"BARANGAY" IS one word that Concepcion knows well. Though primarily an industrialist and business leader, he is also chairman of Barangay Forbes Park in Makati. Elected to that post in 1999, Concepcion has consistently shunned suggestions from well-meaning friends, including Jaime Cardinal Sin, that he run for a national post.

	JOSE S. CONCEPCION JR. Photo by Lilen Uy

"My involvement in the barangay shows what can be done to bring about transformation at the grassroots," says Concepcion. Only then, he says, does "people power" take on the meaning it lost as the post-Edsa euphoria subsided and the more difficult task of nation-building set in.

"We elected Cory and the others, but we left it to them to bring about the necessary changes," he says. And it is clear, he says, that it did not work. He muses that "40 years ago, we were second to Japan" in economic strength. He ticks off the problems that he says continue to get in the way of our progress: poverty, graft and corruption, unemployment, the absence of a clear economic strategy.

What will work then? For Concepcion, a master plan is necessary to steer the economy toward the right direction. Such a plan, he says, will be carried out with a clear vision of the long term and live over many administrations. It will strive to create jobs, produce the goods that we need so that we become self-sufficient in our basic needs, and increase the purchasing power of the ordinary Filipino.

"Let us now look to tomorrow," he says. "If we take measured steps we will move toward that direction (that) will give hope to our people."

But any economic plan, no matter how sound, can only be executed by an inspiring leadership, one that is not "saddled by too much politics." "What destroys this country is too much politics," he says, adding that he was himself a victim of it.

He relates that upon the advice of family and friends, he had turned down President Cory Aquino's offer for him to take the trade and industry portfolio in 1986. They had warned him that if he joined the government, he would be crucified. But the new president persisted, and Concepcion eventually relented. Other leading figures of Namfrel, such as such as Vicente Jayme, Joey Cuisia, and Christian Monsod, also ended up as part of the Aquino administration.

"How true it was," Concepcion now says. "I was crucified." He faced allegations that he had misused public money. To this day he maintains he was unfairly accused, and that those funds went, properly, to an undersecretary.

Since leaving the government in 1991, Concepcion has been back at work in his family's conglomerate, where he is now chairman of the board of RFM Corp. and CEO of Swift Foods. He also holds top posts in various business groups, such as the East Asia Business Council and the Non-Aligned Movement Business Council. He is chairman of his family's charity vehicle, RFM Foundation, as well as of the regionalization and anticorruption committees of the Bishops-Businessmen's Conference of the Philippines.

Concepcion, however, remains very involved in politics, saying his "desire to bring about change" is as keen as it was two decades ago. In 2000, as evidence was coming out about Joseph Estrada's excesses, Concepcion was among the most vocal private-sector leaders who called for the president's resignation. When interviewed by journalists, Concepcion spoke of what Filipinos expect of a leader: someone who can inspire, give direction, achieve economic growth, and address poverty. In all those points, he said at the time, "Estrada fell short."

Tough words from a man who looks and usually sounds very pleasant. And, by most accounts, also very simple in his ways, although he is obviously a wealthy man. Nothing gives him more joy than taking time off to be with his grandchildren.

Concepcion's hopes for the country, today as in 1986, are just as simple: with enough faith in God and in ourselves, Filipinos will be able to steer the country to a brighter future. — Vinia M. Datinguinoo