Landbank’s first lady head is a ballroom dancer

PICO sometimes jogs with her staff along Roxas Blvd. PHOTO BY RAFFY LERMA

Looks indeed can be deceiving.

Judging from her façade alone, one would think that Land Bank of the Philippines President Gilda Pico is stern, stiff, and all work. But according to people who personally know her, Gilda actually has a soft heart for employees and is capable of loosening up as proven by her penchant for ballroom dancing.

“When work schedule is not too tight, I would go ballroom dancing on a Friday night with my friend and sister,” says Gilda while flashing her small smile that usually is not noticeable unless one talks to her with a personal approach.

The first woman president of Landbank, Gilda says there is not much difference between a man and a woman in terms of capability to succeed. But as a female boss, Gilda says, she has a motherly affection for employees. For instance, she says, her doors are open to them to discuss not only work-related matters but also personal problems, something that may be uncommon for a male boss.

Gilda wants that under her tutelage, Landbank maintains an ambiance that makes employees feel at home and helps them view co-workers not just as officemates but family members.

“Just like a household, Landbank has concern for employees in the same way one is concerned about his or her family. Sometimes people come to my office to tell their personal problems and sad stories. I like attending to them because doing so means a lot to them,” Gilda tells SundayBiz.

Gilda, if not too tired after a day’s work, sometimes jogs along Roxas Boulevard, which is near Landbank’s headquarters, together with her staff. Jogging with them is one of her means not only of exercise but of building relationship with co-workers as well.

Unlike many corporate entities, Gilda claims, Landbank does not have an environment of hostile competition among employees. She wants people in the bank to work as a team, striving to meet the common goal of making the bank fulfill its developmental mandate.

Her leadership style characterized by affection actually was prompted by a personal experience. She recalls her first few months in Landbank in the early ’80s when she felt alienated and did not know whom to approach for queries about work.

“I do not want my employees to feel the same thing that I felt when I was new in Landbank. I want them to feel at home and to feel free to ask questions or to say things they have to say,” says Gilda, who was hired by Landbank to serve as assistant vice president (AVP).

A mother of two, Gilda says earning the respect of employees and achieving a family culture in Landbank requires exhibiting a respectful and welcoming attitude toward subordinates.

Childhood

The youngest in a brood of four, Gilda says one of the greatest lessons she learned as a child was the value of honesty as taught by her mom. She says the same is the strictest value she has imparted to her two children and to Landbank employees.

Her mom was a housewife, having spent a significant amount of time taking care of Gilda and her three siblings, and teaching the value of honesty, among others. Her dad was a manager of a retail outlet.

LANDBANK president Gilda Pico. PHOTO BY RAFFY LERMA

“My mom, who was a very spiritual person, would tell me how important honesty was. If nobody trusts you, you would end up being miserable. And if nobody trusts you, life would be difficult and pointless, she would say,” says Gilda.

Gilda’s desire to keep a family culture in Landbank is not surprising, especially since she grew up having a tightly knit family.

She adds that up to now, the family’s practice of going out together continues. They do so on weekends, during holidays, and when there are special occasions. But unlike in her childhood days, she says, the family now makes up a much bigger group every time they go out because Gilda and her siblings bring their children along.

“I am fortunate to have a very happy childhood. Both my parents were supportive. My mother provided us with the needed care and affection, while my father provides the balance by pushing us [Gilda and siblings] to study hard,” says Gilda, who recalls being studious during her school days.

She has a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the College of the Holy Spirit and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of the East. She is also a certified public accountant.

Goals as LBP president

Gilda, 67 years old, has come a long way since working as a clerk at the Commercial Bank and Trust Company immediately after college. She gradually climbed the corporate ladder until getting the AVP position. But when Comm Trust Bank was about to be acquired by BPI in 1981, Gilda felt it was time to leave and find a new career opportunity.

She immediately found a new employer in LBP, which took her also as its AVP.

Then in 2006, Gilda was appointed president of Landbank to replace Margarito Teves, who was appointed finance secretary.

Under her leadership, Landbank became even stronger, with its income rising year after year and its operations expanding through the opening of more branches in rural areas of the country.

Currently, the bank has 335 branches and is present in virtually all of the country’s provinces (Dinagat Islands, a group of islands located south of the Leyte Gulf, is the only province in the country where Landbank has no presence).

Gilda says one of her remaining goals as president is to make the bank present in all municipalities. According to data from the central bank, about a third of the nearly 1,500 municipalities in the country still has no bank.

“My big dream is to make Landbank present in all barangays, but that would be very difficult to achieve within the near future. So the key target of the bank is to be present in at least in all of the country’s municipalities,” she says.

Bank presence is crucial in helping address the country’s long-standing problem on poverty, she says. For her, extending loans as well as techni     cal assistance to farmers and micro entrepreneurs is a key strategy for achieving inclusive economic growth.

She says the need for banking and other financial services in the rural areas cannot be overemphasized in the quest of making growth of the economy actually translate into poverty reduction.

As head of a development institution, Gilda feels strongly about implementation of effective programs that will address the country’s “non-inclusive growth,” especially with the country’s poverty incidence—at 27.9 percent as of June 2012—still one of the highest among emerging Asian economies despite the robust growth rates the Philippines posted recently.

The need to achieve inclusive economic growth is the primary reason Gilda wants Landbank to keep on expanding its reach to rural areas, where most of the country’s poor people reside.

But while the country continues to face the serious problem of poverty, Gilda says she is pleased every time she hears small success stories. Gilda says that what she likes most about her job and about working in Landbank is the ability to help change people’s lives for the better.

Gilda says being at the helm of an institution that has a developmental mandate is a fulfillment she never had when she was working in the private sector.

“When I go to rural areas, people tell me stories about how their lives improved through the assistance of Landbank. It is very fulfilling to know how some loan beneficiaries became successful cooperatives and enterprises,” she says.

As president of a bank that focuses on rural development, Gilda already has traveled to most provinces of the country. Interacting with the bank’s stakeholders and studying the situation of rural areas to determine how Landbank could be of service is one part of her job that Gilda finds very interesting.

“What the country really needs is inclusive growth, and to achieve that, financial services should be accessible to as many people as possible. This is the reason why I want Landbank to further expand its presence even as it already has the widest reach among banks in the country,” Gilda says.

Having worked for Landbank for more than three decades and having led the institution for seven years, Gilda says she feels grateful for the opportunity to be of service to the public.

But even if she has served in the bank for more than 30 years, Gilda says she still wants to serve the public for a long time and see her expansion goal for Landbank realized.

Nobody knows how long actually she can stay on as president. But while she has the job, Gilda says, she will continue striving to help meet the bank’s development agenda and, if time permits, continue doing ballroom dancing on the side.

Gilda is married to businessman Arturo.