Our Leadership History
A Tradition of Excellence Spanning More than Half a Century
It was shortly past midnight. In a battle at Christmas Hill in South Korea, near the 38th Parallel, Eling was about to face the most significant fate that would forever change his life. Caught amidst the ensuing crossfire, pieces of shrapnel lodged in his spinal column, causing permanent paralysis from the waist down.
Feliciano 'Eling' Fajardo Miravite, FASP (FFM) was born in 1927 in Cabatuan, Iloilo City. He graduated from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in 1951 and married Marciana 'Mercy' de Leon Santiago a year later. They had an only daughter, Florinda 'Faye' Santiago Miravite, FSA.
Despite the truce, at 12:24 AM on July 15, 1953, land mines exploded in the area occupied by the Battalion and it was at that moment when Eling was hit, becoming a casualty of war and forever losing the use of both legs.
Twelve days later, the Korean war ended but at the age of 26, Eling had an even bigger battle to fight — the battle still raging on in his mind — to overcome the devastating sense of hopelessness that comes with adversity of such overwhelming dimensions and to accomplish something even greater in life.
Grateful that the complications of the spinal injury were swiftly and successfully addressed by the excellent medical care — first in Korea, then in Japan and finally at the V Luna Military Hospital in Quezon City — Eling still knew however that the road to rehabilitation was going to be a long process.
Significant aid came from then President Magsaysay who granted Eling the chance to spend a year in a rehabilitation center in Vallejo, California. There, he learned to swim, walk with leg braces and crutches, and drive a car. He acquired mobility that allowed him to function normally and he was on his way.
Returning to the Philippines, Eling accepted a position in the Office of President Magsaysay, as his gesture of gratitude for the financial assistance towards his rehabilitation. After President Magsaysay died in a plane crash, Eling asked himself which profession would allow him to earn a decent living while sitting down, i.e., without having to use his legs. He retired from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), sold whatever little he owned and with the meager AFP pension, a small loan from his in-laws, and a Fellowship grant, he arrived at the University of Michigan in late 1957, with wife and daughter in tow, to pursue his actuarial studies.
Structural barriers within the university campus — i.e., twenty steps to reach a building entrance and how to move through the snow in the severe winter climate, among other things - provided challenges to his mobility. Fortunately, the professors provided ramps to facilitate his access and students would push his wheelchair out of snow, mud, or even from an embankment. He received his Master's Degree in Actuarial Mathematics in 1959 and a week later, he was employed as an Actuary with the US Social Security Administration in Washington D.C.
In spite of a Congressional Bill granting him US citizenship, Eling decided to return to the Philippines in 1960. He was the Chief Actuary of the Yuchengco group of insurance companies before eventually deciding to pursue his vision 'to establish the first Actuarial Consulting firm in the Philippines'. Feliciano F. Miravite, Inc. was thus founded and established in 1964 as a company providing actuarial services in the areas of retirement plans for private corporations and insurance consulting. Among its various accomplishments, the company was engaged in 1972 by the Indonesian government to design the Indonesian Social Security System (SSS) and in 1980, the company conducted an independent Actuarial Audit for the Government Service Insurance System.
Eling subsequently obtained his PhD in Business Management from Manuel L. Quezon University.
During the PMA Alumni Association Homecoming in 1997, his story was described as 'an unwavering determination in overcoming adversity'. Eight years after he had passed away in 2001, his legacy was preserved at the Armed Forces of the Philippines Museum where his personal story is documented alongside Apolinario Mabini, as part of the permanent exhibit entitled 'Giving Tribute to a Disabled Revolutionary Hero and Military Personnel'.
After Eling passed away in 2001, his daughter Faye took over the company as President & CEO.
Before joining the Company, Faye acquired actuarial consulting experience in the US and briefly in Milan (IT) with the predecessor companies of the present WTW and KPMG. Faye received both her Bachelor's Degree and Master's Degree in Mathematics from the University of Michigan.
Faye complements her actuarial profession with a strong humanities background, having obtained a Dottore in Filosofia (Laurea) degree from the University of Florence (Italy), defending a dissertation on Ontological Hermeneutics entitled 'Il Nesso fra Estetica ed Ermeneutica nel Pensiero di Luigi Pareyson' (1996). She is also enrolled with the Società Italiana di Autori ed Editori (SIAE). She has produced three CD albums of her music compositions and has recently published a book 'Foglie di vita', Lucca (2018).
Faye continues to cultivate her interests in literature, arts, music, and philosophy. It is this humanities perspective that she imprinted on the company, as reflected in the company mission:
'Guided by our core values: Discipline, Equilibrium, Excellence and Passion (D-E-E-P), the Mission of the Miravite Consulting Group (MCG) is to partner with our clients in finding perfect fit solutions towards managing Risk.
Our added-value services derive from our commitment to a continuing learning process in multi-disciplinary fields that complement and reinforce our professional standards and commitment to excellence.'
As CEO, Faye envisioned the Company to be the Partner of Choice for Global Enterprise Risk. Indeed, as she steps down from the CEO position in June 2018, she believes that her successor, Romeo H. Abada, FSA, FASP, FLMI, is the perfect fit to bring forward the legacy of MCG into the future.
With over 50 years of excellence and passion in providing actuarial services, the legacy of MCG — established by the founder, FFM, and carried through by Faye — will now be expanded by Romeo, who is currently CEO-Designate and plans on diversifying the range of services by bringing his expertise in the fields of Retirement and Employee Benefits, Life and Non-Life Insurance, Financial Reporting, Risk Management, and Mergers & Acquisitions.
Romeo has been and continues to be the Market-Thought leader of the DB2DC concept — the conversion of Defined Benefit Plans to Defined Contribution. This leads to de-risking benefits for the Employer if implemented, while increasing and improving employee engagement and retention for the Employee.
As an accredited life, non-life, and HMO actuary by the Insurance Commission of the Philippines, Romeo brings to MCG the expertise and experience acquired from the largest global insurance companies in Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, and Hong Kong in various capacities such as Chief Financial Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, and Regional Chief Actuary for Asia Pacific.
On a blank canvas, dots, lines, curves, squares, and circles of different hues start to appear. An abstract work of art is in progress, to become a masterpiece beyond its time. Its thrust is on the future, developing and evolving from the present. In MCG, their commitment to continuously learn has rewarded them with over 1,000 satisfied clients in the Philippines and in Asia Pacific. This evolutionary success is derived not from an equation but from a mission imbedded in each and every one of their employees: continuous learning.
'Logic can take you from A to B but Imagination can take you anywhere, (A. Einstein).'
My batch had the misfortune of entering the job market at a time when the Philippine economy was in the doldrums. Ninoy Aquino had been assassinated a year prior, and the nation was on the cusp of massive change. I, as with the rest of my batchmates, did not have the luxury of job choice. I took what was immediately on offer, an actuarial analyst role at a life insurance company.
Lack of choice notwithstanding, the insurance industry provided the perfect environment to hone the strong Math skills that I knew I possessed. I quickly enrolled for a master's degree in Math at UP, choosing to focus on all insurance-related Math subjects, and eventually embarking on a path to become a Fellow of the Actuarial Society of the Philippines. In four years, I earned my license. Not content with this local license, I went on to take, one by one, the ten US actuarial licensure exams. In six years, I gained the US pedigree. By then, I had moved up and across to Philamlife, the country's leading insurance firm.
Armed with the credentials that were a fitting reward for so many years of hard work and grit, I progressed into an expatriate stint. My first overseas assignment was Indonesia, followed by Vietnam, and Hong Kong. I enjoyed not only the challenges of the job but also the important-sounding titles and the comforts and perks of an expat lifestyle. Actuaries, special as we are, could name our price.
I came home in 2009, choosing to cut short that enjoyable expat adventure to spend time with and care for my father. I re-entered the local insurance industry, taking on senior executive roles in consulting firms, Mercer and SGV-EY.
At about this time, I also found myself seeking for a new purpose, new adventures. I joined fun runs and leveled up to half-marathons in 2011. I entered with no desire to push myself to set any personal records, but simply to have fun and to relish the finisher poses.
This interest eventually intensified into triathlons (so far, I have done 9), and even Spartan obstacle races, which I successfully hurdled despite being at least 25 years too late. My most recent accomplishment was a podium finish at the Aquathlon — I finished first because I was the only one in my real age group!
At present, I am CEO of Miravite, a consulting company that specializes in actuarial and strategic management services for corporate retirement benefits and life & health insurance products. It is a whole new challenge in itself, running a business with full P&L responsibilities, growing it, and steering a team of 50-plus individuals towards a common vision of being the most respected actuarial firm in the country.
My journey has been a fun and fulfilling one. I am happy with the choices I have made. The outcome of these choices is where I am right now — a healthy and fit CEO confident to claim that I am 'best in class'. It all goes back to my ME background. ME gave me the ability to think strategically, to have breadth as well as depth, to be simultaneously broad-minded and specialized, to have richly-layered insights and solutions. Not just to business problems but to all of life's challenges.
In school, from first grade till university, every class had at least one, that Math whiz who was steps ahead in every flash cards competition in the classroom; who scored more than perfect in exams because bonus challenge questions were easily unlocked for extra points; who was first to solve complicated equations because he or she had no need for pen and paper. Romeo Abada, Meo as we call him, easily shone as among the brightest bulbs in a brightly lit room.
