Biz Buzz: Consunji: Most distinguished UP alumnus
Business tycoon Isidro Consunji could have been a “Blue Eagle” instead of a “Maroon/Iskolar ng Bayan.”
As a young man, he was already enrolled in Ateneo, then an exclusive school for boys. But upon seeing the campus of nearby coed University of the Philippines (UP) populated with beautiful girls in miniskirts, he realized he was in the wrong university.
He, however, had to present a compelling case for his father to allow him to transfer to UP. The winning argument? He declared he wanted to be an engineer. The father just couldn’t say no to a son who wanted to follow in his footsteps.
In 1971, Consunji indeed got his civil engineering degree—but only after overcoming a lot of stumbling blocks. He later on realized that corporate management rather than engineering is his true calling.
Over the years, he led the diversification of the family business into one of the country’s most formidable conglomerates with interests not just in construction but also residential development, coal and nickel mining, water, power generation and the newest baby, cement manufacturing.
Last Saturday, the chair of DMCI Holdings and Semirara Mining & Power Corp. (SMPC) was honored by the UP Alumni Association as the “2024 Most Distinguished Alumnus,” the same distinction that his father, David Consunji, aka the “Father of Modern Construction in the Philippines,” received in 2016.
“It feels unreal because I was an ordinary student when I was here at UP. I spent more time outside the classroom than inside, being active in Beta Epsilon Fraternity and the Association of Civil Engineering Students,” he said in his acceptance speech.
He recalled taking a year off because he was restless and had lost interest in studying. To keep himself busy and earn some money, he worked in the motor pool division and logging concession of his father.
“I consider my time away from school a year well-spent. I learned how to interact with people from all walks of life. I also discovered the importance of productivity, efficiency and cash flow when running a business. Eventually, I returned to UP and earned my civil engineering degree so I could make something out of myself. It took me six years to finish a five-year course,” he said.
“This award means a lot to me because of the journey that brought me here. I’m sure the other awardees feel the same way,” he said.
It was a double honor for the Consunji family as his younger sister Maria Cristina Consunji-Gotianun (Business Economics ’75), president of SMPC, was also given the 2024 Distinguished Alumna Award for corporate management excellence.
There were 96 honorees in all, which also included newly appointed Education Secretary Sonny Angara and architect/urban planner Felino Palafox, who were given “Lifetime Distinguished Achievement Awards”, alongside Philippine Economic Zone Authority director-general Tereso Panga (economic development/foreign direct investment generation) and Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines director-general Rowel Barba (intellectual property protection.)
