retirement.

At the international level, she is the dynamo behind the Asia Society, where she is a trustee and chair of its Philippine chapter. She also chaired the business counterpart of the Apec or Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference held here in 2015.

On a personal level, I must confess I had very little direct contact with her because the corporations that I am associated with as a board director or adviser have limited dealings with her or her group of companies. However, I had a distant, or what may be called a “paper acquaintance,” with her when, as a member of the Supreme Court, I penned a decision acquitting her in a criminal case in which she was completely faultless. That 1997 decision is featured in my book titled “Transparency, Unanimity and Diversity.”

More recently, I finally met her in person when she was named attorney-in-fact of a Republic of the Marshall Islands corporation owned beneficially by her sister, who is a foreign national and resides abroad, in the sale of a property in which I was the buyer. Even in this setting, she was forthright, brilliant, composed, and friendly, a reflection of her corporate leadership.

INDEED, AS NOTED BY THE BOARD OF JUDGES, “[h]er leadership has shown that shipping is not merely about connecting ports and markets, but also about advancing the welfare of the people who keep the industry moving.”

Measured against every criterion by which this award had been applied through the years, the strongest record belongs, rightfully, to a woman whose career embodies what I believe business should ultimately do: make lives better.

As our very first lady laureate, may Doris Magsaysay Ho’s trailblazing journey across uncharted waters inspire a new generation of Filipino entrepreneurs and prove that whether women command the skies or seas, they can lead our nation toward brighter tomorrows.

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