Changing Courses

Bing Limjoco, the new president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, speaks to Jeanna Lanting on how a place in the business landscape was inevitable for her

- Jeanna Lanting

One would be surprised to learn that Ma Alegria Sibal-Limjoco, or “Bing” to family and close friends, originally wanted to be a diplomat. But fate had a different design for her, and she is now one of the driving forces of the country’s business sector as the new president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and just the second woman to hold the position.

She is undoubtedly qualified, growing up immersed in the rudiments of business and the discipline of hard work. Limjoco is a daughter of Dr Ernesto and Alegria Sibal, founders of the popular bookstore Alemar’s and the Phoenix Publishing House. Running the successful businesses had its trade-offs. Limjoco recalls her parents working long hours, leaving very little time for family. In fact, family bonding would most often be at the store with the children helping out in the operations, even on weekends.

Even though she values the upbringing that gave her the strength of character she has now, Limjoco remembers how she couldn’t help but feel a bit neglected when she was young. The memory of watching her classmates fetched one by one from school at the end of the day and herself one of the last—if not the last—still lingers. This however, was enough for her to ask herself: “Is this the kind of life I want?”

The answer then was no. And so she took up foreign diplomacy at St Theresa’s College, drawn in by the allure of foreign affairs and its contrast to business management.