Distinguished multi-role accountant shares insights on leadership

Opportunities for women to lead companies and organizations now abound as more people have come to see that talent is inherent in both sexes and enhanced through hard work.

Corazon “Cora” S. de la Paz-Bernardo, who became in 1981 the first lady senior partner worldwide of audit and tax advisory firm Price Waterhouse (later known as PricewaterhouseCoopers or PwC), learned along the way that belief in oneself and with help from men, compassion and a sense of humor enable companies and groups achieve excellence, improving people’s lives in various aspects.

Guest of honor and speaker during the weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Makati last Tuesday, 23 January 2024 at the Peninsula Manila, De la Paz-Bernardo, who placed first in the 1960 board examination for certified public accountants and this year’s first female Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors, recounted her many other firsts in her professional life which include current role as independent director at D&L Industries Inc.

Who else?

De la Paz-Bernardo recounted that she was initially hesitant to accept the offer for chairmanship of PwC in the Philippines in 1981, when she was also known as the first lady senior partner of the firm worldwide.

Before this, she was granted a Fulbright scholarship for topping the accounting examination which enabled her to secure training and a two-year job at PwC in New York.

“I survived the training program as the only woman and foreigner in our class. The other lady resigned one week into our one-month training program,” she shared.

De la Paz-Bernardo became accustomed to heavy workload, crunching numbers with men which was followed by drinking sessions for relaxation time. Looking back at her childhood, she said her parents had prepared her for such service.

“The girls are expected to assume the responsibilities of helping their mothers do the household chores and run the family business. Like me with my parents, helping her with the ducks because our business was in balut making,” De la Paz-Bernardo recalled. She has three sisters and one brother.

She then worked in Houston where she designed education materials for PwC’s training program and where her husband, a tax lawyer, helped run the oil company Exxon.

When they returned to the Philippines and she was offered the PwC chairmanship, her husband reminded her of her excellent capabilities for the job.

De la Paz-Bernardo said she asked permission from him before accepting the role, and he replied, “Who else?” She took this as an affirmation that she was the most qualified person for the job.

She said yes

“In the first place, I never planned to be the lead partner of our firm. I wanted to have children and be a devoted, nurturing mother. Also, I did not relish worrying about where the firm’s payroll will come from,” she said.

“But I said yes. Better me telling them what to do than they deciding things for me. My life changed that minute,” she said.

De la Paz-Bernardo held that executive post at PwC Philippines until 2001.

She then became the head of the Social Security System in the same year until 2008 and the first non-European president of the Geneva-based International Social Security Association from 2004 to 2010.

She was also a former president of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the first woman president of the Management Association of the Philippines and the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines.

Currently, De la Paz-Bernardo is likewise a trustee of several organizations including MFI Polytechnic Institute Inc., Jaime V. Ongpin Foundation Inc. and Philippine Business for Education.

Definition of success

While De la Paz-Bernardo is grateful for her leadership positions, she said success can also be felt even in simple but meaningful ways like sharing time with others to comfort them during times of trouble. She said she was reminded of this by his only brother who was an activist and recently died from diabetes.

“Success does not always mean fame and fortune. As long as we try our best with the gifts we’ve been given. He had many friends at the funeral and that he had helped, not financially but by his moral and emotional support for them and their families in times of need,” she said.

Recalling his visit to his brother in his last moments with them, she said “he was happy.”

Laugh often

After she accepted the position as chairman of PwC Philippines, De la Paz-Bernardo said she thought how her predecessor would break the news to the team due to prejudice or sexist tendencies of some male and older colleagues.

However, she said this was not the case and her colleagues even found their meetings amusing which would always start with remarks, “Cora and gentlemen.”

“When all was said and done, there was enough goodwill in the partnership to think of the common good rather than hurt egos. I served as chairperson for 20 years in the firm which is the oldest in the country, grew more than threefold and admitted more partners male and female,” she said.

When praised by Rotary Club members for her professional accomplishments, she replied, “You should see me in action at home. I’m not as sweet as you see now.” She added, “I was just born earlier.”

At the end of the club meeting, she shared that she had a lover who also passed after her first husband died. She said both of them inspired her to fulfill her endeavors and made her work easier.

In jest, De la Paz said she has been dubbed by friends as the “husband killer.”

In summary, De la Paz-Bernardo recited the poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson on how to live well, both in work and personal aspects. The poem reads: “To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better.”