Chairman Oscar M. Lopez’s early-May conquest of Mt. Apo, the country’s
tallest peak, was the high point of Lifelong’s 2nd quarter activities.
Along with 3rd generation Lopezes, Lopez Group executives, the Mt. Everest
Team and invited guests, OML accomplished a long-cherished dream.
His feat symbolizes his intrepidity to face seemingly impossible odds. According to Pastor Emata, the second Filipino who scaled Mt. Everest and who hails from Davao, climbing the last stretch of Mt. Apo is much tougher than Mt. Pulag’s. At 78, OML is the oldest man to climb Mt. Apo; the same accolade he earned last year at 77 when he scaled Mt. Pulag.
Cresting the top was made dangerous by a heavy downpour as the climbing party approached the summit at mid-day that continued all the way through lunch. It forced the group to cancel an overnight stay and return quickly to base camp. The return down, in itself, was fraught with high risk as the trails were washed away; a false slip in those muddy conditions could cause injury, or worse. But despite OML’s eye impairment, he led the group back to the safety of the camp and into the pages of the Lopez Group’s history books.
Wellness had much to do with OML’s achievement. Having initiated the corporate wellness program at FPHC 10 years ago that metamorphosed into the Lifelong Wellness System in 2006, OML himself shrugged off certain medical conditions during this time.
Without it he would not have been able to deal physically, mentally and emotionally with many business challenges that battered the Lopez Group after the demise of his elder brother, and erstwhile patriarch of the Lopez Group, Eugenio Lopez, Jr. More importantly, he would not have been able to occupy the moral high ground to continue promoting the wellness initiative.
OML’s leadership by example
in his varied areas of interest - apart from wellness, corporate social responsibility
and business excellence - is reflective of the “can do” spirit
that he is instilling throughout the Lopez Group. The Lifelong Team is honored
to be a part of his legacy to the Lopez Group.
Rafael M. Alunan III
for the Wellness Team