Only One Motorcycle

ONLY ONE MOTORCYCLE

by Antonio C. Antonio

December 7, 2014

In 1986, I was working for an oil and gas exploration company and we rented Rig No. 10 of the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) for use in our drilling operations.  One day, work had to be stopped because of a broken part in the drilling rig.  A meeting was called to address the problem… the damaging downtime the company was experiencing.  Our consultant from the United Kingdom recommended that someone be immediately dispatched to Japan to procure a replacement part. 

Right after the meeting, I requested the supervisory crew of Rig No. 10 to meet with our British consultant, our CEO and me.  In the meeting, an old hand (who was part of the crew; was very experienced but only a high school graduate) suggested:  “We no replace… we just remedyo.”  Our CEO, an American, whispered to me: “I’m not exactly sure what this guy meant but I like the sound of it.”  We immediately brought the old hand to the nearest hardware store to get the materials he needed… and, lo and behold, Rig No. 10 was operational within 3 hours after our meeting.  The total cost?... PhP 280!  This translated to a minimum of PhP 2 million in savings if we actually sent someone to go to Japan to buy the part.

Filipino ingenuity is grossly underrated.  Let’s take the accompanying photo as an example.  Someone from the more advanced countries and economies in the world will probably say that it would take two, three or even four motorcycles to accommodate seven people.  In the Philippines, it takes only one motorcycle.

Just my little thoughts…

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