Leading with clarity

The corporate journey of Maynilad’s Anette de Ocampo

- By JASPER EMMANUEL ARCALAS

Marie Antonette De Ocampo (right) leads Maynilad Water Services Inc.'s relief efforts in Mindanao, providing potable drinking water to more than 2,000 earthquake survivors in the region in 2019. Doing philanthropic work has been one of the core commitments of De Ocampo's work philosophy.

Armed with a tourism degree from UP Diliman in 1990, Marie Antonette de Ocampo wasted no time in pursuing her first career opportunity.

De Ocampo, more commonly known as Anette, applied as a ground flight attendant for an airline company, hoping to get a job aligned with her degree in tourism. However, the economic conditions in the 1990s had different plans for her. The airline company was affected by the financial crisis, which put any hiring processes on hold.

Her path eventually led her to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), where she began doing administrative work for an assistant branch manager at Manila Pavilion. She quickly rose through the ranks, later becoming executive assistant to the senior branch manager when a position opened due to internal transfers.

It was 1991 — a year that, more than three decades later, remains a distant memory for this top executive of Maynilad Water Services Inc., one of the country’s largest water utility firms.

“1 do not publicly share it, because my stint was short-lived at PAG-COR,” De Ocampo tells The STAR. “But that is where everything started for me.”

Indeed, her tenure at PAGCOR was quite a short stint. De Ocampo knew back then that the political nature and structure of the state-run gaming firm might hinder her career growth. Plus, it was clear to her that she dislikes shifting duties, most especially an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. work schedule.