Field Notes

Partizan: Connecting the Dots, Ten Years Later

I scrolled ten years back through my first company’s Facebook page and found a younger version of me already chasing everything I’m chasing now.

Life Sep 4, 2026

Heatseeker: the tool I built to never face a blank page again

Years of ideas dying in my notes because I couldn’t build them, the day I got tired of that, and the tool that now finds what my clients should talk about.

Life Aug 16, 2026

Brand Origins Sep 7, 2026

I Wasn’t Lazy. I Was Scared.

A year of procrastination I mistook for laziness, the low bar that got Brand Origins off the ground, and why perfectionism is just fear in high heels.

Brand Origins

How Filipino brands got here, and who really owns them.

Brand Origins Sep 6, 2026

The Story of JD Bakery Café: Iloilo’s 50-Year Food Institution

It opened before Jollibee and before McDonald’s reached the country, and Ilonggos still go. Fifty years of one family not selling out.

Brand Origins Sep 5, 2026

The Genius of ‘Good Enough’: How MR.DIY Took Over the Philippines

A Malaysian physics graduate, 18,000 cheap items, and why there is now one in nearly every Iloilo town.

Brand Origins Jul 7, 2026

The Brand Origins of DALI (2026)

One store in Santa Rosa in 2020, a thousand branches today, and not a single TV ad. Who owns DALI, how it prices, and what it did to Philippine retail.

Brand Origins Jul 7, 2026

The History of IMAX in the Philippines

What IMAX actually is, who owns and runs it, the LieMAX debate, and where to catch the biggest screens in the Philippines.

Brand Origins Oct 2, 2025

The History of TCL

Where TCL came from, who owns it, why its TVs are so cheap, and how it climbed to number one in the Philippines and second in the world.

Brand Origins Oct 2, 2025

The History of Lazada in the Philippines: How It Changed Online Shopping for Filipinos

How Lazada solved the payment and logistics problems that made e-commerce look impossible in the Philippines, and what Alibaba changed after buying it.

The History of Oppo, Vivo, Realme, and OnePlus and How They Won in the Philippines

They look like four rivals fighting for the same shelf. They are all owned by BBK Electronics, and that is exactly the point.

Brand Origins May 28, 2024

The History of Nescafé in the Philippines: How It Became the Favorite Coffee of Filipinos

From an 1881 patent to the 3-in-1 sachet in every sari-sari store, the story of how Nescafé became the default coffee of the Philippines.

Brand Origins Sep 29, 2022

The Rise of Rustans: How the Tantoco Family Business Became a Retail Titan

The name is literally Rustia plus Tantoco. The story of how a married couple turned a 1952 shop into a Philippine retail institution.

Brand Origins Sep 29, 2022

The Complete History of National Bookstore

How Socorro Ramos, known as Nanay Coring, built National Bookstore from a wartime stall into a Philippine institution.

The Complete History of Megaworld & the Story of Billionaire Andrew Tan

How Andrew Tan went from selling cheap liquor door to door to an empire spanning townships, the world’s biggest brandy house, and 49 percent of McDonald’s Philippines.

Brand Origins May 28, 2024

The Rivalry of Dunkin Donuts and Mister Donut

Two brothers-in-law, one falling out, and two donut chains that have been competing ever since, including on Philippine street corners.

The Rise (and Fall?) of Pickup Coffee (2026)

One cloud store to 500+ in four years. Now Zus and Jollibee’s Compose Coffee are coming for the category it invented.

The Brand Origins of Palawan Pawnshop (2026)

Bobby Castro didn’t found it. He bought it for P40,000 in 1985, and turned it into 3,800 branches.

The Brand Origins of Iloilo Supermart (2026)

How a chain most Ilonggos grew up with traces back to Hoskyn’s, the first department store in the Philippines.

The History of Ayala Corporation

A closer look at how Ayala grew into one of the most powerful conglomerates in the Philippines.

The History of SkyFlakes

How SkyFlakes became a staple in Filipino homes, offices, school bags, and sari-sari stores.

The Complete History of Chooks to Go

The rise of Chooks to Go from a bold product idea into one of the most recognizable food brands in the country.

Brand Origins May 16, 2022

The Success Story of Puregold

A look at how Puregold grew from a single grocery store into one of the biggest retail chains in the Philippines.

The Complete History of GCash

The story of how GCash evolved from an early mobile payments experiment into the Philippines’ dominant fintech platform.

Explainers & Playbooks

Things I had to work out, written down so you don’t have to.

Explainer Jul 29, 2026

ELI5: What is Pax Silica?

The US-led AI and chips coalition, the proposed New Clark City hub, what the numbers really say, the backlash at home, and China’s rival club WAICO.

Explainer Mar 31, 2025

Estate Tax: Why Families in the Philippines Fight Over Inheritance

Estate tax quietly tears Filipino families apart, mostly because nobody talks about it until it is far too late.

Playbook Aug 28, 2026