RUNNING a multibillion-peso corporation has its drawbacks.

For Antonio Cojuangco, former chair and chief executive officer of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., it meant having to let go of an old love ? playing the guitar, a six-string instrument that he forced his reluctant parents to let him learn to play when he turned 12.

That?s why when he had to leave PLDT in 1999, after the Hong Kong-based First Pacific group took over the reins of management, he went back to it with a vengeance.

?When I was at PLDT, there was really no time at all to play the guitar. When I am lucky, I?d find time to pick it up maybe once a month,? the 58-year-old Cojuangco tells the Inquirer in an interview at his restaurant, Lolo Dad?s, in Makati City.

Not in it for the money

But now that he is retired and eased of the burden of pleasing shareholders of a listed company as big as PLDT, Cojuangco says he has more than enough time to practice his classical guitar crafted by local artisan Tabo Derecho, and become even better than when he was young.

And when called upon, Cojuangco plays rhythm guitar for Electromaniacs, which is famous on the live circuit for its faithful covers of intricate Shadows and Ventures instrumental pieces. He has known the band for a while since his cousin was a band manager.

?But only if it?s for charity,? says Cojuangco, ?I am not really in it for the money.?

Gregorio T. Yu, chair of CATS Motors Inc., has a similar tale.

Yu, who also first learned to play the guitar when he was 12 years old, says he had absolutely no time to play the instrument during those eventful years when he was at the helm of Belle Corp., which figured in a tough corporate battle between the camp of former Trade Secretary Roberto V. Ongpin and businessman Willy Ocier.

Between having to keep the company together during the intense court battle and dealing with Belle?s debt and financial difficulties, Yu had his hands full. Thus the guitar never even left its case kept long and deep in storage.

Hooked

Yu retired from Belle in 2001, and it was about that time when, while cleaning the house, his wife found his old guitar case. From that time on, he was hooked, and his work schedule has since revolved around his playing the guitar.

Yu, who?s turning 52 in August, has even enrolled in music school to enhance his skills, and has built quite a collection of local and imported classical guitars.

?I don?t smoke, I don?t drink and I don?t really go to functions, so I just buy guitars,? says Yu, who is known to be an active buyer of vintage guitars.

For Cojuangco and Yu, there is nothing like playing and listening to the guitar to chase the blues away.

?I just like the sound of it. It is mesmerizing because the guitar can convey many sounds and many moods. It is not just one sound,? Cojuangco says. ?Even when I am in the car, I listen to guitar music. And when I am in Manila, I try to play for 20-30 minutes, twice a day.?

For Yu, playing the guitar represents a total change in lifestyle, one that strikes an optimal balance between work and the good life.

?I do not want to end up like my father who never really got to enjoy the fruits of his labor,? says Yu. ?He was very hard working and saved everything so that he could go to the United States. He died at 59 without going to the States.?

Cojuangco was rudely introduced to his mortality when at 50, nodules were discovered on his vocal chords. He went to the United States for treatment, and he eventually lost part of his vocal chords.

New life

He says his voice is now so hoarse that he can sing Louie Armstrong?s ?What a Wonderful World? with feeling.

?I almost died then,? exclaims Cojuangco, who still goes to the United States every month for treatment at Massachusetts General. He goes to the same doctor that treated the nodules of Aerosmith frontman Steve Tyler and Julie Andrews of ?Sound of Music? fame.

To celebrate his new life, he has plunged ahead into different advocacy projects, including Ballet Philippines, Cinemalaya, Tanghalang Pilipino and the Manila Symphony Orchestra.

He is also instrumental in putting together Arts in Taguig City, a center for arts in the city where the public can go for instruction in different fields, including music and theater.

?We really have to work together to preserve the cultural heritage of the country. It represents the values that the country holds dear,? Cojuangco says.

He adds that he has gotten rid of most of his suits, keeping just one blazer for formal events. These days, he is more often seen wearing slacks and a golf shirt.

A more immediate project that Cojuangco and Yu are busy with is the coming Philippine Guitar Festival, the country?s first international guitar festival to be held at the Little Theater of the CCP from January 28 to 31.

Coming to the festival are classical guitarist Steve Lin; Michael Dadap, conductor of the Children?s Orchestra Society in New York; Florante Aguilar, harana proponent; recording artist Perfecto de Castro; acclaimed guitarist Lester Demetillo; US-based Sixto Roxas and renowned professor Jose Valdez.

Cojuangco and Yu are scheduled to perform along with the Guitar Friends, which first got together in 2006 when asked by Maan Hontiveros of Ballet Philippines to play classical guitar as part of a ballet performance.

They are daunted by the prospect of playing together with such accomplished guitar players, but they are encouraged by the fact that there will be at least three or four guitarists playing the same part. No solo parts for them.

?When there are three or four of you, you won?t be noticed too much when you make a mistake,? says Yu with a smile.

But one thing they do want to get right and make perfect is the guitar festival ?aimed at elevating the culture of classical guitar in the Philippines. And Cojuangco and Yu, passionate guitar players both, are expected and determined to do just that.