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Carlos A. Gothong Lines (CAGLI),or popularly known as Gothong Lines is a passenger and cargo ferry company based in the queen city of the south, Cebu, Philippines. CAGLI was formerly a part of WG&A SuperFerry, a merged company in January 1996 which served 23 major provincial ports throughout the Philippines, and was the first domestic shipping company in the country to be certified by the International Safety Management Code standard. Together with CAGLI, William Lines and Aboitiz Shipping (Aboitiz Trasport System Corporation) formed what still is today, the biggest merger that ever happened in the history of Philippine shipping industry

History

Thrust with a mandate coming from the Patriarch, Don Alfredo D. Gothong, the three (3) siblings,Bowen D. Gothong, Ben D. Gothong and Brezilda Gothong Co lead the rebirth of Carlos A. Gothong Lines, Inc. (CAGLI) with the launching of its first vessel, Butuan Bay 1 on October 3, 2002. With the unwavering support of their spouses, namely Lili Lee Gothong, Winnie Ong Gothong and Andrew Co respectively, CAGLI has since then regained its rightful place in the shipping industry as one of its formidable players.

Positioning as a low cost operator, the CAGLI President, Ben D. Gothong is ably helped by the fourth (4th) generation Gothongs who are actively involved in the day to day operations of the shipping operations and other affiliate businesses. They are Calvin Boniface Lee Gothong, COO of Coco Palms, Clement Bryan Lee Gothong, Technical Superintendent of CAGLI, Cristina Wendy Ong Gothong, COO of GT Ferry, and Jade T. Gothong, COO of PCDC. They have likewise strengthened their pool of leaders and got all true blue Gothongnians who are entrusted to keep and propagate the good old Gothongnian spirit sowed by their great founder, Don Carlos A. Gothong. They are Atty. Francisco Mijares, Corporate Legal Counsel, Ruth Machacon, Corporate Finance, Elsa Go, COO of Sta. Fe, Jimmy Dy, COO of GCFC, Rolando Jalipa, COO of CAGLI, and Jonah Lafuente, COO of GTLandev. Because of these fusion of old tested trade wisdom plus the overflowing innovative and creative minds of the new breed of leaders, customers and partners of CAGLI are enjoying quality services while getting the most of their money's value. At CAGLI, less is more. They charge less for their services so their customers and partners get more value for what they paid for. Bottomline, at CAGLI, they take pride in gaining justifiable profit with honor!

Present

CAGLI currently operates 5 ferries, namely, Manila Bay 1, Butuan Bay 1, Ozamiz Bay 1, Subic Bay 1 and Cagayan Bay 1. Their ships call the ports of Manila, Cebu, Butuan (Nasipit), Cagayan de Oro, Ozamis, Iligan, and previously Jagna, Bohol. Its official website is www.cagothonglines.com

Company Philosophy

Anchoring on what our illustrious founder, Don Carlos A. Gothong and his son, Alfredo Gothong had believed in since he ventured in the shipping business a century ago, the Gothongnians stand proud in living up to the very values that see the company through all these years. At CAGLI, we value the GOTHONG way…

God. We believe that God provides everything. That with God’s guidance and generosity, we can bring value service to our customers and in return gain profit with honor.

Ownership. We believe that sense of ownership entails honoring commitments and accepting responsibility for our actions and behavior.

Teamwork. We believe in leveraging the abilities of our employees, suppliers, contractor and customers through a cooperative team approach in getting the work done.

Honesty and integrity. We believe in operating with honesty and integrity in all our business dealings. We conduct ourselves in a responsible fashion as outlined in our Employee Manual and Code of Conduct.

Opportunity. We believe in creating a culture where employees are given equal opportunities to become leaders in recognition of their excellent performance.

Nurturing community. We believe that nurturing community brings forth harmony. That as such, we commit to contribute to its development by protecting the environment in which we operate and backing up projects of social benefit.

Gratitude. We believe that at the core of our existence, we will be forever grateful to our customers, our business partners, our leaders, our employees, and most of all to our founder, Don Carlos A. Gothong.

Speech

Consistent with CAGLI’s philosophy where it believed that at the core of their existence, they will be forever grateful to their business partners, its President, Benjamin D. Gothong took some time out from his hectic schedule and shared his wisdom, experiences and thoughts to the 2008 University of Cebu graduates during their commencement exercise.

The Speech:

The Honorable Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Atty. Augusto Go, esteemed Chancellor, Candice Gotianuy, Board of Trustees, Justice Regino, Hermosisima, Dean Estenzo, Teachers, Parents, Guests, graduates, good afternoon.

There was much hesitation on my part, when I was invited to speak before you today. To be frank with you, this is the first time in my whole life that I have been before an audience and I tell you, it is not easy. But when I was told to give my insights on the field of your chosen profession, I thought that this invitation did not come by accident. You see, we both speak the same language as I am a marine engineer myself and just like all of you, I went into the same learning process.

Perhaps my only advantage over you is that I belong to a family that has been into shipping for almost a century. I myself have been into shipping literally all my life. And to say at the very least, the marine engine is my breakfast, lunch and dinner.

First of all, let me congratulate your parents, for a “job well done”. Also, this occasion means, that you would also have graduated from spending for your child’s tuition. I would like also to congratulate the faculty members of this prestigious institution, for having the patience and perseverance to continue to impart their knowledge of the subject to our young graduates. Lastly, may I congratulate you dear graduates, for this milestone in your life. Indeed, the degree which is conferred to you now, is yours alone. It is non transferable. And more than the degree itself, what you have learned in school, can not be taken away from you. My point is, your diploma is an imprimatur that you are now ready to conquer the world. And with the tools given to you by your alma mater, the world and everything it has to offer, will surely unfold before your eyes. Indeed, there is so much that the world can offer in terms of financial rewards for deck and engine officers. For those macho officers… there is also a girl in every port.

But a word of caution. School is very different from the real world. Before you go into the real world, you have to have a strong foundation and I do not mean academic excellence although it could help. By foundation I mean, you must have a passion to excel in your profession. If you have passion for your work, and if you love your work, then it is no longer work anymore and the task becomes easy. They say, that success is 50 percent inspiration and 50 percent perspiration. This is true based on my experience. Do not be discouraged if you commit mistakes as sometimes mistakes are tools to make us more mature in our outlook. Yet, you must be over vigilant, because as mariners, you hold in your hands not only a very valuable asset, but more importantly the lives of people.

Likewise, graduation is not an excuse to stop you from further learning. There is a story that in life there are two goddesses, the goddess of prosperity and the goddess of knowledge. If you want to be prosperous, do not follow the goddess of prosperity because, it will be very elusive. But if you pursue the goddess of knowledge, the goddess of prosperity will become very jealous, that it will follow you wherever you go.

As I said earlier, I have been given the opportunity to work in our company, not as an executive, but as hands on marine engineer.

Fresh from school, I took over our shop and maintenance department with what was considered as a ragtag team, together with some apprentice engineers. The only difference is that this ragtag team had a passion to work and hunger for more knowledge. Mistakes, we committed many. But we ask questions, even the most silly ones. We discuss, talk or laugh about it, promising never to commit the same mistakes again. You see, in all our endeavors, it is not the number of times that we fall, but the number of times that we rise from every fall that matters the most. Over the years, and with all our passion put to good use, we were able to build a formidable shore based engineering group, which I could fairly say, could be at par with any engineering department in the Philippines. What I would like to impart with you, is that you have got to have passion in your work. Strive to be the best. If you are a third engineer or third mate, strive to be the best in the field. If you are a janitor, be the best janitor.

Today, the shipping sector is evolving at a fast pace. Everyone must adopt these changes in order to survive. There is no room for mediocrity. Before, the seafarer had to rely on the barometer, to know whether a typhoon is approaching. Today, we look at satellite data to get advance information of any approaching weather disturbance. Information may be obtained by a touch of your fingers. Each one of us must continue to learn as there is no end to this process. Modesty aside, our company today, is one of the big players in the domestic shipping industry, in terms of captured markets in container cargoes and passengers.

Just a little over a month ago, our company the Carlos A. Gothong Lines, Inc., and your alma mater, the University of Cebu, entered into a joint cooperation, whereby we offered our facilities to train deck and engine cadets in actual navigation. We hope that in time, this mutual cooperation will flourish, so that in our own little way, we could help build a strong foundation and mold these cadets into world class seafarers. My dear graduates, sooner or later, you will become chief engineers or master mariners. This awesome position, however also carries with it awesome responsibilities. Borrowing a word from scriptures,

“ To those whom much is given, much is expected.”

In parting, I would like to say, that you have been blessed and is now one of the elites in your field. Yet these blessings will not mean anything if you do not share it with others. Share your blessings to those who will someday be under your tutelage. Impart upon them your knowledge and value of hard work. If you do this, I am sure that at the end of the day… you can fairly say that you have done your part, to make this world a better place.

Lastly my dear graduates, I say to you… “go out and shoot for the moon! For even if you’ll miss, you will land among the stars!”

Thank you very much and congratulations.