“You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure about you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us.” - Marianne Williamson
Benel Se–Liban’s symbols of faith are large and ubiquitous.
An almost three-foot high statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary stands in her living room. CDs of Christian songs sat at her coffee table in the study. In every room of the house, you are reminded of “Mama Mary,” as Benel calls her.
Our Lady of Guadalupe’s photo was across from me. It was a challenge to stay focused on the interview. I felt the urge to pray, so I asked for guidance.
What JP thinks of mom Benel
I sat across JP Liban, a cherubic-looking 10-year-old, who is the only child of Benel with Cris Liban.
“I heard that [my mom] helped her brother, Benito Se Jr., (a Mason) to distribute food and school supplies for 250 poor students in the Philippines,” he said.
He described his feelings about mom Benel, after she was recognized as one of the 2011 Filipina Women Network’s 100 Influential Women.
He also spoke about relishing acting lessons in summer camp, where he gained confidence in public speaking and singing on stage. He also ran for student council representative at St. Jerome’s:
“At first, I was sort of slow, but the pace picked up [at St. Jerome’s], where I know a lot of people like me, they always talk to me, because I help them out a lot, help them with homework and I tell them a lot of jokes. So we became buddies.”
He then showed me the poster with his slogan: “To lead is to serve.” It had two photos of JP at the Midnight Mission Homeless Shelter.
But it was facial hair and puberty which had JP reveal his heartfelt and deep feelings.
His voice got deeper, as he pointed to the outlines of his mustache. “ [My parents] love me with all their hearts. I am so convinced [of that] and I am really happy. When something goes wrong, I [don’t feel] alone anymore. When I do well, they feel very proud and buy me a treat—a little something. I got a Wii game console, [but she hid] the controller.”
I asked why.
“Because you were coming,” he said. I laughed.
“I don’t like it when my mom gets quiet. She makes me feel guilty, I just want her to tell me what I did wrong, because sometimes I really do not know.”
To the other 10-year-olds out there, here is JP’s message: “ You should love your mom because you have moms that help you a lot, and if you love your mom, you would have a happy life.”
Passing it on
Benel is the daughter of Judge Benito C. Se and Commissioner Josefina G. Se.
She credits her wonderful parents for who she is today.
Like the coaching she got from her parents, she did the same, coaching JP on Matthew Brady for his history class.
At first, JP read from notecards. It wasn’t impressive to Benel. She asked him to memorize his lines and say them with feelings.
JP mesmerized the school audience, a day before elections. The next day, he became student council representative. On days that the student council had meetings, he would be in school at 7:15am.
Punctuality is a trait of Benel’s as well, showing her respect for the time of others. When she agreed to walk up to the summit, she was at my doorstep at 7:30am. Our doorbell did not work. She kept ringing and through her persistence (and connection through Facebook), we were out the door in fifteen minutes.
Benel said she has been “mentored,” otherwise she will be all over the place.
She spoke highly of Gil Vasquez, founder of ALPFA (Association of Latino Professional in Finance and Accounting), whose professional association now boasts of 16,000 Latino members.
He mentors her on how to keep focused on the mission and vision of the organization—instead of intrigues from wagging tongues.
He encouraged Benel to have a non-profit organization that will also provide mentorship and empowerment to Filipino professionals in accounting and finance.
Benel is the founding president of the International Society of Filipinos in Finance and Accounting. It is a California 501©(3) organization with the “primary goal to assist, educate, train and mentor emerging professionals, both domestically, as well as globally.”
Mentoring is a key organizational practice. They have now expanded chapters, to include Los Angeles and New York.
According to the organization’s website, “Common difficulties experienced are: speech, business development, medical and dental, the US banking system, lifestyle, personal practices and cultural differences. These obstacles often times prove overwhelming to an individual with no help or mentor there to assist them. Personal experiences from many such individuals—including … founding group members demonstrated how such initial barriers left deep scars of insecurity and uncertainty thus providing effective roadblocks to development and integration into their new home and preventing them from developing professionally.”
One of their key challenges is to find scholarship recipients, who after benefiting from the organization’s sponsorship, will opt to grow the network.
As mentoring is one of their organizational strengths, a leadership development program is designed to increase self-awareness, self-confidence, an executive presence to match technical presence—developing these young finance and accounting graduates to achieve their highest potential.
They match them with key mentors in private firms, government agencies, nonprofit organization and accounting firms (DeLoitte and Touche, KPMG, Ernst and Young,to name a few) using tools of peer assessment, self-reflection, group activities and leadership development activities.
It is a proactive way of giving back.
Benel spoke about the challenges she faced as a new immigrant a long time ago—of how she found isolation and how she needed to be self-reliant (there were no maids nor drivers whom she can rely on).
She’s tasked to do everything: cook, clean, drive and work.
Her training at Sycip, Gorres Velayo and Co (SGV & Co) has taught her the discipline to work (even until 11pm) to meet her deadlines.
When she took the liberty to adjust her work schedule the next day for uncompensated overtime, her boss at a Los Angeles firm demurred.
She realized that her job was not for her.
That led her to Vasquez and Company LLP (a Los Angeles-based public accounting firm that has served clients since 1969), where she is now the only woman principal.
She credits Gil Vasquez (who is the managing partner of Vasquez and Company, LLP) for training her to audit non-profits.
It gave her newfound wisdom—being committed to something larger and beyond earning a fat paycheck.
Today, the staff at Vasquez and Company LLP has grown to about 50 people—70% of which are Filipinos.
Benel mentors them to be strategic in their orientation: to aspire for a management position in Vasquez or if not in Vasquez, to aspire for a key accounting or finance management role in another company.
She wants them to reach for the stars and the moon.
“I did not know then [that] I could be a leader. I was just pushed [and] mentored so I can reach my full potential,” she said.
Cris: A good leader is a good follower
Cris (Benel’s husband) shared his perspective on life, marriage and leadership.
“It is a give and take relationship. [There are] lots of things going on in my life—my work, [my involvement with] national [transportation] issues. I am school [board] president at St. Jerome’s, and then there is the Filipino community. It is challenging in the sense that you want a 10-year-old to have both parents take care of him. At least [have] one parent [available] at all times. We get to be tolerant of one another, open to forthcoming challenges, balancing our lives a bit more. You can’t get what you want, until you consider the other person’s point of view, [lest] you will be frustrated, upset that the other person will not be open to things that you see. I get to know a lot of people, [through Benel]. It expands my horizons, as I tend to get involved with [issues] that have little to do with the Filipino community. [It] keeps me grounded, [thinking] about culture, ourselves and our initiatives. Whenever we go around, I am known as Benel’s husband. I feel good and privileged to be associated with an individual—a positive force to reckon with. I am glad the Filipino culture/community has someone to look up to; to fold in with her successes. I am rather selfless—no ego to begin with and I would rather give in, rather than force [myself]. I complement her successes. Since Benel is more successful [than me], I told her to do it. I will just backfill with what we are doing at home with JP and I am more than happy to do what it takes.“
Our conversation then led us to transportation issues.
Voters approved Measure R, an initiative, taxing LA County residents an additional ½ cent sales tax and producing a revenue of $ 40-billion for the next 30 years to build transportation.
Cris proudly said that the last diesel Metro Bus was retired on February this year. All buses now run with compressed natural gas.
As Department Manager at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), he is in charge of Environmental Compliance and Services and oversees environmental and energy issues—including creating and writing policies for the agency to implement.
It is something that he is most proud of, as it impacts millions of Los Angelenos.
In the next 1½ years, there will be a boom in construction, drafting and computer networking (including purchases of technical equipment) which will be retrofitting and re-greening infrastructure in Los Angeles, providing jobs that can stimulate the economy.
Once renewable energy policy is approved, he anticipates even more new jobs in science and technology at the LA basin.
He encourages kababayans from technical firms to become involved in procurement and be some of the green suppliers to MTA.
Currently, he has an entry-level training program, as well as internship programs. His agency was shortlisted for the Metros awards, which was held in Milan, Italy.
He shared his thoughts on leadership.
“To be a good leader is to be a good follower. An individual thinks about himself or herself last and [goes for] the [bigger] picture—what my decisions [will do] for the greater good of this organization, because I have worked for other folks who seem to have these qualities: (a) who want to lead by force (b) who want to lead because of self-serving purposes and (c) who are a force to reckon with because of their successes; and uses the organization as a [stepping stone] for better avenues for power. A great leader makes sure [his/her] vision is clear to the people [he/she serves] and doing it because [he/she uplifts] the lives of the people [he/she serves]. Without this quality, [he/she] will fail.”
No doubts, just faith
Benel took me at length and in detail as to the source of her energy, zest and enthusiasm. She hears mass, prays the rosary, listens to Christian music, reads the bible and goes to Charismatic group meetings and bible studies.
Her transformation to be God’s follower is for certain.
“I have no more doubts, just total faith!,” she said.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Midweek Oct 5-7, 2011 MDWK pg.2)
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