At a young age, successful entrepreneur Jesus “Bong” Suntay already knew what he wanted in life: to be a lawyer and a businessman. He was in high school and his father was encouraging him to go into learning the computers during the advent of the new technology in the country. His father was the chief linotypist of the Soriano Corporations in the Philippines and he wanted his son to take the opportunity of learning the new technology.
But the young man, seeing his hardworking dad and not getting enough money for the family of six, decided he wanted to study law and go into business afterwards. “I was still in high school then and that’s what has been imbibed in my mind: to pursue law because I also wanted to do public service and to come up with my own business. That early, I was already thinking of the business that I want. I believe I would have a better opportunity in business than in employment,” he said.
While juggling college life, Bong said, he tried small businesses and menial jobs to earn money. He was a swimmer so he also taught swimming for a fee. He grew his earnings and started a taxi business. To further learn the trade, he also drove the taxi himself and had to bring along taxi drivers themselves for them to show how much they should really earn.
Years later, Bong realized his dreams and proved himself he was right. After graduation from San Beda College of Law in 1996 and upon admission to the Philippine Bar in 1997, he went on to practice his profession as associate and partner lawyer and went on to become the president of his own company, BASIC Transport Management, one of the largest and most trusted taxi fleet in the country.
But he did not stop there. In his line of duty as a taxi operator, Bong became the president of the Philippine National Taxi Operating Association (PNTOA). Sometime in 2004, the gasoline price plummeted to its highest. As president of the nationwide association, he had this dilemma: will he ask for fare increase from the government or will he look for cheaper alternative fuel?
Bong chose the latter. He said in his trips abroad, particularly in Japan and Australia, he noticed that taxis were using the auto LPG instead of gasoline. “I was amazed by how the LPG, which is widely used for cooking at home can make the taxi ran. So I studied it and learned that all I need is a conversion kit,” he said.
From taxi operator to LPG conversion kit dealer
Bong said the next step for him was to look for a manufacturer and supplier of the LPG conversion kit. “I found a private company named Tartarini. I went to Italy and bought five pieces, tested them on my taxis, and they worked. I wrote a letter of intent to Tartarni to become a dealer of their product in the Philippines which was granted. So I sold the conversion kits to my own company at a much lower price because I was also the authorized dealer in the country,” Bong narrated.
And because there was a demand for LPG at that time, in 2005, the next step for the enterprising entrepreneur was to look for LPG supplier. Shell agreed to supply him right at his own garage.
LPG turned out to be a lot cheaper, saving Bong as much as 40% compared to gasoline expenses. This use of alternative fuel got featured on television programs and became highly popular. Other taxi operators sought his services for the conversion kit. Likewise, tour operator members of PNTOA also converted to LPG use.
The use of the LPG to run vehicles should have been very popular by now if not for a ‘miscommunication’ in the health department which issued news on the bad effect of LPG. Then, Health Secretary Dr. Enrique Ona said he would issue a statement to correct the previous report. But he got replaced and the issue on LPG use was not rectified to this day.
“Using the LPG for cars has no bad effects on health. I believe the government should look into this matter especially now with the high cost of gasoline. The price is getting higher and I feel that people, especially the merchants, should start looking into LPG which is a cheaper alternative,” he said
How Cleanfuel came to be
“After a while, almost our clients were fleet operators. Understandably, the big oil companies did not want to install LPG tanks for the small operators due to a big investment. So I thought of selling other products to the small operators by establishing Cleanfuel Group of companies in 2006. Later on, especially with the wrong public advice on LPG and its popularity waned, I really had to sell other products like diesel and gasoline,” Bong narrated.
The LPG is now a small part of the business with 90% devoted to selling gasoline and diesel. From handful branches in 2007, Cleanfuel now has 63 stations challenging the giants in this industry. With 12 stations being built simultaneously for this year, in the pipeline is to build 16 more for 2020. To further diversify his business, Bong put up Basic Hauling and Logistics Corp. in 2014 and Klean Land Property Ventures Corporation in 2015.
In between his law practice and growing businesses, Bong has also squeezed some precious time to serve the District 4 of Quezon city as councilor from 1998 to 2016 garnering the highest votes during elections and becoming the longest-serving Majority Leader in the history of the city until his election as congressman of the same district in the last 2019 midterm elections.
The enterprising congressman intends to finish the three terms as his district’s representative. He wants to contribute a lot more to his constituents.
“As you can see with my line of business, I want to create more jobs for the people. Other than that, I also want to provide them with a good healthcare system and housing program. I believe these are the basic things. And that will all start once I’m in the Congress by July 1 this year,” he said during the interview with BusinessMirror mid of June.
His secret to success
More than anything else, Bong is more excited to share his success story among the millennials and anyone who aspire to have a business and become a boss of their own just like what he did.
His number one rule is to become very hands-on in the business. Bong lives in Quezon City and travels very early to attend to his responsibility at the company’s main office in Sumulong Highway in Antipolo City. He said he consults his people every now and then, getting brilliant ideas from them in the process. “But if there are urgent and priority matters, I decide at once. That is very important. Because if you take too long to decide, you’ll miss many opportunities,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
His words for the start-ups: “Take your time, not all businesses become successful at the start, but do not lose hope. Look for something you enjoy doing, so it doesn’t feel like work. And when you expand your business, it should be in areas where you have competence. In my case, my businesses are related to each other, in the transportation business: from taxi fleet to selling conversion kit; selling cars and gasoline; and trucking. So everything is related.
“If the first venture is not successful, try again or look for another one and enjoy it. There is no such thing as one-time, big-time. Start small. Hard work is key to the success of an individual, ganun din sa business.
The value that you put to your business is very important, he said. “Here at Cleanfuel, we make sure that we give nothing but topnotch service on top of quality. That’s why our logo is, Quality fuel for less. We guarantee our customers that they get the same quality fuel from us similar to our giant competitors.
There are many competitors in this line of business. As you can see here at Sumulong we’re side by side, but we’re competing well in terms of service, quality fuel and sales. We can keep up with them while helping people because our products are cheaper,” he concluded.