Written By Loy M. Palapos Nominated for the Presidential Awards for Outstanding Filipino Overseas in 2006, he was an accomplished Boholano backed by a distinctive professional career and years of community service. His passion for human resource development is equaled by his concern for organizational management, a skill he nurtured in the Philippines and mastered in the Middle East. Dioscoro Orias Ayag, Jr. is Bohol’s contribution to an ever-increasing management pool of experts in the international corporate world.
Jun to his clan and friends, he was born in Mabini, Bohol on December 20, 1959. His father, Dioscoro Uy Ayag Sr. was a well-respected Barangay Captain. His mother, Vicentita Gerodias Orias Ayag is now based in California. Jun has two younger sisters. Daisy A. Agunod finished Bachelor of Science in Commerce major in Accounting at Divine Word College. Maria Divina A. Felicitas finished Bachelor of Arts major in Economics and Bachelor of Science in Nursing also at Divine Word College ( Holy Name University), and is now based in Union City, California.
He graduated First Honorable Mention at the Mabini Central Elementary School in 1972, and Valedictorian at the Holy Infant Academy in Anda in 1976. At 45 years of age, Jun indeed came a long way from his modest beginnings in Mabini and where he learned that a scholarly performance definitely ensure a sure path to academic fulfillment. From the secondary to the collegiate level, he was a consistent honor student and finished his studies solely supported by a string of government scholarships including the prestigious Cocofed Scholarship grant. At the University of San Carlos, Cebu City where he took his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management Accounting, while at the same time with the Sacred Heart Formation House, a preparatory center for priesthood, he earned the nomination for the university’s outstanding graduates.
After rendering service as a Peer Counselor with the University’s Guidance and Counseling Center and at the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Scholarships, Jun’s first foray into the professional business world was with the Cebu-based Norkis Group of Companies where he was assigned as a Research Analyst in the advertising department.
Fresh from college and having undergone short significant on-the-job training with Norkis-Yamaha, Jun moved to the bigger city, Manila, for greener pasture that landed him to avail the Ministry of Human Settlements National Scholarship for Shelter Systems Management and Development Course, a non-thesis masteral course at the University of Life, in cooperation with the Development Academy of the Philippines.
A year later, Jun was hired as a Junior Management and Development Officer at the Human Settlements Development Corporation’s Project Development and Evaluation Group which paved him a bigger role as Assistant Department Manager for Project Planning and Impact Assessment under the Human Settlement’s Office of the Assistant Minister for Special Projects and Services in 1983. Within the same year, Jun’s managerial ability was further harnessed when he was taken as a Manager, Management Staff and as Senior Executive Assistant to the Secretary General of the Philippine Human Resources Development Center (PHRDC). During his employment with the Ministry, Jun’s editing and writing abilities also proved valuable in several inaugural speeches and reports by ministry officials including the top echelon.
The allure of foreign scholarships under Japan’s JICA Technical Cooperation package first beckoned to Jun in 1985 when he was short listed for the year’s batch of business scholars to be sent to Tokyo, Japan. But fortunes have it that Jun joined his compatriots in the exodus to the Middle East during the mid-1980s.
From 1986 to 1990, Jun provided a vital supportive role as Executive Secretary to the Office of the Vice President, Marketing ( Plastics Sales), at the Riyadh-based Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), one of the key government petrochemical institutions in Saudi Arabia’s quest for a mature export-oriented economy. SABIC’s high profile proved to be of advantage to Jun since it provided him the training of handling multi-national transactions.
Better opportunity prompted Jun to join the reputable Saudi American Bank (SAMBA – formerly of Citibank / Citigroup ) as a Customer Service Assistant in 1991 to a Senior Product and Services Representative. It was his desire to shift its gear back in banking inclinations that induced him to take the post at the bank. Upon entry, the bank had introduced its remittance facility (the Speedcash) where the Filipino expatriates were its launching recipients; and as a pioneering staff, he was able to render services to hundreds of thousands of OFWs and expatriates in the 3 regions ( Central, Western and Eastern ) of Saudi Arabia. With patience, hardwork and dedication towards his job, Jun was accorded with the Service Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement in the bank’s (SAMBA) Annual Awards (1992) for deserving employees.
With the bank’s advocacy on Saudi’s Nationalization Program, Jun ended his stint in 2002, which opted him to move to Astra Polymers Compounding Company Limited, a manufacturing firm on color additives, as Head of the Human Resources Department for almost 2 years. During the course of his employment, he introduced quality initiatives on organizational development, corporate image building, strategic corporate planning and training that made marks among the company’s employees.
Jun’s continuing quest for making a difference in the life of an individual and organization has presently prompted him to take a post at JAL International, a contracting / consulting firm, management solution provider that supplies technical manpower to two of the world’s oil and petrochemical giants, Saudi Aramco and SABIC. Being the Executive Assistant to the General Manager / CEO and Management Representative have given him the opportunity to reach the employees and officers alike with his touch of quality, an embodiment of an ISO Quality Coordinator where he also holds.
His working years in Saudi Arabia has brought him to seventeen ( 17 ) countries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia through personal travels and business trips. These opportunities have helped Jun mold his understanding on the plight of OFWs and the Filipino identity as a whole in the league of nations. Through his professionalism, he has represented the Filipino’s competence and service excellence to his counterparts in the global market which without doubt has indirectly promoted goodwill to the Republic.
Among the early clinchers of Jun was his election as a Kabataang Barangay (KB) Federated President and inclusion in the Sangguniang Bayan thus instrumental in honing his leadership abilities. Armed with talents and networks / contacts in the community, he paved the organization of community-based associations like Bisayang Igsoon Sa Saudi Arabya (BISAYA), a civic oriented Bisayan speaking group of overseas workers, the BOWACCC, Boholano Overseas Workers And Community Credit Cooperative, including the participation in various organizations like Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) Congress, and the Cebuano Integrated Society and Tribal Allies (CISTA).
Jun also took an active role in assisting various organizations either as a member, an adviser, or as avid supporter, like the Filipino All Sports Promotions (FASPROM) in Riyadh, and the United Filipino Basketball Federation (UFBF) in the Eastern Province. In arts and culture, he helps spearhead the Entablado Filipino, a theater group that showcases Filipino talents and promotes Filipino literary works. Despite his hectic schedule, he still finds time as an Adviser to the Association of Filipino Fashion Designers in AlKhobar.
With his exemplary talents and professionalism, Dioscoro O. Ayag, Jr. has gained the respect among his peers, superiors, employers and co-workers which ultimately built his distinction as an epitome of a Filipino deserving praise and adulation, and whose achievements are examples to be replicated. Still at the prime of his life, this multi-talented Boholano has long proven that success waits for anybody who labors hard to make his dreams come true.
--published in all Bohol newspapers.
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Topic: Jun Ayag: Presidential Awards for Outstanding Filipino Overseas nominee (Read 8222 times)