Jacinto Ng Jr., entrepreneur extraordinaire
(First of four parts)
In 2024, property developer Jacinto “Jack” Ng Jr. was chosen as Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, for his efforts in “shaping opportunities and uplifting the social welfare of low-income Filipinos,” as well as providing “numerous families with resources, education, and support to rise above poverty and achieve their dreams of owning a home.”
This June, Jack will represent the Philippines on the global stage at Monte Carlo in Monaco.
This was no overnight success. Jack’s story is one of the most inspiring I have ever come across, and it is worth chronicling in detail the decades of struggle, redemption and spirituality that led him to where he is now.
“Xavier School formed us to be ‘Men for Others,’” says Jack. “In grade school, I already loved drawing shapes, building Lego City communities. I was equally determined to be a businessman.”
Majoring in architecture at the University of the Philippines Diliman, Jack internalized its Iskolar ng Bayan thrust. After interning with Chu-Yuan (CY) Lee, the renowned architect behind the Taipei 101 skyscraper, Jack joined the housing firm where his father and their Taiwanese partners focused on low-cost housing. Jack started out as a draftsman and introduced computerization to boost efficiency.
Jack’s father, the legendary entrepreneur and tycoon Jacinto Ng Sr., founded Republic Biscuit (Rebisco) and Asia United Bank (AUB), among numerous endeavors. Today Jack’s younger brothers Jonathan and Jacob are in charge of Rebisco and AUB, respectively.
In the early 1990s, takers were few for low-cost housing, and Jack was tasked to diversify into the middle-income market. “I relished the challenge,” he says. “Several other developers were also attracted to this, for it could be a [steadier] income source.”
A decade later, this middle-income line would split off into Earth + Style, helmed by Jack. “For a while, we worked with the Mega publishers to produce My Home Magazine, and people thought we were a lifestyle company. That [positive] perception attached to the brand, and in the first year, we already had brand recall.”
His father had high expectations, and Earth + Style gained a good reputation. “We were attractive to brokers, due to our incentive and promotion schemes,” he says. “Things were going well. I thought this would be the business that I could leave to my children.”
The universe had other plans. In the mid-2000s, the family and their partners planned to build what would eventually become the swanky mixed-use Joy Nostalg Hotel and Suites in Pasig City, which also housed the offices of various family enterprises. Jack was asked to oversee the effort.
However, his father posited a no-moonlighting policy—to be fair to their external partners, Jack could not at the same time spearhead Joy-Nostalg and also lead Earth + Style. This highlighted the patriarch’s sense of honor but also meant that Jack had to quit the business he had painstakingly built.
Jack pushed forward with the hospitality venture, learning the ins and outs of vertical architecture. “This complicated building has a hotel, offices, restaurants, a bank and an indoor pool.” (I adore the heated indoor pool, which uses chlorine from salt water.) Construction finished in record time.
Throughout, Jack was still attempting to oversee Earth + Style. “My departure was so abrupt that there was no succession plan,” Jack says. “I secretly met with the Earth + Style team, instructing them on what to do. My father’s policy came from a place of integrity, and I wanted to honor that—while also trying to keep one of his businesses running.”
When the hotel attained stability, Jack wanted to return to his former role. But due to economic and extenuating factors, “the aging housing partnership, my father’s core business, was coming to a close.”
The partners advised him to start his own company, which he christened Elanvital Enclaves and, with their blessing, the first ones he hired were his former team.
(To be continued next week)
Queena N. Lee-Chua is on the Board of Directors of Ateneo’s Family Business Center. Get her print book “All in the Family Business” at Lazada or Shopee, or e-book at Amazon, Google Play, Apple iBooks. Contact the author at blessbook.chua@gmail.com.
