Citicore honors 5 Service Awardees R

ECOGNIZING their unyielding dedication and fruitful years of service, five (5) employees from various departments of the Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation (CREC) were given service loyalty awards by the top management during the Citicore Group’s 2022 Christmas Party held at the Oasis in Quezon City.

Citicore has identified Michelle Magdato, Corporate Finance and Planning Manager, as the only ten-year loyalty awardee, while Atty. Jaime del Rosario, Vice President of Legal and Regulatory, Sean Oka, Area Manager, John Rey Minoza, and Robemar Dorero, both are site drivers, were recognized as five-year loyalty awardees.

In his message, CREC President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Oliver Tan shared this is the organization’s way of demonstrating its appreciation for their hard work and dedication.

“We are proud of the long service of these employees. This award is our way of demonstrating our appreciation for their hard work and dedication,” Tan said.

Leadership Role

Young people as leaders can drive innovation and productivity in a company.

Atty. del Rosario, or Atty. Jam, is one of those who already made his mark in the company at this early stage of his professional career.

Atty. Jam first held the position of Jr. Manager for the Legal Corporate Affairs and then got promoted as Sr. Manager of Legal and Corporate Affairs.

But President Tan saw leadership potential in the two positions he held. Atty. Jam was then offered by the CEO the post of Assistant Vice President (VP) for Legal and Compliance, an Executive position which he did not expect at that time.

“It never crossed my mind at that time that I’ll be assuming leadership role of the Department. I was surprised but I just had to jump in and trust the process and decision of Sir Oli that I can deliver,” Atty. Jam shared after he received his plaque.

The opportunities for Atty. Jam did not end there. He was later on promoted to the role of Vice President (VP) for Legal and Regulatory. The department, which he now spearheads, renders expansive legal, regulatory, and compliances services to the entire Citicore group. The challenges and pressure the position entails, but Atty. Jam never wavered.

“I try to live by example,” he quipped.

“The responsibility is enormous and very challenging. I can’t take credit for all of it. I have hardworking people in my department. I also assured them that I am with them no matter what. We are a team, after all,” he added.

Donning the role of a young executive was never an easy task, even for him who came from another big corporation. But Atty. Jam believed that he just needs to bring out the best in everyone.

“Motivating, inspiring them, and fostering enthusiasm within my people are essential for the entire department to perform well,” Atty. Jam said.

Longevity

Magdato, who hails from Bago City, Negros Occidental, originally worked for eight years with Citicore Group’s sister company, Megawide Construction Corporation.

Her tenure with Megawide lasted for more than 9 years where she held various posts such as AP Supervisor, Finance Analyst, Financial Reporting (FR) Assistant Manager, FR Manager, Investors Relations Manager, Paranaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) Finance Head.

Mitch, as fondly called by her colleagues, became the Investors Relations (IR) Manager of the Citicore Energy REIT Corporation (CREIT), the real estate investment trust (REIT) business unit of the Citicore Group later on, became Corporate Finance and Planning Manager with Citicore.

As the longest tenured employee among this batch of awardees, Magdato cited the flexible, lenient, and very hands-on executives as reasons which made her stay more fun and rewarding.

“I really like the work environment as well as the people within the organization, especially the bosses,” Magdato said.

Opportunities For Growth

Opportunities for employees to grow are key to overall satisfaction and success of a company.

This is one of the qualities that Sean was looking for in a company and ultimately found one with Citicore.

Citicore trusts and values its employees as its best assets, and Sean experienced it first-hand after he was designated the Area Manager tasked to oversee the operations of the five plants, including the Citicore Solar (CS) Negros Occidental, Inc., Citicore Solar (CS) South Cotabato, Citicore Solar (CS) Bataan, Inc. and Citicore Solar (CS) Clark, Inc.

“I make sure that the solar plants are operating in an optimized manner and ensure that the teams are taking good care of the solar plant distribution system,” Sean shared.

The stakes may be high as these solar plants are the bread and butter of the company, but he doesn’t let the pressure get to him. Instead, Sean reciprocates the level of responsibility handed to him with hard work and dedication.

Challenges Sean cited that the support of the Citicore executives made his work a lot manageable.

“You can really feel their support and commitment. Your professional growth matters to them. They want you to grow with the company,” Sean added.

Livelihood

Since the beginning, Citicore has been ensuring growth as well within the communities, prioritizing hiring site employees from the host-communities.

Dorero, who hails from Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, was one of the fortunate locals who were hired as site driver for the CS Negros Occidental, Inc.

The opportunity to be employed without being uprooted away from his family was one of the advantages with working in Citicore, Dorero shared.

“I’ve been with Citicore for five years already. For those five years, I was able to spend time with my family and at the same time provide for their needs,” he said in the vernacular.

Aside from its compassion and support towards its employees, the culture of inclusivity and family became a major factor why he chose to stay with the company.

“Pinaparamdam nila (top management) sa’yo na ikaw ay hindi lang isang katrabaho, kundi isang kaibigan. May malasakit din ang kompanya sa mga tao,” he added.

Minoza, also one of the five-year service loyalty awardees, shared the same sentiments with Dorero.

“Nagpapasalamat ako sa opportunidad na binigay sa akin ng Citicore. Isang maayos po sila na employer,” he said.

Minoza, originally from Aurora, Zamboanga del Sur but currently based now in Cebu, was also hired and deployed as a Site Driver at the CS Cebu, Inc.