Armed with a tourism degree from UP Diliman in 1990, Marie Antonette de Ocampo wasted no time in pursuing her first career opportunity.
De Ocampo, more commonly known as Anette, applied as a ground flight attendant for an airline company, hoping to get a job aligned with her degree in tourism. However, the economic conditions in the 1990s had different plans for her. The airline company was affected by the financial crisis, which put any hiring processes on hold.
Her path eventually led her to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), where she began doing administrative work for an assistant branch manager at Manila Pavilion. She quickly rose through the ranks, later becoming executive assistant to the senior branch manager when a position opened due to internal transfers.
It was 1991 – a year that, more than three decades later, remains a distant memory for this top executive of Maynilad Water Services Inc., one of the country’s largest water utility firms.
‘I do not publicly share it, because my stint was short-lived at PAGCOR,’ De Ocampo tells The STAR. ‘But that is where everything started for me.’
Indeed, her tenure at PAGCOR was quite a short stint. De Ocampo knew back then that the political nature and structure of the state-run gaming firm might hinder her career growth. Plus, it was clear to her that she dislikes shifting duties, most especially an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. work schedule.
The long drives from her residence in Pasig to Manila Pavilion – a 13-kilometer ride – made it untenable for her. She scoured the job market before encountering an opening at the soon-to-be constructed Edsa Shangri-La, Manila.
The job? Guest relations. The concern? It was on a shift duty. De Ocampo immediately turned down the offer and stayed a little bit longer at PAGCOR. Until one day, she said: enough was enough.
‘I went back to (Edsa) Shangri-La and to the human relations director and asked him: ‘Do you remember me?’ ‘ De Ocampo shared.
‘No, I do not,’ the human relations director told her.
‘Well, I applied a few weeks ago and you offered me a position at the restaurant,’ De Ocampo responded.
‘We have an opening now for the front desk,’ the director answered. De Ocampo took the job.
She took it as quickly as she could without realizing that it was an eight-to-five job. She eventually left the job. However, a few weeks later, she received a phone call from the hotel, informing her that a vacancy had opened up in the reservations unit. Learning that it was not a job on a regular shift, De Ocampo returned to Edsa Shangri-La, from which she rose through the ranks.
She progressed from supervisor to manager, events director, front office manager, and ultimately director of sales during her 11-year tenure at the posh hotel. She left the company as a full-time employee in 2003. However, for the next eight years, until 2011, she worked on projects for the hotel, but on a larger scale, involving the related properties.
And then she got a call from Patrick ‘Pato’ Gregorio, a known personality in the hotel industry. The call was a job offer. Gregorio wanted De Ocampo to join him at Maynilad.
‘Is it an eight-to-five job?’ De Ocampo asked Gregorio.
‘Yes,’ Gregorio responded.
‘I do not like an eight-to-five work,’ she said.
‘Why don’t you give it a try? It is just near your house.’ That was music to De Ocampo’s ears. And she gave it a try.
De Ocampo started her career at the water utility firm as the head of key accounts management, overseeing the firm’s Top 200 clients, before spearheading a new department known then as Business Solutions and Sales (BSS).
At BSS, she began promoting not only Maynilad’s primary operations but also other services, such as pipe repair and leak detection.
In 2017, Maynilad established a government relations department, and De Ocampo was tasked with overseeing it.
In 2021, she assumed the position of vice president for corporate affairs and communications, which was left vacant by Gregorio in 2018. Today, she oversees Maynilad’s corporate communication affairs, government and community partnerships and corporate marketing.
‘I do not work for ambitions but for passion. If you have a passion for what you do, it will truly shine through in your work. It will come naturally,’ De Ocampo says.
De Ocampo admits that the training and experience she got at Edsa Shangri-La helped her transition to the corporate world of Maynilad. She may no longer handle hotel clients, but government and private stakeholders of the water utility firm are no different at all. After all, they are humans at the end of the day, just holding titles and ranks.
‘I do not treat people relations as a business or a transactional deal. I treat them as friends. Because if I do not treat them as humans, then it will show in my work and interactions with them,’ she says.
In fact, De Ocampo has always been fond of interacting with people.
If De Ocampo met her past ‘Iska’ self, she would tell her one thing: go out and mingle.
‘I realized that there are UP graduates, now in various positions in government or private practice, who were my batchmates, but I did not get to know a lot of them on a personal level while in school,’ she shares.
If there is one thing that makes Anette, Anette, then it is the fact that ‘she cannot lie,’ according to her husband. De Ocampo says that it is perhaps because of her upbringing. She grew up in a Catholic family residing very near the church. She attended Catholic schools for her education. She observed Catholic traditions and attended church regularly with her mother.
Today, De Ocampo is one of the four women in Maynilad’s top management – and is one of the few who is not related to the firm’s water operations. For her, having a seat at the table in an industry traditionally dominated by men is both a privilege and a source of pride.
‘This does not mean that we get less to say in the boardroom,’ she says. ‘In fact, my presence gives not only a different, but a fresh perspective during discussions,’ she adds.
And her presence convinced other top management officials to see the corporate affairs and communication division in a different light. It is a valuable unit in Maynilad’s line of business.
‘You cannot be in my position if you are not humble enough. Humility is key. At the same time, you need to have some confidence – that fine balance between showing authority and being humble,’ De Ocampo explains.
De Ocampo describes herself as an incurable optimist. ‘I always see things in a positive light.’
‘If there is any task given to me, I always think that I can do it,’ she explains.
Maynilad’s upcoming initial public offering also opens a new chapter and milestone not only for the utility firm but also for De Ocampo’s storied corporate career.
De Ocampo currently oversees efforts to ensure that Maynilad’s story is communicated clearly and consistently to stakeholders, building confidence in the firm while highlighting its achievements and future growth.
‘It’s a story of who we are as a company, our purpose and the value we bring to the market,’ she said.
De Ocampo also hopes for the day when the Maynilad Foundation will be established, allowing the water utility firm to expand and scale up its philanthropic activities.
As De Ocampo looks back on the story of her career so far, she may stumble upon two things – two phone calls, to be exact – one with the human relations director of Edsa Shangri-La and that call from Mr. Gregorio.
‘Somebody wrote in our yearbook that I am going to make it in life and in my career – that I will become successful,’ she recalls.