Source: http://www.eternalgardens.ph/category/news-and-events/page/2/
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 09:05:33+00:00

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The sales managers from the marketing branches of Eternal Gardens gathered in Manila last November 21 and 22, 2016 for their Sales Managers Convention (SMC) for 2017. Entitled “A New Course, A New Horizon,” the 2-day company-sponsored event aims to prepare them for the new marketing year ahead.
Delegates from the company’s branches in the Cities of Batangas, Lipa, Dagupan, Cabanatuan, Naga, Santa Rosa, and Cagayan De Oro got together at the Citystate Hotel in Manila on Monday evening for their Rock ‘n’ Roll-themed Fellowship Night, where they had the chance to mingle with and get to know their colleagues in the other branches of Eternal Gardens. There had been fun games and an exciting inter-branch dance contest, in which Cagayan De Oro team was hailed the champion.
The event, which was organized by the Sales and Marketing Department, was made even more special by the attendance of the company’s top executives, namely Chairman and CEO D. Edgard A. Cabangon, Vice Chairman Benjamin V. Ramos, and President and COO Numeriano B. Rodrin. All the branch managers and other Eternal Gardens executives were also present, including Vice President for Sales and Marketing Jose Antonio V. Rivera, VP for HRMD Victoria C. Nava, VP for Finance Marvin C. Timbol, and Executive Secretary Rosario T. Lachica.
On the following day, Tuesday, it was business as usual for the delegates as they participated in the convention proper in the morning and their presentation of commitment in the afternoon. The morning session was facilitated by Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) officer and Professional Regulatory Board of the Real Estate Service (PRBRES) lecturer Professor Xylexferene L. De La Torre, REB, REA, CPA. Prof. Xy, who is a licensed real estate broker who also lectures in various colleges and universities, talked about taxation, the different kinds of tax in the Philippines, and the different aspects of real estate brokerage.
Ms. Belen C. Frago (4th from left) is presented a Special Recognition for her loyalty and valuable contribution to the manpower of Batangas branches.
After the lecture, a Special Recognition was presented to Belen C. Frago, a pioneering general agency manager of the Batangas City and Lipa City branches of Eternal Gardens. Frago, who will be turning 80 this year, cried tears if joy as she received her plaque on stage where she was joined by some of the agency managers that started from her unit.
The afternoon of day two of the Sales Managers’ Convention was spent evaluating the 2016 sales performance of the branches and setting new goals for 2017.
ETERNAL Gardens celebrated its 40th anniversary last Thursday (August 11) with a grand festivity at Citystate Tower Hotel in Ermita filled with rejoicing over the accomplishments of the past four decades, and fondly remembering and paying tribute to its founder, Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, whose leadership made the success possible.
The Ambassador bid farewell to Eternalites and the rest of the ALC Group of Cos. on March 11, a Friday, a day he spent without fail going to Quiapo Church in Manila in keeping with his devotion to Jesus as the Black Nazarene.
A brightly lit stage splashed a greeting in bold letters extolling the occasion, while an almost life-size standee portrait of the Ambassador was by the right side of the stage, showing him in confident pose, smiling and his arms folded before him.
“We best honor and show our love for him by keeping alive his legacy of hard work, determination and perseverance to reach our goals,” Cabangon told the Eternalites. The crowd that filled the grand ballroom of Citystate Tower Hotel included officers and staff from the head office in Makati, and managers and representatives from each of the 10 branches of Eternal Gardens.
Highlighting the occasion was the presence as special guests of pioneer officers and sales workers who helped the Ambassador set up the company and overcome great hurdles encountered in the earliest days 40 years ago, when the concept of the modern first-class memorial park was something new and unfamiliar with Filipinos.
Among them were former Mindoro Oriental Rep. and Gov. Rodolfo G. Valencia, veteran publicist and newsman Juan P. Dayang, marketing executive Antonio Lorenzo and several sales agents who pioneered the offering of the products and services of Eternal Gardens to the public.
In his own remarks, Valencia, who had been the Ambassador’s business associate for several years before he left business to join politics, said among the business undertakings where he had worked with the Ambassador, “Eternal Gardens, under the direct leadership of Pareng Tony, proved to be the most successful.” At that time of his younger days, the founder was better known as Col. Tony Cabangon Chua, being a reservist in the Armed Forces.
Valencia recalled that under the Ambassador’s vigorous management, the pioneering leaders of Eternal Gardens attracted many accomplished memorial-industry professionals to join the fledgling company. Among them were Tony Lorenzo, Gabriel Vida and many other competent memorial-industry expert workers.
Presentation of the Service Awards also highlighted the special event. A total of 33 Eternalites were recognized for their loyal service to the company for five, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 35 years, headed by Executive Secretary Rosario T. Lachica, a 35-year service awardee.
Another important part of the evening was the unveiling of the trophy for the Business Excellence Award of Eternal Gardens. Measuring 6 feet in height, the stainless-steel trophy will be awarded at the end of the year to the branch of Eternal Gardens that will be adjudged best in excellence in the areas of sales, finance, operations, marketing and human resources. The award will be held for one year by the winning branch and the same trophy will be passed on to the succeeding winners each year.
This article was first published in the Business Mirror.
The Eternal Memorial Chapel and Funeral Services at Eternal Gardens Santa Rosa City, Laguna had its Blessing and Inauguration on July 15, 2016.
Local government officials and other special guests joined company executives and staff in celebrating the event, which started with a Thanksgiving Mass at the site.
Leading the inauguration are (from left) Alitagtag, Batangas Mayor Anthony Francis Andal; Santa Rosa, Laguna Vice Mayor Arnold Arcillas; former Santa Teresita, Batangas Mayor Bayani Andal; Santa Rosa, Laguna Mayor Danilo Ramon Fernandez; Grace Andal (wife of Mayor Bayani Andal); Eternal Plans Inc. (EPI) Vice Chairman and CEO Antoinette Cabangon-Jacinto; Eternal Gardens Chairman and CEO D. Edgard A. Cabangon; Eterna; Gardens President and COO Numeriano B. Rodrin; EPI President Elmer M. Lorica; and Supreme Court Justice Jose P. Perez.
The Eternal Memorial Chapel and Funeral Services is owned and managed by the Andal family.
Eternal Gardens has launched the Branch Excellence Award (BEA) to recognize the company’s most outstanding branch as a highlight of the celebration in August this year of the company’s 40th foundation anniversary.
The competition for the Branch Excellence Award aims to challenge all 10 branches to be the best and exemplify excellence in their overall performance. A six-foot tall trophy will be handed out to the winner and stay with the winning branch for one year, after which it will be transferred to the next winning branch.
Numeriano B. Rodrin, Eternal Gardens president, said the branches should aspire hard to be the very first recipient of the BEA “for the prestige of having your park name inscribed on the trophy, which puts you in the company’s history.” Winners in the following years will have the honor of keeping the trophy for a year, but their names will not be put on it, unlike the very first winning branch.
Heads of the different departments, as members of the BEA Committee, went to the branches to formally launch the Awards, starting with Eternal Gardens Baesa in Caloocan City last January 7, 2016. This was followed by the launches at Greenhills Park in Cagayan de Oro on January 9, Balagtas and Concepcion, Batangas City on January 13; Santa Rosa and Biñan on January 14, Lipa on January 21, Naga on January 23, Cabanatuan on January 27, and Dagupan on January 28.
During the launch at the branches, BEA Committee member and MIS manager Geoffrey Coberos introduced the concept of Business Excellence, which is the basis of the Eternal Gardens Branch Excellence Award. In his presentation, he explained that Business Excellence is about developing and strengthening the management systems and processes of an organization to improve performance and create value for stakeholders.
He also conducted a simple self assessment of the branches to determine whether they are practicing Business Excellence. He presented 10 Business Excellence practices and asked the branch employees to rate each according to what their branch is currently doing. Among the sample practices presented were seeking new ways to sustain and grow the organization, regularly tracking and assessing customers’ needs, requirements, and satisfaction levels; and tracking daily operations and overall organizational performance using a full range of information. Most of the branches got an above average assessment result.
After the presentation of the Business Excellence concept, BEA Committee head and vice president for Sales and Marketing Joey Rivera, related it to Eternal Gardens and shared tips on how the branches can achieve it. Rivera also presented the criteria for judging and the prizes that await the Branch Excellence Awardee. The contest will run from February to November 2016, and the first ever Branch Excellence Award will be given during the company Christmas party in December.
For the duration of the contest, the branches will be rated every trimester in the areas of sales, finance, operations, marketing, and human resources, by the respective heads of the concerned department, namely Rivera, vice president for Finance Marvin Timbol, Administration Department manager Gil Twaño, and vice president for HRMD Vicky Nava. During the launch, they discussed in detail how they, as judges, will rate each branch by presenting specific aspects of sales and marketing, manpower management, finance, and operations, that the branch should work on in order to attain excellence.
Besides the six-foot trophy, a cash prize of P50, 000 cash is at stake. The winning branch will also be publicized in a special feature in the BusinessMirror newspaper, Eternal Glimpse newsletter, and the Eternal Gardens website.
Before the launch ended, the branch managers were given special BEA t-shirts as a sign that they are accepting the challenge and committing their branch to excellence.
In preparation for marketing year 2016, the agency managers from the different branches of Eternal Gardens gathered in Manila for the Sales Managers’ Convention (SMC) last November 16 and 17, 2015. The company sponsored two-day event, which also aimed to promote camaraderie and friendship among the delegates, was held at the Citystate Tower Hotel in Ermita, Manila.
Day one, November 16, Monday, was bonding time for Eternalites as they had a fun-filled Fellowship Night graced by no less than the company’s top executives, namely Chairman and CEO D. Edgard A. Cabangon, Special Assistant to the Founder T. Anthony C. Cabangon, Vice Chairman Benjamin V. Ramos, and President and COO Numeriano B. Rodrin. All the branch managers and other Eternal Gardens executives were also present during the decades-themed event, including Vice President for Sales and Marketing Jose Antonio V. Rivera, VP for HRMD Victoria C. Nava, VP for Finance Marvin C. Timbol, Central PR Head Olympia Isabel R. Lazo, and Executive Secretary Rosario T. Lachica.
Highlighting the Fellowship Night was the decades-themed dance competition in which the combined team of Cabanatuan and Dagupan branches won the top prize for their 60s-inspired number. Also adding fun and excitement to the night were the games prepared by the Marketing Department, which organized the whole event.
Day two of the Sales Managers’ Convention was dedicated to skills enhancement, personal growth, and learning, as the delegates took part in an enriching seminar by “mind-reprogrammer” and life transformation mentor Veni Flores.
Entitled “How to Make Thoughts Happen,” the objective of the seminar was to help the delegates create a lasting change that would positively impact their careers and their life, by re-programming the mind. It was also in line with the convention’s theme, which was “Change: Challenge, Adapt, Overcome,” the company’s rallying call for the coming year that’s expected to be a challenging one.
The afternoon session of day two was just as productive for the delegates as the morning seminar, as it was spent evaluating their sales performance for the current marketing year and setting their new sales targets for marketing year 2016.
There had also been an open forum between the agency managers and the management of Eternal Gardens, which was represented by president and COO Numeriano B. Rodrin, vice president for Sales and Marketing Jose Antonio V. Rivera, and vice president for Finance Marvin C. Timbol, to address the sales managers’ concerns.
Batangas City Eternalites had their teambuilding event last October 10, 2015, Saturday, at the park grounds of Eternal Gardens Concepcion branch. A total of 108 participants, including 63 agents and 45 park employees and officers from Balagtas and Concepcion branches, attended the event, making it the biggest teambuilding event of Eternal Gardens so far in terms of number of participants.
The attendees, who were divided into six competing teams, namely Blue, Red, Yellow, Green, Orange, and Violet, decorated their respective tents according to their interpretation of the theme, “Hand in Hand, Together We Stand!” as the opening activity of the teambuilding event. This Brought out not only the creativity but also the ability of the participants to work as a team. After the tent decorating activity, the teams also presented their cheers, before sharing a boodle fight style breakfast.
To warm up the attendees, members of the Events Committee from the Head Office, headed by its chairman Geoffrey Coberos, led an energy-filled Zumba session, before proceeding to the Amazing Race-inspired main event of the teambuilding activity.
Composed of a series of group tasks, the race tested the stamina, cooperation, and strategic skills of the team members. It also brought out the leader in each of the participants, who did their best to ensure the victory of their team.
The exciting outdoor activities were followed by the “Work Attitude, Values Enhancement, and Teambuilding Seminar/Workshop,” facilitated by Recruitment and Training manager Marielle Cabangon, and an inspirational talk by vice president for Sales and Marketing Jose Antonio V. Rivera.
The competitiveness of Batangueño Eternalites really came out as every participant in the teambuilding event gave their best in each leg of the race. But in the end, the Violet Team led by Concepcion branch sales administration officer Angela Robles emerged as the champion, followed by the Orange and Blue teams in second and third place, respectively.

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