Artist Impy Pilapil wanted to own a home in Australia. Something about the continent drew her during the twilight of the Nineties and she was considering a move.
“And I was stopped by Washington SyCip,” she says. SyCip gave Impy what she felt was not just a life-changing compliment, but also a sound piece of philosophy as to how an artist should stand patriotically. Impy recalls asking SyCip, “But aren’t you of dual citizenship as well, Wash?” The man smiled. Impy continues, “He then said something along the lines of, ‘Old businessmen are a dime-a-dozen — everywhere you look. Filipino artists we cannot afford to lose.”