“He and his family were founder partners of our joint venture in Integrated Micro-electronics Inc. (IMI) and our relationship of trust developed into a working relationship on the Ayala board,” he added in a message to InsiderPH.
Last Friday, May 17, 2024, Carlos — a chemical engineer by training and a business leader by profession — peacefully passed away. He was 95.
MJC the chemical engineer
Carlos, also affectionately called "MJC" by his colleagues and employees, graduated with a chemical engineering degree from Cornell University in 1953. In 1980, he took over the helm of Resins, Inc., the chemical concern founded by his namesake father who was “committed to the industrialization of the Philippines following its devastation during World War II.”
Building a conglomerate; creating jobs
Carrying on his father’s legacy, Carlos expanded the company to form a sprawling conglomerate comprised of eight subsidiaries involved in the manufacture of resins, plywood adhesives and coatings as well as the production of calcium sulfate and aluminum paste for paints.
Further diversification led to shipbuilding and repair and insurance brokerage services. He was also chairman of Riverbanks Development Corp., owner of the Riverbanks Center, a shopping and commercial complex in Marikina.
“If you are educated, it is your duty to create jobs and employ more members of the society so that they can have a better life,” he once said.
In a Facebook post, Ruth Quezon-Ofalsa, a longtime employee of Resins, Inc. who worked closely with MJC, writes, “We will lovingly cherish these moments with you, sir. Working with Resins and working with you was a great privilege. An honor to be there for you at critical times of your life and person. Humbled to be picked to serve during the company’s critical moments.”
A nationalist businessman
Eldest daughter Ma. Lourdes “Marides” Carlos-Fernando, in a message delivered during her father’s 80th birthday celebration in 2009 relayed that he could have stayed and lived overseas after his education at Cornell in the United States, but instead opted to return to the Philippines.
“His love for country was outstanding,” said the former Marikina Mayor. Further proof of this was his support for the “Buy Pinoy, Buy Local” movement which aimed to promote the preferential use of Filipino labor and materials.
Heading the call to serve
Outside of the family enterprise, Carlos also lent his expertise to various industry groups.
As the longest-serving chairman of the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI), he advocated for countryside development to achieve inclusive growth, urging FPI members to extend their value chains to rural areas to bolster domestic markets amid global market fluctuations.
Apart from the FPI, he also held leadership positions at the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bishop-Businessmen’s Conference for Human Development and was a member of the executive committee of the Philippines-United States Business Council. During the term of President Fidel V. Ramos, he headed the Power Patrol movement alongside Energy Secretary Francisco Viray.
In 2011 he was appointed as member, representing non-government organizations, to the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines (UNACOM), DFA, Science and Technology Committee.
An escape from captors
In 1994, Carlos was abducted by an unidentified kidnap gang where he was brought to Barangay Cotta in Lucena.
Refuting reports of any ransom being paid, former Senator Panfilo Lacson Jr., who was at that time chief of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC), clarified in a letter to Malaya Business Insight that “no ransom was paid because Mr. Carlos managed to escape from his captors while negotiations for this ransom were ongoing.”
He further denied claims of fatalities arising from a rescue operation. “There was no rescue operation in the first place. We simply fetched Mr. Carlos from where he hid temporarily after his escape.”
Awards and recognition
In 2000, Carlos Jr. received from the Ateneo de Manila University the Lux in Domino Award, a capstone award bestowed on alumni or alumnae who have displayed in an outstanding and exemplary manner the noblest ideals of the school.
In 2012 he was one of the awardees of the Department of Energy’s Don Emilio Abello Energy Efficiency Awards for his valuable contribution to energy efficiency and conservation.
“Elegant, thoughtful, polite, Ito was always the consummate gentleman,” Zobel said of Carlos. “I will miss Ito as a friend, advisor, mentor and patriot.”
Features Reporter
