Page 40 - WashingtonSyCip_Bio_Excerpt_LastChapter_2nd_Edition

Postscript A Good Night’s Sleep

your background? Who’s your client? How many newspapers do you read?” Wilson
felt relieved when the guests started to arrive. Lesson learned: ask Wash before he
asks you. Wilson remembered this when he found himself with Wash in a car going
to the airport in Davao. He began peppering Wash with questions—“Sir, how’s your
poverty alleviation program coming along?”—giving him no quarter to unleash his
own barrage.

At the airport, Wilson tried to help Wash place his luggage on the scanner belt, but
Wash declined the offer, being the proud old road warrior that he was. But just as
quickly, Wash revealed the inner softie by walking over to the pasalubong counter
to pick out some food. “Sir, are you hungry, would you like me to get you some
food?” Wilson asked. “No, no,” he replied, “I’m looking for something to give Sylvia,
because she often skips lunch while waiting for me.” He was very attentive to detail.
“We were at the airport lounge, and food was served by Philippine Airlines. We had
arroz caldo. Wash looked into his bowl and noticed that there was one ingredient
lacking—he wanted his arroz caldo just so. He told me about it and added that he
would bring it up during the next PAL board meeting.”

Wilson also recalls that Wash enjoyed talking with young people—the junior partners
and even clients like Lean Leviste, a pioneering entrepreneur in solar power. “He
could chat with Lean in his office for hours and he wouldn’t mind.” Wash must
have felt energized by their enthusiasm, recalling his own youth and the audacity
and confidence he exuded then. He sometimes read the papers outside his office,
beside Sylvia’s corner, and when he saw Wilson passing by one morning, he looked
up from his reading to ask, “Hello, Wilson, how’s your favorite client coming along?”
He knew that Wilson was on top of Lean’s account. Wilson said, “Sir, right now the
audit’s still ongoing, and we’re still waiting for some requirements.” He said, smiling,
“Wilson, step on the gas!”

“That’s something I’ll always remember about him,” Wilson says, laughing. “I’d hear
it in my head, even now during the pandemic, when things are slowing down, and
I’d imagine him telling me, ‘Wilson, step on the gas!’”

Away from the office, Wilson is a lay preacher who takes his faith very seriously. Wash
learned about this, and lost no opportunity to take advantage of it. At meetings and
even at a Christmas party, he would gather people around Wilson and announce

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