FORMER businessman Thomas Orbos can no longer enjoy chilling with friends on rainy day.
“I have no more hang-outs because when it rains, I always end up thinking of floods [in Metro Manila],” said the 51-year-old general manager and officer-in-charge of the Metro Manila Development Authority.
But there’s more to Tim, as he is called by friends, than just dispatching free rides to commuters stranded by floods and working around the problem known as Metro Manila traffic.
“Actually, I am a businessman. I was in advertising. I was in media. I brought many things here to the Philippines. I used to be the distributor of ESPN, MTV, Disney and Fox News. I am more on distribution,” Orbos said.
Before entering public office, Orbos served as chief operating officer of Asian Cable Communications Inc. from 2004 to 2005. The company is the cable distribution and advertising sales partner for several global program providers, such as AXN and Nickelodeon.
He was also president of Ireland Brothers Advertising, an advertising agency catering to top companies like Philippine Airlines, Carlsberg, Mazda, Kia Motors, Aji-no Moto, Samsung, BMW, Subaru, Carl’s Jr., Avis Cars, among others.
Orbos also served as assistant to the president and marketing executive of television network GMA-7 aside from being the owner of basketball team Pangasinan Presidents (later renamed Pangasinan Waves) in the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association.
Tim is the youngest in a brood of five, including former transportation secretary Oscar Orbos and popular Divine Word missionary Jerry Orbos.
Orbos’ sisters Melita is now a deputy commissioner of the Bureau of Customs while Thelma is a teacher in the United States.
A graduate of Bachelor of Arts Interdisciplinary Studies from Ateneo de Manila, Thomas also took Business Economics studies at the University of Asia and the Pacific.
In 2011, Orbos served as head of the Management Information Service at the Office of the President and became Advisory Council member of the Department of Justice-National Justice System, and of the Interagency Anti-Graft Coordinating Council and Presidential Task Force on Values Formation.
He also provided technical work and handled special concerns projects for the Office of the President.
Then President Benigno Aquino III also appointed Orbos as assistant general manager for Planning of the MMDA under the supervision of former chairman Francis Tolentino.
“I was appointed by the President as head of planning. This is the department in charge of overall urban planning for Metro Manila,” said Orbos, who also served as board member of the Light Railway Transit Authority, Laguna Lake Development Authority and Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission.
Orbos was also part of the Presidential Climate Change Commission and Presidential Committee on the Mining Industry, and was given the task to head the rules and selection committees of the Metro Manila Film Festival during his term as MMDA chief planning officer.
After two years, he left the MMDA and returned to his multi-faceted business concerns but two months ago, President Rodrigo Duterte appointed him MMDA general manager and OIC, replacing lawyer Emerson Carlos, who resigned as chairman on Aug. 19.
Being the general manager, according to Orbos, is a difficult task.
“The intention really is to manage the whole agency and there are many things to work on. We have to focus,” he said.
Right now, Orbos is in the process of addressing three management problems—the lack of document tracking system, asset management system and the personnel information system.
“We have no document tracking system, even if they said there is, but there is none. We also don’t know our assets. We don’t know where they are. We don’t know how many they are and we don’t know the conditions where they are in.
“Another is the personnel information system. We know the personnel but we don’t know the exactly the data of that personnel,” said Orbos.
So far, the MMDA has initiated numerous reform programs to better improve public service, like a reorganization of key personnel and department heads and a one-strike policy on extortion and other irregularities in the agency.
Orbos certainly has a full plate but he remains clear on what he wants to do.
“We try to cut the path, try to make it clear and try to see where we can be cost effective. So, we have to look the process and how the money was spent. So far, as I see it, these things are just along those line,” Orbos said.
“Let’s go back to basic. What is the agency really intended for and are its activities still relevant,” he added.