edgar huang sarte - short bio

Edgar Huang Sarte. 

this is what he had told me over the years we had been friends.  if anything here is in error, then he must have been funnin' me about those items. 

born in Polangui, Albay.  Yes, he's a Bicolano.  Polangui is place for seminarians.  he was a seminarian....or so he said. i cannot remember his school days, but one of his good friends is the father of one of my good friends

and so i know how he spent the night before his wedding.  *grins*
but i wont talk about that

He was in sales at IBM, and of the management guys i know said he could sell ice to an Eskimo.  Oh yes, Ed had the gift of gab. It helped that he was very charming.  i only saw him fidget once - when he was meeting with one of the upper management guys.

i thought he was one of those rare gentlemen who could recite poetry.  i cannot remember the title of the poem he recited to one of my best friends, but it was about daffodils swaying in the wind.  i suppose i could google it to find the title, but i would like to remember - eventually.

He was one of the founders of SRI, Systems Resources Inc. - and one of their offices was at Rada, in Makati.  He became one of the consultants at Anscor Insurance Brokers, Inc. where Antonio R-Infante was President.  That's where i met him.  i made many friends at SRI, and Ricky (+) was one of them.  He made a very good programmer at the time, and i used to call him Rikki-tikki-tavi, from Kipling's mongoose.

Since he needed IT people, he established Systems Technology Institute (STI) with Gus Lagman and Herman Gamboa.  and the rest, they say - is history. 

the stint at AIB was to be the start of a long friendship .... that ended only in his death.....
he was cremated at dawn (or early morning if you prefer to be less poetic) on my birthday of that year.....2003

What is a GOOD LEADER - upd 1

Do you know one you can say is a good leader?
Remember a good leader is usually also a good boss

so, what is a good leader

bottom line: he takes care of the bottom line
in the private sector, the bottom line is the accounting bottom line.  money.
the company must make money, and not just money, but good money

what every person should realize, if he hasnt realized it yet
is that the secret of making good money is having good people, PLUS
the ability of recognizing good people - not people who are good at sucking up

so if you are a leader who likes people who fawn over you, well - you arent a good leader
sorry. happens to be the truth.  as a leader, you should not cordon yourself with the suck-up people
they flatter you while they watch you sink. the moment you've sunk. they will abandon you and latch on to the next.  i call them wishy-washies.

a good leader takes care of his people.  all his people. not just the suck-up ones who are almost good for nothing except to flatter you.  if you need flattery, then by golly, you aint a good leader at-all.

more later.with actual names of leaders. watch out for updates of this post

Filing for Retirement at the SSS

someone called me and asked me for the mechanics of applying for retirement so i decided to post about it.

who knows, maybe it will help someone

Eligibility - a person who has reached at least 60 and is no longer employed or practicing his profession or is no longer self-employed or a person who has reached 65

Retirement Benefits - 

pension - if a member has at least 120 monthly contributions, with the option to get the first 18 months in lump sum discounted at a preferential rate.

lump sum - if a member does not have at least 120 contributions and has no plans of continuing contributions on his own

Forms:

Click here for the downloadable complete retirement claim form

the form has four (4)  pages

i suggest that you opt for the 18-months if you are single at the time of retirement.  Why? well, just in case something should happen to you between the time of retirement and the 19th month, at least you will have enjoyed the benefits yourself and not your heirs.  Remember, single individuals do not pass on the pension.  heirs of single persons will enjoy the balance between the guaranteed 5-year pension less the pension total received by the pensioner.  

por ejemplo - an orphaned bachelor starts his pension of 7,000 on January 2012 and does not opt to receive the lump sum.  he has a fatal accident on June 2012.  his only sibling will get 

(7000 X 12 X5) - (7000 X 6) = 420,000 - 42,000 = 378,000.00

the member only enjoyed 42,000.

as an aside, i advised my friend Ed to take the 18 months also.  well, he didnt really need the pension and i told him that he could buy something frivolous with the 18 months.  he bought a new camera - he enjoyed his camera very much.  he passed away before the 18 months were up so i am glad he got to enjoy his pension.  he loved taking pictures.  he was the president of the Camera Club of the Philippines for many times.  But no, Ed wasnt single.