Dr. Michael Machica’s illustrious life story is worthy of emulation. The chain toward the zenith of his entrepreneurship journey may have been rough and his endeavors checkered with ups and downs, they are nonetheless tempered with pure grit and perseverance.
Motivated by the exemplary virtues of his parents, and propelled by his unorthodox manner of selfimprovement, and by his uncanny single-mindedness in achieving landmark-after-landmark for a sustainable, profound economic purpose, Dr Machica is truly a selfmade entrepreneur. And where the future will lead him among the Philippines home-grown firmament of entrepreneurs, the next highlights may tell.
Son of a Farmer
Who would have thought that a child who grew up in the farm in the rural village in Eastern Samar would work his way up to the top of the world? From being a peasant, his father surmounted all forms of trials to become a local copra trader. And that must have been the DNA that propelled Dr Machica to the challenging, yet rewarding world of business.
Teenage and College Life
As a teenager, Dr Machica witnessed life’s many upsidedowns. In 1984, a life-changing typhoon (‘Undang’) struck the eastern part of Visayas washing away the family’s primary cash flow.
But Dr Machica is grateful that the unfolding of such events occurred at an opportune time when he was beginning to acquire reason. Quickly, he realized that a proactive stance was the best way forward. With his siblings, he then started selling agricultural products and food items at the town’s flea market before proceeding to school during Fridays.
As an entrance scholar in college, Dr Machica’s motivation was a clear differentiating factor. His desire for selfadvancement and his natural competitiveness topped him – at age 19 – as the most outstanding graduate with the BA Accountancy degree from the Eastern Visayas State University in 1991. Aside from being cum laude, he was YMCA Outstanding Student and Most Outstanding Accountancy Student awardee. Initially as a university scholar, he enjoyed the SGV scholarship in his senior year.
Outstanding Corporate Journey
With barely 14% passing rate, Dr Machica acquired the CPA license with a high mark. He was then admitted as an audit associate at the prestigious SGV & Co. Expectedly, the once farm boy succeeded the baptism at the corporate world.
In barely three years, Dr Machica progressed to become a credit officer at the Bank of the Philippine Islands, after successfully completing its management training program. At 26, he was a full-pledged bank manager entrusted with region-wide responsibilities.
Building Family and Business
In 1999, Dr Machica braved what others would normally hesitate pursuing - building a family and enterprise at the same time, keeping his corporate job. While preparing for their wedding, he and his then fiancée, Joan Tan Cruz, sowed the seeds of Machica Accounting and Insurance Services which later germinated to be Machica Group in Tacloban City. During the foundation years, Dr Machica had to work almost round-the-clock, seven days a week.
Venturing into entrepreneurship and professional practice, Dr Machica realized his immense center of influence. As such, he can now significantly create, contribute, and pass-on sustainable economic and social values to the communities he serves, and provide training and mentoring avenues for aspiring entrepreneurs and professionals alike. In 2006, he stormed his practice to Metro Manila where he has offices in Manila and Makati. Simultaneously, he had to level up with international players by acquiring global qualifications and post-graduate degrees. With his newly– acquired credentials, the Group’s service offerings naturally multiplied. “I was simply at the top of my game, consistently building success upon success”, he muses.
“Motivated by the exemplary virtues of his parents, and propelled by his unorthodox manner of selfimprovement, and by his uncanny single-mindedness in achieving landmark-after-landmark for a sustainable, profound economic purpose, Michael is truly a self-made entrepreneur.”
The Future
Today, with Dr Machica’s transformational and inspiring leadership, Machica Group of Companies is not only a familiar, trusted domestic professional services group, but also a budding global player through its partnership with the LEA Global, Dezan Shira Asian Alliance, and Aspect Advisory [Global Transfer Pricing Solution].
In 2015, Dr Machica became the first Filipino postdoctorate research scholar in the area of transfer pricing at the Vienna University of Economics & Business (research output: Transfer Pricing Disputes: Lessons for the Philippine Transfer Pricing Regulations and Documentations). This enabled him to specially intensify his transfer pricing advisory and international tax services to multi-national enterprises operating in the Philippines. True enough, Machica Group Consulting got recognized as the ‘Transfer Pricing Advisory Firm of the Year’, by the Elite Business Awards in 2017.
“I am an ardent advocate of the balanced scorecard and 3Ps (People, Planet, Profit) as important tools in business management. With open communication and setting personal example at the core of my leadership style, the well-meaning international and local award-giving bodies have recognized our contributions to the advancement of society. Just this year, the World Confederations of Businesses based in Texas cited Machica Group for its business excellence. In addition, Machica Tan-Cruz & Co. was hailed by Corporate USA Today as Firm of the Year, Tax & Consulting. MAXIN Insurance Agency is Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) qualifiers.”
The next wave of the group’s journey is focused at cultivating and delivering value attuned with the ASEAN economic integration, along with enhancing practice collaborations to serve more clients from advanced economies. The insurance and financial services shall be delivered 24/7 via online platform. In the context of business advisory works, promotion of sustainable ventures will be given more emphasis.
The organic expansion and business growth remain and continue to be driven by its highly-articulated, top-down promoted vision, mission, and value statements. The group’s vision is ‘To be an internationally-recognized service group of socially inspiring leaders and professionals passionately driven by best practices and innovations in delivering optimum value to all stakeholders within the Philippine-ASEAN-Pacific region’.
The three member companies - Machica Tan-Cruz & Co., CPAs, Machica Group Consulting, and MAXIN Insurance Agency - are all strategically positioned to exploit business opportunities within its developed market niche.
Giving Back and Social Relevance
To Dr Machica, his business acumen is meaningless if he cannot help uplift the lives of the less fortunate and the next generation of start-ups. That is why, early on, he founded M.I.K.E. (Machica Inspires Kids Education) which provides school supplies to primary pupils from lowly villages. Dr M Advisory Clinic affords free consultation and advice to young entrepreneurs and start-ups. He also spearheads the ‘Entrepreneurs’ Forum’ in association with certain local government units. In addition, he offers his time as a Lecturer for Continuing Professional Development activities for CPAs. Finally, he is a entorvolunteer at the Go Negosyo Mentoring on the Wheels. According to Dr Machica, “This is the part of my job I love most”.
OUTSTANDING CATEGORY
Dr Michael A. Machica
Founder & Chairman
Dr. Michael Machica’s illustrious life story is worthy of emulation. The chain toward the zenith of his entrepreneurship journey may have been rough and his endeavors checkered with ups and downs, they are nonetheless tempered with pure grit and perseverance.
Motivated by the exemplary virtues of his parents, and propelled by his unorthodox manner of selfimprovement, and by his uncanny single-mindedness in achieving landmark-after-landmark for a sustainable, profound economic purpose, Dr Machica is truly a selfmade entrepreneur. And where the future will lead him among the Philippines home-grown firmament of entrepreneurs, the next highlights may tell.
Son of a Farmer
Who would have thought that a child who grew up in the farm in the rural village in Eastern Samar would work his way up to the top of the world? From being a peasant, his father surmounted all forms of trials to become a local copra trader. And that must have been the DNA that propelled Dr Machica to the challenging, yet rewarding world of business.
Teenage and College Life
As a teenager, Dr Machica witnessed life’s many upsidedowns. In 1984, a life-changing typhoon (‘Undang’) struck the eastern part of Visayas washing away the family’s primary cash flow.
But Dr Machica is grateful that the unfolding of such events occurred at an opportune time when he was beginning to acquire reason. Quickly, he realized that a proactive stance was the best way forward. With his siblings, he then started selling agricultural products and food items at the town’s flea market before proceeding to school during Fridays.
As an entrance scholar in college, Dr Machica’s motivation was a clear differentiating factor. His desire for selfadvancement and his natural competitiveness topped him – at age 19 – as the most outstanding graduate with the BA Accountancy degree from the Eastern Visayas State University in 1991. Aside from being cum laude, he was YMCA Outstanding Student and Most Outstanding Accountancy Student awardee. Initially as a university scholar, he enjoyed the SGV scholarship in his senior year.
Outstanding Corporate Journey
With barely 14% passing rate, Dr Machica acquired the CPA license with a high mark. He was then admitted as an audit associate at the prestigious SGV & Co. Expectedly, the once farm boy succeeded the baptism at the corporate world.
In barely three years, Dr Machica progressed to become a credit officer at the Bank of the Philippine Islands, after successfully completing its management training program. At 26, he was a full-pledged bank manager entrusted with region-wide responsibilities.
Building Family and Business
In 1999, Dr Machica braved what others would normally hesitate pursuing - building a family and enterprise at the same time, keeping his corporate job. While preparing for their wedding, he and his then fiancée, Joan Tan Cruz, sowed the seeds of Machica Accounting and Insurance Services which later germinated to be Machica Group in Tacloban City. During the foundation years, Dr Machica had to work almost round-the-clock, seven days a week.
Venturing into entrepreneurship and professional practice, Dr Machica realized his immense center of influence. As such, he can now significantly create, contribute, and pass-on sustainable economic and social values to the communities he serves, and provide training and mentoring avenues for aspiring entrepreneurs and professionals alike. In 2006, he stormed his practice to Metro Manila where he has offices in Manila and Makati. Simultaneously, he had to level up with international players by acquiring global qualifications and post-graduate degrees. With his newly– acquired credentials, the Group’s service offerings naturally multiplied. “I was simply at the top of my game, consistently building success upon success”, he muses.
“Motivated by the exemplary virtues of his parents, and propelled by his unorthodox manner of selfimprovement, and by his uncanny single-mindedness in achieving landmark-after-landmark for a sustainable, profound economic purpose, Michael is truly a self-made entrepreneur.”
The Future
Today, with Dr Machica’s transformational and inspiring leadership, Machica Group of Companies is not only a familiar, trusted domestic professional services group, but also a budding global player through its partnership with the LEA Global, Dezan Shira Asian Alliance, and Aspect Advisory [Global Transfer Pricing Solution].
In 2015, Dr Machica became the first Filipino postdoctorate research scholar in the area of transfer pricing at the Vienna University of Economics & Business (research output: Transfer Pricing Disputes: Lessons for the Philippine Transfer Pricing Regulations and Documentations). This enabled him to specially intensify his transfer pricing advisory and international tax services to multi-national enterprises operating in the Philippines. True enough, Machica Group Consulting got recognized as the ‘Transfer Pricing Advisory Firm of the Year’, by the Elite Business Awards in 2017.
“I am an ardent advocate of the balanced scorecard and 3Ps (People, Planet, Profit) as important tools in business management. With open communication and setting personal example at the core of my leadership style, the well-meaning international and local award-giving bodies have recognized our contributions to the advancement of society. Just this year, the World Confederations of Businesses based in Texas cited Machica Group for its business excellence. In addition, Machica Tan-Cruz & Co. was hailed by Corporate USA Today as Firm of the Year, Tax & Consulting. MAXIN Insurance Agency is Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) qualifiers.”
The next wave of the group’s journey is focused at cultivating and delivering value attuned with the ASEAN economic integration, along with enhancing practice collaborations to serve more clients from advanced economies. The insurance and financial services shall be delivered 24/7 via online platform. In the context of business advisory works, promotion of sustainable ventures will be given more emphasis.
The organic expansion and business growth remain and continue to be driven by its highly-articulated, top-down promoted vision, mission, and value statements. The group’s vision is ‘To be an internationally-recognized service group of socially inspiring leaders and professionals passionately driven by best practices and innovations in delivering optimum value to all stakeholders within the Philippine-ASEAN-Pacific region’.
The three member companies - Machica Tan-Cruz & Co., CPAs, Machica Group Consulting, and MAXIN Insurance Agency - are all strategically positioned to exploit business opportunities within its developed market niche.
Giving Back and Social Relevance
To Dr Machica, his business acumen is meaningless if he cannot help uplift the lives of the less fortunate and the next generation of start-ups. That is why, early on, he founded M.I.K.E. (Machica Inspires Kids Education) which provides school supplies to primary pupils from lowly villages. Dr M Advisory Clinic affords free consultation and advice to young entrepreneurs and start-ups. He also spearheads the ‘Entrepreneurs’ Forum’ in association with certain local government units. In addition, he offers his time as a Lecturer for Continuing Professional Development activities for CPAs. Finally, he is a entorvolunteer at the Go Negosyo Mentoring on the Wheels. According to Dr Machica, “This is the part of my job I love most”.