02/06/2026
Corporate Leader Urges Educators to Teach with Purpose, Passion, Conviction
By Bhenjar Toor
SAN SIMON, Pampanga โ In a classroom filled with teachers, school personnel, and young professionals, the message was neither about corporate success nor titles. It was about purpose.
On May 21, seasoned communications executive Chito Maniago stood before the faculty and staff of Next Generation Technological College (NGTC), Next Gen Home Learning, and partner firm Express One Advertising and General Services, Inc. to deliver what became less a lecture and more a deeply personal reflection on resilience, leadership, communication, and the enduring dignity of teaching.
The gathering, held at the NGTC San Simon campus, carried the theme, โThe Deepening of a Sense of Purpose, Strengthening the Appreciation for the Power of Communication, and a Renewal of Passion for the Calling of a Teacher.โ Yet what resonated most was not the grandeur of the title, but the honesty behind the stories Maniago shared.
โTeaching is never just a profession,โ he told the audience. โIt is a vocation. The impact of a teacher extends far beyond the classroom and often lasts a lifetime.โ
For many in attendance, the words landed with unusual force. Maniago spoke not from abstraction, but from experience, the kind shaped by hardship, discipline, and an unrelenting belief that difficult seasons do not last forever.
Today, Maniago occupies one of the most influential positions in Philippine corporate communications as Senior Director and Head for Corporate Public Relations and Strategic Communications at Globe Telecom. Across decades, he has built a career spanning journalism, telecommunications, fintech, pharmaceuticals, sustainability, public affairs, and corporate governance.
His professional journey has taken him through some of the countryโs most prominent institutions: GCash, where he served as Vice President for Corporate Communications and Public Affairs during the rapid rise of digital finance in the Philippines; Zuellig Pharma, where he led communications, government relations, and sustainability efforts; Pfizer; and CEMEX, where he handled regional affairs across Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
Long before the boardrooms and executive appointments, however, there was struggle.
There was hunger.
And there was faith.
Maniago recalled growing up in a family that faced financial collapse after his fatherโs business failed. Though he earned a scholarship at University of Santo Tomas (UST), survival remained uncertain. Tuition may have been covered, but daily expenses were another matter entirely.
He remembered eating boiled corn, nilagang mais, alone in campus washrooms so no one would notice his situation.
โNaalala ko pa noon, tuwing pumupunta ako sa OSA, ang lagi kong tanong ay kung mayroon silang pansit at pandesal,โ he said with a laugh that softened the memory. โAwa ng Diyos, pinapakain naman nila ako just to make it through the day.โ
Even amid deprivation, he distinguished himself as a student leader. He served as Vice President Internal of the AB Student Council before becoming Student Council President, eventually receiving the prestigious Manuel Luis Quezon Leadership Award for exemplary leadership and organizational impact.
What emerged from those years was not bitterness, but a philosophy.
โSalese mu rin,โ he said repeatedly during the talk, borrowing the Kapampangan phrase that loosely translates to It will eventually become better.
โAayos din.โ
Things will work out.
The phrase became both testimony and survival mantra.
From UST, Maniago pursued postgraduate studies in Integrated Marketing Communications at De La Salle University and executive studies at the Asian Institute of Management. Along the way, he earned recognition from the Provincial Government of Pampanga as Most Outstanding Kapampangan in Youth Leadership and later emerged as champion of the MAP SGV โNextGen CEO: A Transformative Leadership Program.โ
Yet despite a rรฉsumรฉ that now reads like a survey of Philippine corporate leadership itself, Maniagoโs most compelling message was strikingly simple: greatness begins with small decisions repeated consistently over time.
Those who know him, colleagues say, often speak less about his titles and more about his humility, the quiet persistence, discipline, prayer, and integrity that shaped his ascent.
Few Filipino executives have successfully navigated journalism, healthcare, fintech, telecommunications, sustainability, regional multinational affairs, and advertising governance with equal credibility. Fewer still speak about success with the vulnerability Maniago displayed before the educators gathered in San Simon.
By the end of the session, what lingered was not merely the profile of a successful executive, but the portrait of a man who never forgot where he began.
A student asking for bread.
A young leader refusing to surrender to circumstance.
A professional who built influence not only through strategy, but through character.
And perhaps that is why his final message resonated most powerfully.
Everything begins with believing that things can still become better.
โSalese mu rin,โ he said once more.
โAayos din.โ
And now, perhaps, maayos na nga.
