Friday, June 28, 2019


While most people know me as coming from Negros, I was actually born in Manila. Sometime in the mid-1970s, my late dad gave up his advertising and graphic design business in Makati to move me and my mother to Bacolod City.

This is what brought us here. I have ceased to question whether the move was right or wrong. In the end, the entire sequence of events from 1975 when I moved from La Salle Greenhills to La Salle Bacolod (in the middle of the schoolyear!) to the time my dad passed away in 1985, is what shaped me to become the person I am today.


These are the fields where I meet my 7 year old self. The little boy who would always tag along with his father and try to shoot birds with a slingshot, chew fresh sugarcane every visit, be fascinated with farm machinery which I would endlessly draw sketches of on my Grade 1 pad when I was in school.

These are the fields where to this day, old farm folk could still speak of how kind my father was to them and how efficiently he managed both the people and the farm as a whole. Stories of which I am grateful for, for these are stories which reinforce what have already been passed on directly by my dad as teaching or admonition to a young boy.

These are the fields which have made me remember what the writer of Ecclesiastes has said, To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.

These are the fields where I meet myself - be it the young boy or who I am today. And the most interesting part, is that this road, the Road to the "Fields of Memories" could also be the same road to the future.




The Road to the Fields of Memories.

While most people know me as coming from Negros, I was actually born in Manila. Sometime in the mid-1970s, my late dad gave up his adve...

Monday, January 19, 2015

Certified Digital Marketer.  Advertising Executive. Media Strategist.  Ex-McCann-Erickson Philippines.  Main media competencies : Out-Of-Home (billboards, transit, etc.), Digital (social media, websites, interactive place-based channels, etc.). Painting. Photography.

About Lloyd Tronco

Certified Digital Marketer.  Advertising Executive. Media Strategist.  Ex-McCann-Erickson Philippines.  Main media competencies : Out-Of-H...

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Earlier this week a friend had plurked of Conti's being open at Greenbelt.  That plurk prodded me to take the family to Conti's for lunch earlier today.

I dropped them off at the Greenbelt 2 Streetside where Conti's was and proceeded to go around the block to park in GB1.  After parking, I took the walk from GB1 to GB2 cutting through GB5 where Omega and Rolex was.  It
was just a few minutes after I passed that 7 armed men in Bomb Squad uniform entered GB5 under the pretense that they were investigating a bomb threat.  Reports said that as soon as they reached the Rolex shop, they smashed the glass casings and began to loot the shop of the watches on display.  It was learned that this plan had been foiled unexpectedly when a Metro Manila mayor's bodyguard was within the vicinity and shot back killing one of the robbers.

Two hours after the incident, my family and I were ready to leave the area.  Problem was, the car was still at GB1 parking which was still closed at the time.  I texted a guard who used to work for our ad agency and was now posted in GB, inquiring if I could get the vehicle.  He replied to say that he'd accompany me to the carpark so I could take the car out.
At the ticket gate, a different guard was taking down every detail such as my driver's license number and vehicle registration to make sure I wasn't one of them culprits trying to slip out.  The procedure was understandable because at this time, the 6 other culprits were still being hunted in the basement of GB5.  And since GB is just one big maze of entrances and exits, I still had my eyes peeled lest the hoods spring out of nowhere and hijack the vehicle.  Crazy thoughts one may say.  But these are the crazy thoughts which fortify stuff such as Murphy's Law.

Overall, it was good to get out safely.  We live in precarious times.  Thank God for His promise of Divine Protection.

Stray Bullets and God's Protection

Earlier this week a friend had plurked of Conti's being open at Greenbelt.  That plurk prodded me to take the family to Conti's ...

Tuesday, September 8, 2009




Among the many business stories and anecdotes to quote, my favorite would be this one.  It becomes my favorite because it takes place in a setting which is very much a part of me...Makati in the 1970s.

It is also my favorite because it reflects the savvy of a seasoned business tactician.

The person involved is Alfonso Yuchengco. In the early 1970s, hotshot investment bank Bancom Development Corp. wanted to merge Yuchengco's Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) with Far East Bank to create the Philippines' largest domestic lender. Bancom's Sixto Roxas teamed up with Augusto Barcelon in a buyout bid. "Yuchengco made it appear that he did not have the money [to purchase the two men's RCBC shares]," recalls lawyer Leonardo Siguion Reyna, an RCBC Director. "So Roxas and Barcelon quoted their price - $7 million. They never knew what hit them when Yuchengco called their bluff." The tycoon had secretly lined up funding from long-standing banking associates in the U.S.

A tactician's mind and openness to foreign ties are hallmarks of Yuchengco's style. Add prudence. His caution may have held back RCBC's growth, but the conservatism of the nation's sixth-largest bank was highly rewarded as the Asian economic crisis of 1997 reeled on. At that time, RCBC says it has only $165 million in foreign borrowings - 1% of the banking system's foreign loans of $16 billion. The money was lent to clients with a natural hedge, such as exporters. "We were able to lessen our exposure to loan defaults," says RCBC vice chairman Alfonso "Tito" Yuchengco III, the youngest of the founder's eight children.

Whenever I am faced with a situation in business wherein a gun seems to be aimed at me, I have learned from the story above to simply keep quiet and gather the resources needed to meet the threat head-on and strike at the moment when the opposition least expects it.  I guess it's quite like the ending of Die Hard where a shirtless Bruce Willis taped his pistol behind his back so as to create the impression that he was unarmed and vulnerable.  Nice.



-taken from my old blog on Multiply.com

My favorite business story : AY in the 1970s

Among the many business stories and anecdotes to quote, my favorite would be this one.  It becomes my favorite because it takes plac...

Saturday, April 30, 2005



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March 27, 2005. Babes Romualdez in his regular column in the Philippine Star writes about the game of golf. I quickly email feedback to him which reads:


Dear Mr. Romualdez,

I have always thought that golf was an idiotic game not finding sense in continually chasing a white ball which one continues to drive further away by 150 to 200 yards at a time.

I have to admit that this concept changed from the time my 2 year old son showed interest in wielding a toy golf club.

Not only do I agree with the statement in your column that golfing is one of the most effective ways to connect and get to know the character of a person, I believe that it is also one of the best ways to bond and form character within children. In a day and age when parents are usually busy at the workplace, golf provides the perfect venue where parents can mentor children not only in the game of golf, but also in life.

I love how Earl Woods, father of Tiger Woods, delineated it in the preface of his book, "Playing Through". This is how he put it....

The game of golf can be a metaphor for life. My life, for certain. I have experienced my share of birdies and a few eagles, yet it seems I have encountered more sand traps and bogeys than I care to recall. With every obstacle or challenge I've faced, however, I've managed to work through it and come out stronger and wiser. And as I walk down the 18th fairway of my lifetime, I hold my head high and make no apologies for the decisions and statements I have made. I realize now that everything happens for a reason, that there is a plan for all of us, which includes both good times and bad. The more astute among us are able to learn from our misfortunes and become stronger individuals. I have been a survivor, a living testimony that others like me can beat the odds, withstand the cruelties, indignities and setbacks that life can offer. I certainly hope the experiences I'll share in these pages will serve to motivate others to press on when the going invariably gets tough.

What a poignant parallel made by a champion's father! On my end, I may be a bit late in having learned to play golf but I am definitely on time with respect to replicating the feat of "fathering a champion" .

As I write this, I cannot wait to wind down the last 15 days of working for a multinational advertising agency. With all the daily demands of keeping clients' business, more time on the fairway will surely be a welcome respite.

More power to you and your column as I do hope to meet you one of these days on the course!

Lessons in Golf as Lessons in Life

---- March 27, 2005. Babes Romualdez in his regular column in the Philippine Star writes about the game of golf. I quickly email ...

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

I visited the agency today to download into the company issued laptop I had left, the remaining files I had promised the Outdoor Media team. The time was a little bit before six. In the distance, the sun was performing its usual yet nonetheless exhilarating exit as it slowly sank into the Manila bay horizon. I was more than glad to know that people at the agency had now been taking the time to watch the oft-neglected lightshow.

My former seatmate, UniversalMcCann AVP, Josette Feliciano, proudly exclaimed that she now regularly took the time to watch the sun set. "And, with coffee in hand!", she added triumphantly while raising her mug. Yes, sunset fever has slowly creeped into the afternoon (or shall we say 'early evening') routine of my former colleagues.

If ever you find yourself pausing at the end of the day to watch sunsets, I will grant you every right to blame the habit on this blog.

Sunset Fever

I visited the agency today to download into the company issued laptop I had left, the remaining files I had promised the Outdoor Media tea...

Saturday, April 16, 2005


Lloyd Tronco.  Certified Digital Marketer.  Advertising Executive. Media Strategist.  Ex-McCann-Erickson Philippines.  Main media competencies : Out-Of-Home (billboards, transit, etc.), Digital (social media, websites, interactive place-based channels, etc.). Painting. Photography.

Opening Shot

Lloyd Tronco.  Certified Digital Marketer.  Advertising Executive. Media Strategist.  Ex-McCann-Erickson Philippines.  Main media compete...

 

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