Early Childhood
Albert was born on August 21, 1951, the youngest of 3 children of Amando and Priscilla Buenviaje. His elder sister, Carmencita Buenviaje Sarrosa, is a pediatric doctor, while his elder brother, Rene Antonio Buenviaje, is an engineer.
Albert learned grit, determination and the importance of education from his late father, Amando. While Albert’s early childhood years were in Anak Bayan, a squatters’ area in Paco, Manila, his father always instilled in them that their present circumstances would in no way define their future -- that education and hard work can change a person’s life. Amando, while working as a janitor in Meralco pursued his studies in the evening and was able to earn a law degree. Meralco management recognized his grit and he rose from the ranks from a janitorial position to become head of Personnel Management in Meralco. With his improved income, the family was then able to transfer to their present ancestral home in Scout Fernandez in Q.C.
His father’s touching success story inspired Albert. As Nelson Mandela once said “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.” Albert believed that giving deserving students from poor families the chance to have a proper education is the key to their social mobility, the key to unlocking their respective success stories, similar to his father’s. His advocacy for the scholarship program of our parish was one of his priorities.
Educational Background
Albert finished his primary education (Grades 1-4) at Letran College. He transferred to UST Elementary school for his intermediate education (Grades 5-6) and likewise completed high school at the UST.
In 1972, Albert graduated from Ateneo in A.B. Economics (Dean’s List). He pursued his Masteral Degree in Business Administration from the same university, while balancing his responsibilities at work, family and his studies. That was a very difficult time for the family financially – meeting the mortgage payments on their house, financing his MBA studies and at the same time raising a young child. But hard work and strong faith in God pulled the family through.
Work Experiences
Albert started his career at Warner Barnes, as Executive Assistant to the Vice President in charge of Exports and later the following year, joined Philippine Shares Corporation, a company owned by the late Tomas Aguirre, where he handled Special Projects.
As his inclination at that time was in economics and finance, Albert decided to move to a banking career in 1976 and became Far East Bank and Trust Co’s head of the Credit Investigators and Appraisers Group. It was during his time in the said bank that Albert’s acumen in finance was honed. In 1979, he transferred to Industrial Finance Corp, belonging to the Yuchengco Group of Companies, handling their leasing operations. He was quickly recognized as one of the young, brilliant minds in finance, and thus, was offered to be part of the think tank to form the Ministry of Human Settlements, where he became Senior Vice President of Home Financing Corp. and concurrently Chairman of the Board and President of Maunlad Savings Bank, its housing bank. During his government stint, Albert successfully launched the Land Investment Trust Certificates, which was the country’s precursor of the present Real Estate Investment Trust. After his 4-year stint in the government from 1980-1984, Albert rejoined the corporate world in various capacities – he became Chairman of the Executive Committee of the publicly listed Dizon Copper Mines, CEO of Ventures Bank, member of the Board of Directors of several companies , e.g. The New Medical City Hospital (Professional Services, Inc.), The Medical City South Luzon, Medical Arts Tower Inc., AMA Group of Companies, PICAR Development Corporation, First Municipal Development Corporation and other institutions in various industries. He became President & CEO of The Medical City South Luzon
Albert provided Strategic Management programs for various large, top tier corporates, often assisting these corporates to plan for the next tier of their business. Among them were St. Peter Life Plan Group of Companies, Professional Services Inc., AMA Group of Companies and other companies engaged in various industries.
Academe World – His True Calling
It was in the academe where Albert found his true passion and mission. Albert first got to teach in the 1990s - International Finance (which was his forte at that time) at the Ateneo Graduate School of Business. Thereafter, he was appointed to several positions in AGSB – Director for Internal Affairs, Regis Program Executive Director, Assistant Dean, Associate Dean and eventually became Dean in July 2007 up to 2014.
Being an administrator of a school was never in Albert’s radar screen. His passion was in teaching. However, Albert said that there are many unplanned developments in our lives. They are called “detours” in one’s life. And the most scenic and adventurous roads in life are the detours you didn’t mean to take - --gifts that one should be thankful for.
During his teaching stint at AGSB, Albert gave of himself, understanding the power of connection and insisting that his students learn not only the concepts and skills needed for business but more significantly, the importance for a person to be whole, that is to live with integrity and passion for service to others. The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery. Albert truly believed that teaching was more than just imparting knowledge; it is inspiring change. Even as his main objective was to teach others, Albert always said that he also learned from his students and mentees. He achieved some form of personal transformation during his stint at AGSB. He had a desire for a deeper level of spirituality and desire to serve others more, and these he attributed as his learnings from the people he worked with and from his students at the Ateneo.
During his death, we were overwhelmed with the number of messages and anecdotes we received from his students, mentees and people whose lives he touched. Leaders and students recounted how instrumental Albert has been in helping them achieve their goals and successes.
Serving in the Lord’s Vineyard
From 2016 up to the time of his death, Albert, together with Lorna were the Couple Head of the Parish Pastoral Council of the Presentation of the Child Jesus Parish, where they are parishioners. They facilitated the formulation of the shared vision, mission and core values of the parish and spearheaded numerous parish programs, which have been adopted not only in the vicariate, but also in the entire diocese of Paranaque.
One of the advocacies of Albert in the parish is to help uplift the lives of the parishioners from the developing communities. He gave all out support for the Scholarship program by either actively soliciting scholarship grants for deserving students and also providing scholarships out of his own pocket to multiple students who were not included in the parish program. He also spearheaded the provision of aid in cash and/or in kind to the developing communities who were affected by the lockdown from loss of jobs.
Wife, Children and Family
It was in USTH High School that Albert met the love of his life, Lorna, during one of the high school fairs. They became sweethearts at third year high school and dated for eight long years, before tying the knot in 1975. They were each other’s first love, a rarity in today’s world.
They were blessed with their first child Abigail (Abby) the following year. They chose the name Abigail for its meaning – source of joy. Abby was an only child for about 7 years before the couple was blessed with another child, Arlene, whose name means source of light. Two years later, they were again blessed with another girl, Katherine Ann, the youngest child of the family.
His tres Marias were a source of joy and pride to Albert. Despite his many accomplishments, Albert was never one to brag about these. However, when it comes to his daughters’ achievements, Albert was always the first one to shout this out loud – whether through stories, posts in social media (like Facebook), integrating our success stories in one of his many classes -- so much so that his daughters branded him as the town crier.
One of the greatest things Albert taught his children was being selfless of one’s time for the people you love. He was always available for his family, despite his extremely busy schedule. He was always available for all his children’s school activities growing up. He was always available for a call, a text, a Hi, a pep talk for his children and grandchildren. Whatever was going on with his busy life, he was always available and he was always there. He was truly the anchor on which his daughters all stood.
Albert was given the opportunity by God to walk his three daughters down the aisle and enjoy the antics of two of his grandchildren. His grandson Gabriel Luis, “Gabo” (from Abby and Karlo) was born in Feb. 2010, followed by granddaughter Micaela Lourdes “Ela (from Arlene and Diego) in Nov. 2016. His third grandchild, Amy Alberta (from Arlene and Diego) was born on August 16, 2020, almost three months after Albert passed away.
Health Challenges and Death
Albert suffered his first heart attack at the age of 40 in 1991. At that time, his youngest daughter Kaken was only 7 years old and was receiving her first Holy Communion in Woodrose.
In March of 2003, Albert suffered a major heart attack and had to undergo quadruple bypass operation. On Holy Week 2003, as Albert lay on the operating table in the old Medical City, his heart suddenly stopped. The entire surgical team, and the family on standby were stunned into inaction and dilemma, assuming that either option of jumping into surgery or doing nothing would result in death. Trusting in God’s providence, his wife Lorna gave her approval for the surgery. Everything went well and he survived without any deficits.
Ten years later in 2013, Albert went into cardiac failure suddenly. He was treated with stem cell for 6 months. The function of his heart improved after the treatment.
Then 3 years later in 2016 he developed a hemorrhagic stroke where there was considerable bleeding of the brain. To reduce the resulting increased pressure, portions of his skull were removed surgically (craniectomy) and concurrently a shunt was inserted into the brain down to his stomach to drain the fluids that accumulated in his brain. Once more, God granted him a miraculous recovery and he did not have any deficits after undergoing physical therapy and rehab for just a few months.
Finally, on May 21, 2020 God called Albert to his final home. That morning, after breakfast, Albert went to his garden to do his usual breathing exercises. Then he called his wife Lorna aloud, saying he was dizzy, and she let him sit down. He passed out, and was declared dead on arrival at Asian Hospital. The whole family was, of course, inconsolable because everything happened so fast. Despite all his health challenges in the past, there was simply no preparing for this. Just the night before, Albert even posted on Facebook that he and Lorna were preparing his virtual classroom. These were for the seminars he was going to conduct online.
Looking back we realize that God loved Albert that He did not let him suffer. Had Albert been revived, he would have stayed in the ICU alone. And with all the tubes attached to him, he would have been very miserable since his family would not be allowed to stay with him. Also, with the present raging and very virulent strain of COVID19, Albert with his many comorbidities would have been at high risk of being infected. God, in His mercy, spared Albert from this.
So we give praise and thanks to God for allowing us to have Albert in our lives. We have been truly blessed by his presence, his words, his humor, his actions, and his love. It is not what he has that expresses the worth of a man, but what he does and what he is. And Albert was a great man- a great husband, father, grandfather, son, leader and mentor to all. We pray Almighty Father that you may grant Albert a merciful judgment and look kindly upon him, this we ask through Your Son our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.