Manuel H. Osmeña, popularly known as Manny O., counts among his current business ventures Hilton Cebu Resort & Towers, Cebu Pacific Catering Services, and Manny O. Wines. The eldest of 11 siblings describes himself as “Monk, but with a social life,” confessing to being a big fan of the comedy-drama TV series. The engaging businessman and famous Cebuano turns 57 year old this year. He is happily married to second wife Gina, has four children (Mani Lynn, Meghann Gail, Manuel II, Gladys May) and six grandchildren. As a dad, his children appreciate most that he is a model of fidelity, a good provider though not a spoiler, very patient with his daughters, and uber affectionate with his apos (grandchildren).

The tycoon plans to retire in less than 10 years, with Manny O. Wines as his retirement business. But whether working or retired, you can count on Manny O. to know how to enjoy the fruits of his labors. In this interview with Business Agenda, he gives pointers on work-life balance, passion, and the kind of success that matters.

BA: How do you divide your time and attention among your various businesses?

MO: As an entrepreneur, I do things with a very dynamic approach. I make plans, but there will be (unplanned) things that come into play, so you juggle things around. I always say I’m the fighter pilot and my children are the commercial pilots… A fighter pilot’s main goal is to go and conquer and come home alive. Knowing just 10 to 20 percent of information, he can work with the unknown. He makes certain plans but when he’s out there, he has to be flexible and very creative in working things around.

BA: What are the specific challenges to each of your businesses—the hotel, wine company, and airline catering?

MO: First, the wine division. This is the closest to my heart and the newest business in the group. But I have known and collected wine for over three decades; wine has actually been called my mistress. It’s the business I enjoy; it doesn’t give me any pressure and everything about it is very natural for me—the assemblage, from the blending to the tasting and formulating, it doesn’t feel like I’m working.

Second, the airline catering. This doesn’t demand a lot of my time because basically, the meal programs have six-month cycles. The day-to-day variation is very close to forecasted, unless there are unforeseen circumstances.

Also, our accounts are permanent and long-term. It’s a monopoly not done by influence; rather it’s a reciprocating business wherein you just have to make sure you give them a good quality product at market prices and you will get their continued support.

And third, the hotel. This is a very interesting and very challenging business. It’s a lifestyle business. And when you have a five-star hotel, you host a lot of different personalities, so it’s new everyday. Hilton Cebu has been operating for five years now, and it’s Hilton Hotels Corporation that runs the day-to-day operations. As owner, and being obsessive in a way, I would go into the details of sanitation, the upkeep of the property, food and service quality…I would check rooms, eat in the restaurants, and complain to the manager when I see something not fitting a 5-star standard. I was very involved in the beginning, when we were building and starting the hotel—I made sure we were even above what the Hilton wanted. For instance, our pillows are real down pillows, our towels are the best quality… Because I know that people who come to a 5-star hotel expect 6-star quality, and you cannot be less than what they’re expecting.

BA: What are your top three leisure activities?

MO: First is visiting vineyards and wineries, like in Spain and Portugal…

It’s partly work—it’s when I do the blending because I produce my own wine, but it’s also definitely to enjoy the beauty…and these places have great restaurants and food. I always travel with my wife Gina.

Second is driving through Southern Europe, and the Mediterranean Coast. It’s awesome driving through France, Italy…their small towns are each so unique, the people are differently nice, the food is incredible…even the bread and butter is different from one town to another.

And third would be visiting culinary destinations, like Hong Kong, Singapore, Osaka…because I love to eat, to explore food.

BA: What books are you reading right now?

MO: My reading now comes from materials downloaded from the Internet. The subjects cover food and wine, travel, spiritual material, business. The world has so opened up through the information highway, and by zeroing in on one author only, you’re limiting yourself. I never read a lot of fiction. I prefer nonfiction because it prompts me to self-examine, which is one of my favorite pastimes. The Bible is my favorite book. I read it everyday, I sit quietly in an area at home where there’s no disturbance and read for 20 to 30 minutes in the evening.

BA: How has being a Cebuano affected your attitude towards work and life?

MO: The best thing about being a Cebuano that influenced the way I work, deal with people and live my life is that as hard as I work, I always take time to smell the roses. More than six months a year, I am not in Cebu.

Almost all my travels are business, but I always enjoy and take a couple of days off to do the things I like.

BA: What is your most prized possession?

MO: Relationship. With family, with people in the business, with friends. Because there are so few that you can truly call “relationship”. That word is overly-misused. Just like using the word “friend” with no proper qualifier, I hate that. You can be business partners, for example, but you’re not necessarily friends.

BA: What is your greatest fear?

MO: Praise God, (I have) none. I used to be afraid of almost everything.

Through the cancer of (my first wife) Grayn, the Lord changed me. Through that difficult trial and period, God made me realize that we have absolutely no control. Not only of your life but literally everything. When I decided to leave the outcome to God, the fear went away.

I’m a person that loves the finer things in life—nice cars, a nice house, good food, first class travel, 5-star hotels, the best restaurants—but all that didn’t make me truly happy before. It was after I surrendered the control over to the Lord that He put the peace in my heart that surpasses all understanding, which I call the finest thing in life.

BA: What legacy would you want to leave behind?

MO: I have a company policy: Everything we do has to be pleasing to God. I want people to say that I was a man after God’s own heart.

BA: To end on your favorite subject, what is your absolute favorite bottle of wine?

MO: Today, if I had to drink the last wine, it would be a white wine. It would be Montrachet by Domaine de la Romanee Conti. My preference changed a couple of years ago. It used to be a red wine. It’s very hard to express and explain the flavor of this against the best red wine, so I will use a more comprehensible approach…

You can put a top red wine in a glass—say a Lafite or Petrus—and a top white wine, empty the glasses and leave them empty for the next few days. When you come back to smell both glasses, the empty white wine glass would smell better, while the one with the red would already smell sour. And wine is all about the nose. You see, although 80 percent of red wines are good to drink, and 80 percent of white wines are bad to drink, the top whites are better than the top reds.