ACSEnt hosts Lamoiyan's Dr Cecilio Pedro for its second Speaker Series lecture

On 22 October 2025, the Ateneo Center for Social Entrepreneurship (ACSEnt), with support from the Kwan Laurel Social Enterprise Fund (KLSEF), hosted its second ACSEnt Speaker Series titled "From Mission to Virtue: A Journey of Values-Based Leadership," with Dr Cecilio K Pedro, Chairman of Lamoiyan Corporation, as speaker.

Dr Pedro is himself a graduate of Ateneo de Manila University, obtaining his degree in Business Management from Ateneo in 1975. In addition, he holds an honorary Doctorate of Philosophy in Technological Management from the Technological University of the Philippines. 

Dr Pedro founded Lamoiyan Corporation in 1988 from the ashes of his previous company, Aluminum Container Inc. The latter, a major supplier of the collapsible aluminum toothpaste tubes, had closed down in 1985 after these toothpaste manufacturers switched to plastic laminated toothpaste tubes.

Sensing an opportunity, Dr Pedro decided to enter the toothpaste market himself, resulting in the birth of Lamoiyan and its most well-known brand, Hapee Toothpaste.

Beyond just saving his business, Dr Pedro used Lamoiyan as an opportunity to help those in need. From its inception, Lamoiyan has provided opportunities for deaf and other handicapped personnel, with 20% of Lamoiyan's team comprised of men and women who are deaf.

It's this advocacy and how Lamoiyan continues to grow and thrive while still providing opportunities for the deaf that Dr Pedro talked about in his lecture.

As part of his lecture, Dr Pedro brought up an acronym: SPIRIT, standing for Social Responsibility, Pursuit of Excellence, Integrity, Respect for the Individual, Innovation, and Team Work.

Lamoiyan's social responsibility comes from the company's advocacy to help the deaf and handicapped. Beyond providing opportunities for them, Lamoiyan also funds the building of schools for the deaf.

However, this advocacy does not need to come at the cost of the pursuit of excellence, the latter which Dr Pedro explained, in the words of NBA Hall of Fame Coach Pat Riley, as "the gradual result of striving to do better."

Indeed, Dr Pedro recounted not only Lamoiyan's struggles bringing Hapee toothpaste to market, testing multiple formulations until they found one that was just right, but also how the company continues to strive to improve its products. As part of this, he told stories about how they came up with some of the company's products.

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With the pursuit of excellence also comes integrity – making sure that improving the business does not come at the cost of "doing the right thing." Dr Pedro called this "the most critical" of the items he listed.

As part of this, Dr Pedro also lamented how the lack of integrity was one of the reasons for the corruption plaguing the Philippines, as politicians and even businessmen, look to get rich as quickly as possible.

He then discussed how his integrity start with keeping to his word, that if he promises something, he makes sure to deliver on it. However, he stated that this goes beyond that, and that integrity means him doing the right thing, even if no one is looking, enjoining the audience to do the same.

Integrity also goes hand in hand with Respect for the Individual – respecting his employees, including the deaf and disabled ones as individuals. As he points out, it would be so easy to not just look down on his deaf employees, but take advantage of them. As such, he makes sure that Lamoiyan gives them special attention, accommodating their unique needs. This includes making sure they have space in the company dormitories or making sure they have jobs that they can excel in, even if it would be more cost-effective to automate those jobs.

For Innovation, Dr Pedro shared a quote by Steve Jobs on how "innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity." Here, he brought up stories of challenges Lamoiyan faced that they turned to opportunites by innovating.

More importantly, he emphasized the need for companies, including any that those in attendance may put up in the future, to continue to innovate. He specifically cited how Chinese companies now have a leg up due to how much they spend on innovation.

However, all these would be nothing without Team Work. Here, he showed made the analogy of a flock of geese flying in v formation. He explained how flying in this manner is more efficient for the flock. More importantly, while the leader at the apex of the formation does more work, the geese at the back not only honk to encourage them. In addition, once the leader tires, others will step up to take their place, and, should any fall sick, others will accompany them down to land.

In the same way, team members at Lamoiyan are expected to work in a similar manner, as a team supporting each other.

Following the presentation, Dr Pedro, alongside Dr Roberto Galang, Dean of the John Gokongwei School of Management; and Mr Robbie Kwan Laurel, founder and former CEO of Sunfu Solutions and an Ateneo alumnus, sat down and engaged in a lively open forums with the students in attendance.

The ACSEnt Speaker Series is made possible by the Kwan Laurel Social Enterprise Fund, an endowment meant to support social entrepreneurship and collaborative efforts between Ateneo's School of Humanities (SOH), JGSOM, and ACSEnt, through a multi-disciplinary approach to entrepreneurship and research.