Jimmy agrees that, as 17th-century romantic English poet William Wordsworth paradoxically stated, “The child is father of the man”; for he attributes his successes, academic and professional, to the way his parents, Fernando Leus Gonzales and the former Aurea Ruiz Yutuc, brought him up. According to him, his parents created a home environment where prevailed strict discipline and loving concern, as well as filial piety. The youngsters (Nelia, Jaime, Lydia, and Susan) were stimulated by their parents to spend their time wisely and usefully, to study and work as hard as they could, to shun vice, and to observe “xxx such a prudent and well-regulated course of discipline as may best conduce to the preservation of your corporeal and mental faculties in their fullest energy, thereby enabling you to exert the talents wherewith God has blest you as well to His glory as the welfare of your fellow-creatures.”

As a result of proper parenting, Bro. Jimmy neither smokes nor drinks, nor does he engage in hanky-panky, and yet he is considered by friends and brethren “a jolly good fellow” because he likes clean fun and is pleasant to be with.

Outstanding Student Leader

His parents sent their unico hijo to De La Salle University (DLSU) since they wanted him to be a beneficiary of the boon of Catholic education. He was an honor student therein; hence, he was a member of DLSU’s elite Jose Rizal Society. He was, moreover, awarded by no less than Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos Most Outstanding Cadet of the Philippines.

He, furthermore, did a Jose Rizal. We will recall that Rizal took up three different courses at the same time: Medicine, Philosophy and Letters, and Surveying, and he finished all of them with flying colors. Similarly, MW Bro. Gonzales took up BSC-Accounting and AB-Economics simultaneously and completed both cum laude et honore, likewise.

Participant in Seminars, Training Programs

Even when he was already a successful business executive, he continued to search for the Light. To further hone his managerial skills, he participated in various seminars and training programs.

In 1976, for instance, he attended local seminars on such subjects as Interpersonal Behavior, Management by Objectives, and Basic & Advanced Management Skills. In the same year, he participated in the training programs on Portfolio Management and The Bond Market sponsored by the Bankers Trust of New York and the American Express Bank of New York, respectively.

In 1980, he went to North and South Carolina as a Rotary Exchange Scholar.

Four years later, he underwent training in Leverage Buyout, under the auspices of the American Management Association. An avid learner and a keen observer, he got the knack for buying and taking over large international corporations.

MW Bro. Gonzales completed all academic requirements of his Alma Mater, DLSU, for the degree Master in Business Administration (MBA).

Dexterous with the PC Computer, familiar as he is with a variety of spreadsheet, word processing programs and power point presentation software, he is at present  taking up another graduate program, this time via the online process.

Clearly, then, MW Bro. Gonzales has imbibed and practiced the message of the Ashlars.

Devoted Pater Familias

Like Rizal, he almost had a son. At first, frustrated he was. Eventually, however, he accepted the “misfortune” as God’s design for him and Sis. Lylwynn. The GAOTU blest them with four lovely daughters: Camilla, Katrina, Rea, and Lisa. Bro. Jimmy has brought up these young women in the way his parents reared him. Like him, Katrina and Rea were honor students; they graduated with the degree B.S. – Global Business from the Arizona University cum laude and magna cum laude respectively.

No matter how busy he is in corporate and organizational matters, he manages to spend quality time with spouse and daughters, thereby demonstrating his proficiency in the use of the symbolic 24-Inch Gauge.

Active in Civic and Professional Organizations

MW Bro. Gonzales also exemplifies the oxymoronic statement “ Busiest men find time.” He finds time to attend the meetings and other activities of the civic and professional organizations he is affiliated with. These include the Rotary Club of Makati, the Management Association of the Philippines, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Federation of Philippine Industries, the Employees Confederation of the Philippines, the Makati Business Club, the Financial Executives of the Philippines, and the American Chamber of Commerce.

Part-time Professorial Lecturer

He also exemplifies the pun “To have happiness is to halve it.” If time permits, he wants to share his know-how with younger Filipinos, particularly those enrolled in his Alma Mater, DLSU.

In 1974-75, for instance, he taught Investment Management at the DLSU Graduate School of Business. In 1981-82, he was a professorial lecturer in Cost Accounting for Industrial Engineers at the DLSU College of Engineering.

Excellent Executive

MW Jimmy Gonzales has had a successful business career because he is gifted with an uncanny business acumen, unintimidated by odd jobs, and able as well to level off with friends, associates and employees as to dispense all his jobs with equal facility.

Shortly after his graduation from DLSU in 1970, he worked for a year as Cost Accounting Manager of Proctor & Gamble, PMC. Then he moved to Bancom Development Corporation (BDC), where he served as Portfolio Manager for about five years.

In January 1976, he was promoted to the position of Asst. VP of BDC. As such, he was the Chief Investment Officer of the company’s Investment Service Dept. At the same time, he worked as Portfolio Manager of Banfeb Management Corporation, which managed the Philippine Investment Company.

In January 1978, he was BDC’s First VP and Head of its Investment Management Division.

In July 1980, he moved to Atrium Capital Corporation, then the largest investment bank in the country. There he was Senior VP and Investment Management Division Head.

In September 1981, he was the Executive Director of Trisec Funds, Inc.

A year later, he was VP for Corporate Planning of Interlek, Inc., a marketing company based in San Jose, CA. He was also VP and Chief Financial Officer of Tool & Die Masters, Inc., a semi-conductor equipment manufacturer based in Santa Clara, CA.

In September 1985, he was President and CEO of Mondragon Retail Stores, Ltd.

In April 1987, he worked as Managing Director of Eastern International Management Corporation, a consultancy company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and as VP for Finance of Indian River Resources, a company engaged in ocean salvage operations.

In March 1988, he was Chief Financial Officer of Eurotechnology, S.A., a semiconductor assembly house based in Madrid, Spain; Director and Chief Financial Officer of Laguna Rubber Corporation (LRC); and VP & Chief Financial Officer of Reynolds Philippine Corporation (RPC).

In April 1990, he was EVP and Chief Financial Officer of Chemholdings Corporation, the majority owner of RPC and LRC and the minority owner of Chemoil Corporation, petroleum refinery and trading company based in San Francisco, CA.

In November 1994, he maneuvered the takeover of RPC by the GGN Holdings Corp., which he and his business associates had organized. He therefore became the President and CEO of the Reynolds group of companies.

Though he retired in January 2002, he is still Managing Director of Reynolds Kitchen Magic, Inc., a company that he now owns.

At the time of this writing, he has been hired by the Salim Group as Treasurer of Chemical Industries of the Philippines.

As an executive, our current SGW dispenses all his jobs with equal facility; Hiram Abiff-like, he is inflexibly faithful to his trust. He is a consistent practitioner of the principle of subsidiarity, confidently delegating powers to subordinates and sincerely going down to the production line and the clerical department, thereby immersing himself in the subculture of the lower ranks.

Interested in the welfare and happiness of the employees of the Reynolds group of companies, he introduced therein value-driven programs, such as “Walk Your Talk”, “Enhancement Resources Information and Control” and “Upward Bound”.

Said he: “Those programs aim to instil in the RPC workers positive attitudes that would enhance their efficiency and provide them with a new outlook in life. They also seek to generate oneness, industry, sharing, concern, and total involvement in the workplace, as well as boost the workers’ morale and productivity by rounding up their physical and intellectual well-being.”

He instituted “Coffee with the President”, where other managers and the employees get to huddle with the CEO and talk about their individual and collective concerns.

All this makes us, his brethren, optimistic that he will lead the Grand Lodge and its constituent Districts and Lodges to greater heights of achievement.

Dynamic Masonic Leader

Initiated, passed and raised in Jose Rizal Lodge No. 22, Bro. Jimmy served as Master of Dapitan Lodge No. 21 in 1992; as Grand Lecturer for Masonic District No. 5 in 1995 and 1996; as the Grand Master’s Deputy for the same District in 1997; as Senior Grand Steward of our Grand Lodge in 1998; as Grand Auditor in 1999 and 2000; as Asst. Grand Secretary in 2003-2004; and as Junior Grand Warden in 2004. Indefatigably, he performed the duties of whatever position and title he assumed.

In 1980, he was made a 33° Mason or Inspector General Honorary (IGH) of the Philippine Bodies, A.&A.S.R. He is at present the Supervisor of Luzon Bodies, A.&A.S.R. When he was Venerable Master of the Philippine Bodies in 2001, he spearheaded the revival of the Saturday Scottish Rite Luncheon Forum, which antedated Kapihan sa Manila Hotel and others similar.

He is also a member of the elite Royal Order of Scotland and a past High Shereef of Maginoo Shrine Oasis, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS). Besides, he is an Active Member of the Supreme Council of the Order of DeMolay in the Philippines.

A proficient user of the symbolic 24-Inch Gauge, he effectively and efficiently performs his duties in his several stations in life.

In fine, like many a Brother, MW Jimmy Y. Gonzales is a gem of a man and Mason. Ergo, the brethren will not regret having elevated him to the Grand Line. He has his own vision of how to make us a dynamic Fraternity.

Jimmy agrees that, as 17th-century romantic English poet William Wordsworth paradoxically stated, “The child is father of the man”; for he attributes his successes, academic and professional, to the way his parents, Fernando Leus Gonzales and the former Aurea Ruiz Yutuc, brought him up. According to him, his parents created a home environment where prevailed strict discipline and loving concern, as well as filial piety. The youngsters (Nelia, Jaime, Lydia, and Susan) were stimulated by their parents to spend their time wisely and usefully, to study and work as hard as they could, to shun vice, and to observe “xxx such a prudent and well-regulated course of discipline as may best conduce to the preservation of your corporeal and mental faculties in their fullest energy, thereby enabling you to exert the talents wherewith God has blest you as well to His glory as the welfare of your fellow-creatures.”

As a result of proper parenting, Bro. Jimmy neither smokes nor drinks, nor does he engage in hanky-panky, and yet he is considered by friends and brethren “a jolly good fellow” because he likes clean fun and is pleasant to be with.

Outstanding Student Leader

His parents sent their unico hijo to De La Salle University (DLSU) since they wanted him to be a beneficiary of the boon of Catholic education. He was an honor student therein; hence, he was a member of DLSU’s elite Jose Rizal Society. He was, moreover, awarded by no less than Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos Most Outstanding Cadet of the Philippines.

He, furthermore, did a Jose Rizal. We will recall that Rizal took up three different courses at the same time: Medicine, Philosophy and Letters, and Surveying, and he finished all of them with flying colors. Similarly, MW Bro. Gonzales took up BSC-Accounting and AB-Economics simultaneously and completed both cum laude et honore, likewise.

Participant in Seminars, Training Programs

Even when he was already a successful business executive, he continued to search for the Light. To further hone his managerial skills, he participated in various seminars and training programs.

In 1976, for instance, he attended local seminars on such subjects as Interpersonal Behavior, Management by Objectives, and Basic & Advanced Management Skills. In the same year, he participated in the training programs on Portfolio Management and The Bond Market sponsored by the Bankers Trust of New York and the American Express Bank of New York, respectively.

In 1980, he went to North and South Carolina as a Rotary Exchange Scholar.

Four years later, he underwent training in Leverage Buyout, under the auspices of the American Management Association. An avid learner and a keen observer, he got the knack for buying and taking over large international corporations.

MW Bro. Gonzales completed all academic requirements of his Alma Mater, DLSU, for the degree Master in Business Administration (MBA).

Dexterous with the PC Computer, familiar as he is with a variety of spreadsheet, word processing programs and power point presentation software, he is at present  taking up another graduate program, this time via the online process.

Clearly, then, MW Bro. Gonzales has imbibed and practiced the message of the Ashlars.

Devoted Pater Familias

Like Rizal, he almost had a son. At first, frustrated he was. Eventually, however, he accepted the “misfortune” as God’s design for him and Sis. Lylwynn. The GAOTU blest them with four lovely daughters: Camilla, Katrina, Rea, and Lisa. Bro. Jimmy has brought up these young women in the way his parents reared him. Like him, Katrina and Rea were honor students; they graduated with the degree B.S. – Global Business from the Arizona University cum laude and magna cum laude respectively.

No matter how busy he is in corporate and organizational matters, he manages to spend quality time with spouse and daughters, thereby demonstrating his proficiency in the use of the symbolic 24-Inch Gauge

Active in Civic and Professional Organizations

MW Bro. Gonzales also exemplifies the oxymoronic statement “ Busiest men find time.” He finds time to attend the meetings and other activities of the civic and professional organizations he is affiliated with. These include the Rotary Club of Makati, the Management Association of the Philippines, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Federation of Philippine Industries, the Employees Confederation of the Philippines, the Makati Business Club, the Financial Executives of the Philippines, and the American Chamber of Commerce.

Part-time Professorial Lecturer

He also exemplifies the pun “To have happiness is to halve it.” If time permits, he wants to share his know-how with younger Filipinos, particularly those enrolled in his Alma Mater, DLSU.

In 1974-75, for instance, he taught Investment Management at the DLSU Graduate School of Business. In 1981-82, he was a professorial lecturer in Cost Accounting for Industrial Engineers at the DLSU College of Engineering.

Excellent Executive

MW Jimmy Gonzales has had a successful business career because he is gifted with an uncanny business acumen, unintimidated by odd jobs, and able as well to level off with friends, associates and employees as to dispense all his jobs with equal facility.

Shortly after his graduation from DLSU in 1970, he worked for a year as Cost Accounting Manager of Proctor & Gamble, PMC. Then he moved to Bancom Development Corporation (BDC), where he served as Portfolio Manager for about five years.

In January 1976, he was promoted to the position of Asst. VP of BDC. As such, he was the Chief Investment Officer of the company’s Investment Service Dept. At the same time, he worked as Portfolio Manager of Banfeb Management Corporation, which managed the Philippine Investment Company.

In January 1978, he was BDC’s First VP and Head of its Investment Management Division.

In July 1980, he moved to Atrium Capital Corporation, then the largest investment bank in the country. There he was Senior VP and Investment Management Division Head.

In September 1981, he was the Executive Director of Trisec Funds, Inc.

A year later, he was VP for Corporate Planning of Interlek, Inc., a marketing company based in San Jose, CA. He was also VP and Chief Financial Officer of Tool & Die Masters, Inc., a semi-conductor equipment manufacturer based in Santa Clara, CA.

In September 1985, he was President and CEO of Mondragon Retail Stores, Ltd.

In April 1987, he worked as Managing Director of Eastern International Management Corporation, a consultancy company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and as VP for Finance of Indian River Resources, a company engaged in ocean salvage operations.

In March 1988, he was Chief Financial Officer of Eurotechnology, S.A., a semiconductor assembly house based in Madrid, Spain; Director and Chief Financial Officer of Laguna Rubber Corporation (LRC); and VP & Chief Financial Officer of Reynolds Philippine Corporation (RPC).

In April 1990, he was EVP and Chief Financial Officer of Chemholdings Corporation, the majority owner of RPC and LRC and the minority owner of Chemoil Corporation, petroleum refinery and trading company based in San Francisco, CA.

In November 1994, he maneuvered the takeover of RPC by the GGN Holdings Corp., which he and his business associates had organized. He therefore became the President and CEO of the Reynolds group of companies.

Though he retired in January 2002, he is still Managing Director of Reynolds Kitchen Magic, Inc., a company that he now owns.

At the time of this writing, he has been hired by the Salim Group as Treasurer of Chemical Industries of the Philippines.

As an executive, our current SGW dispenses all his jobs with equal facility; Hiram Abiff-like, he is inflexibly faithful to his trust. He is a consistent practitioner of the principle of subsidiarity, confidently delegating powers to subordinates and sincerely going down to the production line and the clerical department, thereby immersing himself in the subculture of the lower ranks.

Interested in the welfare and happiness of the employees of the Reynolds group of companies, he introduced therein value-driven programs, such as “Walk Your Talk”, “Enhancement Resources Information and Control” and “Upward Bound”.

Said he: “Those programs aim to instil in the RPC workers positive attitudes that would enhance their efficiency and provide them with a new outlook in life. They also seek to generate oneness, industry, sharing, concern, and total involvement in the workplace, as well as boost the workers’ morale and productivity by rounding up their physical and intellectual well-being.”

He instituted “Coffee with the President”, where other managers and the employees get to huddle with the CEO and talk about their individual and collective concerns.

All this makes us, his brethren, optimistic that he will lead the Grand Lodge and its constituent Districts and Lodges to greater heights of achievement.

Dynamic Masonic Leader

Initiated, passed and raised in Jose Rizal Lodge No. 22, Bro. Jimmy served as Master of Dapitan Lodge No. 21 in 1992; as Grand Lecturer for Masonic District No. 5 in 1995 and 1996; as the Grand Master’s Deputy for the same District in 1997; as Senior Grand Steward of our Grand Lodge in 1998; as Grand Auditor in 1999 and 2000; as Asst. Grand Secretary in 2003-2004; and as Junior Grand Warden in 2004. Indefatigably, he performed the duties of whatever position and title he assumed.

In 1980, he was made a 33° Mason or Inspector General Honorary (IGH) of the Philippine Bodies, A.&A.S.R. He is at present the Supervisor of Luzon Bodies, A.&A.S.R. When he was Venerable Master of the Philippine Bodies in 2001, he spearheaded the revival of the Saturday Scottish Rite Luncheon Forum, which antedated Kapihan sa Manila Hotel and others similar.

He is also a member of the elite Royal Order of Scotland and a past High Shereef of Maginoo Shrine Oasis, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS). Besides, he is an Active Member of the Supreme Council of the Order of DeMolay in the Philippines.

A proficient user of the symbolic 24-Inch Gauge, he effectively and efficiently performs his duties in his several stations in life.

In fine, like many a Brother, MW Jimmy Y. Gonzales is a gem of a man and Mason. Ergo, the brethren will not regret having elevated him to the Grand Line. He has his own vision of how to make us a dynamic Fraternity.