Vicente H. Lim Jr. : A Fluid Career
Mr. Vicente Lim Jr. modestly talks about how he saved a corporation from disaster as he looks back at a rich and interesting career.
It was once a historical misunderstanding that I had when I realized whom I would be discoursing with; witty and candid remarks I reckon, and this was exactly what a day was with Mr. Vicente Lim Jr., who very much described himself with down-to-earth affirmations when his accomplishments tell otherwise.
Telling stories about UPLB students and misleading notions about taking up agriculture courses, and shooting the breeze on his La Salle and UP Manila days, as well as the founding members of UPLB, Mr. Vicente Lim Jr. often remarked with an optimistic outlook and a kind of vibrancy that reflected what his career was like… and asking about it, he tells that, “it was always a lot of fun.”
Starting out his career from the United States at an electrical lamp business and helping the company to get it running, Mr. Lim avows his distinction in the agricultural sector during the mid-’50s when he, in the Bukidnon pineapple plantation, became one of the pioneer professionals who helped in anchoring the Del Monte Corporation into a better position after their pineapples became “pink” and nearly seized the pineapple business of the corporation. It was a crop disease which turned the fruits black when heated, and to add to this problem; the disease was undetectable until cooked, and it would only manifest when the fruits were already canned and infuriating some consumers buying them. Del Monte officials didn’t know which pineapple is which, and Mr. Lim was sent to San Francisco and Hawaii to undertake research on curing the pineapples. He came back with the solution of detecting the disease at a very early stage, which was done using a chemical-contained steam table; and he comments, with both feet on the ground, that “everybody was successful because it meant they were on the way to repossessing production.”
By that time, he was then mixed up at the cannery with the vision of making better cans through improved technology - avoiding breakages and developing manufacturing processes, where he was sent to Japan to acquire better sources of tin plate. Simultaneously, he was improving general productivity of the company’s canning business - by cleaning up the place.
“Wherever I go,” he tells with a smile, “I always seem to be cleaning up the place, to make it a better workplace.” To corroborate this, his safety programs were very successful not only in ensuring the wellbeing of the company’s employees but also enlivening their morale and thus improving the overall quality and quantity of the products. In fact, this seemingly simplistic vision entailed securing man hours without lost time, and Mr. Lim proudly tells that because of these programs he was able to have lesser absences and zero lost time, which up to now, is still a landmark record in the company and has yet to be broken. It was the same for him during the ’70s when he was sent to Davao in the banana plantations, and with the help of the villagers, renovated the infrastructure and transportation which by then, procured 5,000 hectares of banana cultivations.
On these feats he modestly replied, “Of course the company would always have troubles, and we try to come up with ways and better means of having less trouble.” With such a fluid career, of course, multitasking was a common undertaking, and he says that “I did not have a definite designation, although I think I was manager for something, and then went on to get mixed up to management after management.” To attest to this fluidity, he was sent to the meat production section, and although with only indirect responsibility, he knew that he had to work with the people and figured out how to increase productivity. He helped in seeing to it that bigger and stronger animals be fattened right away (since they have the most meat) and segregating the animals accordingly. Concurrently, he still helped with the cannery, and was designated to grow rice. With help from rice industry expert Abelardo Baclig, he was able to prove his point that growing many hectares of rice a week will help in irrigation and can therefore make rice all year round, wherein if the price goes up, we can produce our own rice. On this feat, he was able make 200-300 cavans every two weeks.
After working in Japan and Singapore, he was then designated as manager for the US-based company for five more years before retiring, and when asked about how fruitful his career was, he smiles, “I never really thought that I was a workaholic, although in thinking, I was.”
Indeed, his retirement did not necessarily end his rewarding career, as many organizations consulted with him, most especially the Department of Agriculture (although it has started earlier before his retirement), and he is currently chairman for National Agriculture and Fishery Council-Food Crops Committee, and a member of Food Chamber of the Philippines, as well as other organizations like the Foundation for Resource Linkage and Development, Inc., Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Management Association of the Philippines and Agribusiness Development Corporation.
What are your fondest moments in your career?
I ran into key actors in the time when the Department was sourcing out raw materials with our own farmers It was getting associated with Ms. [Dulce] Gozon and Ms. [Soledad] Agbayani, and our triangle. They had a great sense of humor and taught me mainly patience, and they were always the ones who seek what things to improve. Ms. Gozon was into onions and potatoes, and Ms. Agbayani was into vegetables, hog raising and other crops. They had higher management, and more so, expertise. At that time we were against importation from China. It was difficult to control, even though we are controlling it as best as we could, but they were a little bit advanced in getting through tariff barriers, and they had better advantages in culture, seed, weather… which in the long run can produce more tonnage… since potatoes and onions are temperate crops, with cheaper products from them and a high degree of production. Ms. Gozon and Ms. Agbayani and me were always going for better methods. I also learned to be a good citizen because of them.
What are your perspectives regarding the Agricultural sector today?
I think that overall, it has improved considerably, in the transportation sector and road networks, and you can see signs of that. There’s RORO boats, which can ship fresh vegetables from Mindanao to Manila, or those with refrigerated vans in Cagayan De Oro and highlands of Bukidnon down to Cagayan de Oro, and in Davao having fresh bananas to be shipped in Manila. The Department of Agriculture has no way but to improve, like improving farming methods and getting more dependence into it, like around the coast of Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon. There’s also improvement in transportation in Baguio, better production in the Benguet area, as well as profit from Tagaytay areas because of the Manila market. Also, there is improvement in the marketing in the Luzon area as well as handling vegetables… if you cannot market with proper quantity, proper time and proper variety, then you’re lost. I think that we’re big enough of a market to trade with other countries, like the US, Japan and China… like bananas and mangoes.
What is your latest project?
We formed a corporation, with people interested in raising production, and we got grants and projects in Mindanao. It was quite successful in Negros, getting together with the farmers. We tried farming some corn, and with large hectares, we got into mechanization, although I must say it was not as successful as we wanted it to be because we were defeated by transportation and not getting proper drying, as well as no proper development and shipping… although we have developed success in the practice. Among my latest projects is cultivating palm oil production from a Malaysian crop, which is quite well developed in production. I am still coordinating with meetings… more meetings than we did before.
What is your message to people who want to enter an agricultural business?
There is no substitute to industriousness. They have to work a lot and more so, think a lot. They should also keep in mind that with these as their goals, that is, thinking and working, the next day would be a brighter day to immerse with people you’re working with. Industrious people are rewarded with good production, because there are so many discouragements about the agricultural business. We should change the negative look that when you’re in agriculture you’re not thinking, because it is exceptionally otherwise.
