Exclusive Interview with
SCOP Administration Dept Deputy GM Mr Rogelio Abinon
“Don’t Worry, Be Happy... God exists!”
Mr Rogelio Abinon
SCOP Administration Dept Deputy GM
Sumitomo Corporation of the Philippines
Please share with us your journey with SCOP.
What were your greatest accomplishments and challenges in your entire working history with SCOP? What were you working at when you most enjoyed work?
Overcoming challenges is already considered a great accomplishment. I consider challenges and failures as part of my journey for improvements & successes. It has been my work attitude and ethics to keep a high level of professionalism and commitment in making significant contributions to the company working as a team. Any challenges along the way can be overcome with the full support and cooperation of everyone from top management down to lower ranks in the organisation. In fact before joining SCOP, I had been an achiever and a recipient of various awards with my previous companies such as “Employee of the Year” and “Most Valuable Performer” and assigned as a troubleshooter by the CFO to various companies within the Group.
SCOP D&I activity with CU team
As an accountant by profession, my initial assignment at SCOP was to assist GM of the Administration Dept on the functions involving accounting, tax, treasury, internal control, consolidation and other related matters.
Maybe one of the remarkable challenges was in my first year with SCOP when a fraud incident was discovered involving key personnel in corporate department. I was still in my adjustment stage but I was able to manage the day-to-day requirements in corporate department while taking the active role in the investigation with very limited human resources. That incident was instrumental in making changes and implementing improvements of internal control procedures such as segregation of duties, proper review and approvals, proper documentation and monitoring review of the financial records. My assignments were eventually expanded to cover other functions in corporate department such as Risk Management, Logistics, Legal, HR and Corporate Affairs and that was good opportunity for me to learn more and improve my knowledge in other corporate fields.
It is a very good practice of SCAO to have periodic face-to-face functional network meetings in Singapore or other regional offices. I enjoyed meeting personally with my colleagues from other offices as it helps to develop good communication and rapport among SC employees within the region as well as learning best practices of other offices.
With the help of effective IT infrastructure, we successfully adjusted to work from home arrangement during the COVID-19 pandemic, smoothly implemented some paperless processes and maximised internal applications using OAS. Despite with limited personnel, we were still able to support SC Tokyo at Manila Branch in its accounting, tax and regulatory requirements involving various railway projects.
LHT Farewell Party in Tokyo
Name 1 person or thing that had a great impact on you in your life and shaped who you are today. What strategies for success would you recommend to SCOP or SCAO group?
Most probably one of the key factors that has great impact in my life was that I grew up in a poor family in a remote province in the Visayas region in the Philippines. With my strong determination and persistence and with help of the Almighty, I was able to finish my studies at a small university as a self-supporting student. I started working at an early age while studying to earn my college degree and was able to pass the CPA board exam. Despite having experienced poverty, it did not hinder me from striving harder to uplift our life. My mother constantly reminds me not to compromise my work values with opportunities of earning easy money.
Some of the key books that have influenced and kept me motivated to excel in work are “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey and “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie.
Another key person who had greatly impacted me was my former boss, Mr. Arthur Tugade, the former secretary of the Department of Transportation in the Philippines whom I considered my mentor. He gave me opportunities and necessary trainings to be effective and strong in dealing with challenges in work and people.
Costs and expenses are increasing year-by-year. So, revenues need to catch up to achieve financial targets of the company. We understand that SBUs and BUs are now working so hard to look for and formulate strategies to secure good potential business opportunities that can contribute to increasing revenues and earning power. I am not really a marketing person, so it will be difficult for me to recommend a very good strategy but as part of the support team in the corporate department, we need to continuously review, analyse, develop and implement appropriate actions for effective cost management and risk mitigation to prevent unnecessary losses.
As experienced by most offices, the revenues from existing trading business are decreasing with stiff competition from China markets in the region and fast development of technologies for digital transactions. We should work closely on SBUs’ recommended strategies for timely actions to cope with the fast-changing business environment and achieve the desired goals.
Let me borrow the 3S key words from SCOP President, Mr. Seiji Takano, which I totally agree, that is “Sincerity”, “Speed” and “Smile” can bring us to a bright future!!!
Have you thought about life after retirement? What have you planned or what would you be doing?
After working with SCOP for 11 years, I’m now actually retired effective 1 February, 2023. Fortunately, SCOP management has offered me to continue working with the company as a consultant having the same functions and responsibilities as Deputy GM of Administration Department.
At the moment, I am not considering retirement because I still need to work to financially support my family particularly my daughter’s studies. I am very grateful to SCOP management for its consideration and giving me the opportunity to continue working with the company. In case SCOP management does not need my service anymore, most probably, I will continue to work in other domestic companies but focus only on my expertise in accounting and tax as I have vast working experiences in different industries ranging from trading and cargo forwarding to travel agencies and manufacturing.
Apart from good quality time with my family after retirement, I will keep myself active working in a small family business and updated on accounting standards and government regulations.
Dinner with SCOP CU team
SCOP 2022 Christmas party with CU team
With SCAO RM Dept GM Mr Ryohei Oba at SCOP Office
With regional colleagues in Tokyo
Business trip to Tokyo
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SNAPSHOT
I strongly believe in… God, the Almighty who guides us always
I spend most of my time.. working and dealing with complicated situations with a happy disposition
The food I crave most often is… Filipino and Spanish food but not fond of noodles…
One personal rule that I never break is… always pray to God for His guidance and blessings…
The thing that cheers me up whenever I think about is… when Manny Pacquiao won his boxing matches and became world boxing champion
One thing I really want but can’t afford yet is… taking long term vacation overseas
If I could go back in time, I would… rather take profession in IT programming so that I can develop systems that make processes seamless…
If I have enough money to live comfortably without having to work, I would… share my blessings with the unfortunate, to give them the opportunities to develop their talents and capabilities in earning for a living and improve their lives…
