8 October 2021
Director Agustin “Gus” Montilla IV is a father of two who is as committed to his family as he is to the Club, and to his profession as a lawyer. Having a wicked sense of humor is definitely an asset, too, whether he’s working on a case, raising his children together with his wife Naynay, or guiding the Club through some of its most challenging times, as part of the Board.
WORK
When and how did you know you wanted to be a lawyer?
During college, I interned in a prominent law firm to see what life would be like. At the end of my time there, I decided I didn’t want to be a lawyer. Not because the work was boring, or the pay was bad, or the people were dull—each was quite the opposite. But I realized I would prefer to build things, produce products, improve processes and (that way) create a better world. As a lawyer, one helps other people (called “clients”) and then one watches the happy clients do those things, realize their dreams, and contribute to society’s improvement. A lawyer’s participation is valuable but indirect.
So in my last year in college, my applications went to large manufacturing companies and other organizations that I thought would help me do those things in a more direct way. But as fate would have it, there was a military rebellion that occupied Makati just before graduation so the jobs I had applied for started to dry up. Law school became a way to sit out that economic and business downturn for four years before then to rejoining what I had hoped would be a better job market, with law credentials, but not (I thought) as a lawyer. This all goes to show that I really do not have a crystal ball, or if I do, mine works more like a snow globe.
Did you ever consider working in NY after taking your master’s at Columbia University? What was your most memorable experience while at Columbia University?
I won’t tell my children this, or at least until they are much older, but honestly a master’s degree is the best vacation you give yourself. After several years of really stressful, almost non-stop and pressure packed (but rewarding) work, it was good to be back in the academe. There you get to pursue (mostly) your own interests and improve life skills (such as skiing). What I might tell people more freely is that I recommend living in New York City to anyone lucky enough to have the chance at doing so (preferably while paying for it) at least once in a person’s lifetime and preferably in the later part of one’s twenties. The experience teaches one much about the world, but it teaches much more about oneself and how that fits in with the world.
It was very clear that the international students had views of the world that contrasted with most of the American students with whom we went to class everyday (less if you managed your schedule well). After the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center towers, many American classmates could not comprehend why anyone would want to attack them, with all the good that the US does for the world. But more than September 11’s events, people of all races, classes and backgrounds that lived in the City came together for many months after that in ways I did not expect and that I have not really experienced anywhere else or any time since. There were many that still had loved ones missing so New Yorkers that usually only interact to tell someone to get out of their way began asking each other on the streets if their families were OK. Whenever a police or EMS vehicle covered with dust and ash from Ground Zero passed on the street, people would stop and spontaneously start applauding. That inspiration has stayed with me even if New York seems to have largely gone back to the previous normal.
What advice can you give to aspiring lawyers?
Find another path—there are too many of us. Unless there’s another coup in Makati.
What do you love at Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura, Sayoc & de los Angeles? How do you keep the whole team engaged during this lockdown?
Each firm has its strength, but I’d like to think Romulo’s is our unique culture. No workplace or organization is perfect but as far as I can tell, we are about as flat and progressive an organization as you can find in our industry. I would credit this to the culture that our chairman (Dick Romulo) has instilled in all of us by his own example. What I would say for most of us in law firms, whether in the Philippines and across the globe, is that we are all getting quite sick of Zoom.
Quick question: Ateneo Law or UP Law?
With humble apologies to each institution, legal education in the Philippines is about 80 years behind the curve, wherever one goes to school.
FAMILY
Who has been the greatest influence in your life?
I think that others would be the best the judge of that.
Do any of your children want to be a lawyer?
Gosh, I hope not. They are still quite young so there’s hope still that The Atrium will not get shot at again.
If your family were to describe you in three adjectives, what would they be?
This is how my daughter, Sevrine, describes me.
If you were to describe yourself in 3 words, what would they be?
“Ask”,
“My”,
“Wife”
Montilla Family beach vacation
What were the most memorable family vacations or trips you can recall? What made them so special?
My wife Naynay loves the beach so anywhere there is sand is quite close to paradise. But I agree with Tracy Thorn. “In the end if you take care, you can be happy (or unhappy) anywhere.”
CLUB
You have been serving MPC since 2010! What makes you continue to give your valuable time and experience?
It’s for the kids. What we do for the Club today will determine the quality of their experiences in the future.
Can you share with us your fondest memories of the Club?
We’ve taken the kids there since they were born (10 days old for Andreas). When he was about two years old and before he had really learned to swim, Andreas climbed the stairs to see the high diving board. I followed, while giving him some space to turn around at the top for the walk back down again. He jumped straight off. He survived. So did his dad.
What does your family enjoy most in the Club?
We are all very lucky to have the Club. It’s not something we built so we are truly grateful for those that came before us, having had the vision to create something special and having made the contributions to make it what it is today. The innovations continue today. By creating the East Terrace dining area, pivoting the Sports Lounge, upgrading the jogging track and re-building the leaking 50-meter pool, we build on their legacy. I am confident the Club will have more world-class facilities in the future. We owe a lot to our dedicated marketing, finance, management and of course, infrastructure teams that really have their hands full at this time.
Being a part of this community is something our family appreciates in new ways all the time. More than the place and its facilities, we enjoy the care and dedication of the staff at the Club that truly make it such a welcoming place, every single time we enter those gates. Although we miss the company of our fellow members, we’ve still not had the chance enjoy this aspect of our Club as we did pre-COVID. But whatever the situation, weather or alert level, there is really no place like it anywhere. I personally look forward to all the improvements we can make for all aspects of the experience, for the benefit of generations to come.
“What we do for the Club today will determine the quality of our kids’ experiences in the future.”