The First and Last Book of Mr. Ricardo G. Paloma...The Cordillera Tourism Master Plan
Posted on Saturday, 26 November 2016
THE FIRST AND LAST BOOK OF
MR. RICARDO G. PALOMA
…The Cordillera Tourism Master Plan
By Apolinario Villalobos
Mr. Ricardo G. Paloma, “Tatang” to his
subordinates is well-remembered for his patience, thoroughness, and flow
charts. He is so systematic that anything that had got to do with PAL
operations were covered with a flowchart so that mishandling of passengers,
baggage and cargoes can be easily pointed out along the way – from the time
plane tickets were cut up to the time the passenger has left the airport
terminal; from the time a baggage has been checked-in to the time it has been
claimed at the destination; and from the time a cargo has been accepted for
shipment up to the time it has been claimed by the consignee. Even phone calls
were monitored together with the length of time involved in attending to the
callers and from such transactions, their “requirements” should be noted and
taken up during sales meetings.
He was also engrossed in the state of the
Philippine tourism industry, particularly, on how PAL could contribute to its
development. In this regard, the Tours and Promotions Information Center at the
Terminal 4 (formerly, Domestic Airport) was set up and headed by Mr. Vic
Bernardino as Manager, with pioneer staff, Ed Buensuceso, Mayee Santos-Cuenco,
Thelma Villaseἧor,
John Fortes, Reggie Constantino, and Alex Enrile. The TOPIC Magazine was used
as research and information tool to promote local tourism, with Alex Enrile as
the Editor. I was fortunate to have taken over the job of Alex Enrile as Editor
when he left for the United States. I just joined PAL for barely a yera then,
with Tablas station as my first assignment. Later on, the PALakbayan Tour
Program which “segmentized” the traveler according to his needs was
conceptualized and sold as a tour package, both to the domestic and
international tourists. He was also regularly consulted by the Department of
Tourism which earned him the recognition as, “Mr. Tourism”.
I did
not know that ever since I started contributing my poems and essays to the
dailies and magazine even while in Tablas, Mr. Paloma had instructed his
secretary, Bill Trinidad to clip and collect them. I came to know about what he
did when he summoned me to his office on his last day as SVP-Finance, an
extended job after he retired as VP-Sales, Philippines. I found him and Bill
packing up. While I was taking coffee that he, himself prepared, he opened an
attaché case and showed me the contents - original copies of clippings that
caught me by surprise. I did not even know that my materials were published
because I had no time to check them. As a consolation, he had them copied and
gave me the duplicates. He also gave me his first Parker pen which was given to
him by his wife, according to him.
Several
months after he left PAL, I was surprised when his driver visited me in my new
office at S&L Building, along Roxas Boulevard in Ermita, because during the
time, our Tours and Promotions group was integrated into the International
Sales-Philippines which was under Mr. Rene Ocampo and later on, Mr. Archie Lacson
as RVP-Philippines and Guam, after a brief stint with the Metro Manila Sales
which was then, under Mila Limgenco as Senior Asst. Vice-President. The driver
told me that Mr. Paloma was in the car parked at the egress of the building and
he would not like to come up, so I went to him only to know that he was
inviting me to a lunch at the French Baker at the Greenbelt Park, across the
Vernida Bldg. where we used to hold office. He was aware of my diet so he chose
his favorite Frenchy bakeshop-cum-restaurant, just to be sure that I would have
my salad.
Over
the lunch of salad and bread downed with coffee, he asked me if I had the time
to edit some documents for him, to which I immediately said yes. With that, he
gave me a brown envelop with documents. When he brought me back to S&L, he
told me while smiling that more are coming to which I said, no problem. From
then on, at least once a week, he would have me fetched at my office for lunch
at the French Baker in Makati. The driver would also deliver to me batches of
documents for editing.
After
a lull of about two weeks he fetched me again for lunch after which he showed
me a neatly bound book, “The Cordillera Tourism Master Plan”. What he told me
while handing me the book and which I could not forget was, “you inspired me to
do this”.
He had
three copies made, one for me with a dedication, another copy for the
Department of Tourism, and the third copy for his library at home. Many months
transpired and our lunch became infrequent, only to learn that he was sick. My
fault was that I did not find time to visit him….only at his wake. To
compensate for my irresponsibility, I made a poem and essay for him. Both saw
print in the PALiner. I know that those who know Mr. Paloma will agree with me
that he was a great employee who started from the ranks as a porter, PAL ever
had…our one and only “Tatang”.
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