It must be hard for Carla Salinas Limcaoco. As its vice-chairman and executive managing director, she is effectively in command of  Philippine Transmarine Carriers (PTC) and may be credited for much of its progress recently. Yet, Manila’s maritime community has fallen into the habit of referring to her as the daughter of manning bigwig Carlos Salinas, who established PTC in 1979 and still sits as board chairman.

One can strongly emphatise with Ms Limcaoco. Having a famous father is both a blessing and a curse – the former, because it helps to open doors; the latter, because people often fail to see the offspring for what he or she is without making comparisons with the parent. Fortunately, Ms Limcaoco has been slowly establishing her own identity by simply doing her work and being quite good at it.

That and her quiet, unassuming manner – a quality not so common amongst well-heeled Filipinos – have not gone unnoticed. In May 2008, soon after announcing the closure of its embassy, the Swedish Government named Ms Limcaoco as its honorary consul in Manila. The job basically involves protecting the interests of Swedish citizens in the Philippines and promoting bilateral trade ties. It carries a lot of prestige and no compensation as such.

As Ms Limcaoco apparently does not need either, she can only have accepted the appointment from Stockholm out of a desire to serve. That’s hardly surprising. In the money-driven world of crewing, it’s a little known fact that Ms Limcaoco has been very active in the local chapter of VIDES (Volontariato Internazionale per le Donne Educazione Sviluppo) – a volunteer organisation of the Salesian Sisters of St Don Bosco that mobilises young professionals in the campaign to educate and empower underprivileged women and children.

Indeed, Ms Limcaoco seems rather determined to make the thing called ‘service’ part and parcel of her career. She was chiefly responsible for developing PTC’s corporate social responsibility (CRS) programme. Her efforts may yet prompt other manning firms to do the same and alter the way they treat their seafarers. She’s also a key player in a local organisation which is trying to advance the interests of women in the shipping and transport industry.

Ms Limcaco may never get to fill the shoes of her father. She actually doesn’t have to. The elder Salinas is known to be a hard-nosed businessman, a skilled pragmatist with an instinct for sniffing where and how money can be made. As a corporate executive and economics graduate (Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, USA), Ms Limcaoco also appreciates the value of profit. But she knows, too, that there’s more to life than chasing after it. In a real sense, she is providing the kind of balance that many crewing companies direly need. ~Barista Uno