Patriotism and salesmanship

By Jose B. Maroma, Jr.

I had spent a good part of my professional life in market development, particularly in the marketing of construction services for industrial plants involved in power generation, oil and gas processing, foundry products and machinery supplies –  both in the domestic and international markets. My former employer, Engineering Equipment. Inc (EEI), was at one time the biggest and most preferred Filipino electro-mechanical contractor (peak manpower of 5,000) of the Arabian American Oil Co. (Aramco) in its massive oil processing and gas gathering programs in Saudi Arabia.

Someone like me who had retired from a long and rewarding marketing career would invariably look back and muse over remarkable career milestones. My most memorable sale was not the biggest. Neither was it the most difficult to conclude It was not a million-dollar mega power plant in Saudi Arabia, but a sale of bamboo furniture in Manila an independent entrepreneur. To this day the transaction has left an indelible impression in my mind, and I’ll tell you why.

One day a Mercedes pulled up at the main entrance of SM Megamall in Mandaluyong. Out came a smart-looking, middle-aged lady who immediately attracted attention because she was wearing an embroidered jusi blouse over a patadyong (as in patadyong, including the diagonal fold.). I did not witness this but learned about it later. I was then in the 3^rd floor manning my display booth in the Ilonggo Trade Fair during the watch of Dads Cadena Jr. as DTI provincial director. I had transported and displayed bamboo furniture from my hometown of Cabatuan and bamboo handicrafts made by a rebel returnee from Janiuay.

After a while, this obviously well-heeled lady in patadyong leisurely walked in, setting off my marketing alarm bells as I geared up for my usual song and dance number before a unique prospect with patriotic bearings. When she asked who made my products on display I told her they were done by my friends in a depressed barrio in my hometown and by the family of a rebel returnee in an adjacent town. She bought my living room set and asked me to deliver it to her house in nearby Greenhills subdivision.

Upon delivery, she told me, “Frankly, Sir, I could have shaved off some amount from your price but I did not because, besides good workmanship, you said they were made in a depressed barrio and by a rebel returnee, and I believed you. When you go back to Iloilo, seek out the bamboo craftsman and treat his family to a good meal. It’s one way of saying you love your country.”

I was dumbfounded. Then and there I knew the reason for the patadyong and the jusi blouse. Here was a woman of character and obviously an independent mind who taught me a lesson in patriotism I could never learn from the pompous declarations of politicians on Independence Day.

The author is a retired civil engineer from Cabatuan, Iloilo. He likes to spend his time reading and writing on the burning issues of the day.