HE was a good looking young man walking behind the Big Boys of Malacanang after every Cabinet meeting, from the administration of President Corazon Aquino to the administration of President Fidel Ramos though, looking back, some people who knew him now couldn’t tell for sure if he began in which position in which administration.

“I don’t know for sure,” said a former FVR Cabinet official, “but he was always around.”

Alan Ortiz had always been around, indeed. He held various public positions at various times, possibly a testament that his mentors, the older, higher ranking officials like FVR’s Finance Secretary Roberto de Ocampo, found him reliable enough.

He was as reliable as other young men like him then walking behind at the corridors of power, among them Romeo Bernardo of the Department of Finance, Apolinario Lozada of the Department of Foreign Affairs, and Diwa Guinigundo of the Central Bank of the Philippines.

He was as dependable to news reporters waiting for officials at the Gazebo of the Palace Grounds, to explain some of the complexities of Palace decisions, ranging from national security to energy stability.

‘Policy stories’

If the public at large didn’t know him that much, despite his media exposure, that was all because, in most print stories at least, he was only identified as “the source”, especially when it came to what reporters called “policy stories,” especially so because he was at that time a senior official of the National Security Council.

When Cabinet officials all have left, Ortiz was there, always ready. At no time did his identity was disclosed, if confidentiality so required. To quote a former colleague: “Didn’t we trust him because he didn’t have any political agenda?”

Man for others

He would talk about plans to address the conflict in Mindanao, preparing the Philippine economy with the challenges of the then impending globalization, the need to have a telecommunication highway and connectivity for the many Philippine islands, among others.

Ortiz obtained his AB Economics from the Ateneo de Manila University and at the University of the Philippines for his master’s. He studied at the International Relations for his doctorate, specializing in Multinational Enterprise and Economic Development at Penn’s Wharton School.

According to a publicized resume, his doctoral dissertation was titled: “The Political Economy of Ethnicity: A Case Study of Muslims in the Philippines”. He placed first in the 1981 Philippine Foreign Service examination.

A Big Boy himself

He came on his own toward the end of the Ramos administration, holding key positions from SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. (SMC Power), a wholly-owned affiliate of San Miguel Corporation, the National Transmission Corporation, the PNOC Energy Development Corporation, and Manila Electric Company.

He was for a time vice-chairman and chief operating officer of the Development Bank of the Philippines, concurrently as Undersecretary to the President for the build-operate-transfer, which would later be known public private partnership projects, Philippine Council for Foreign Relations, and a member of the Bantayog ng Mga Bayani Foundation, and a host of other companies and public service organizations.

Old man’s youth

Ortiz once described himself as an avid shooter, big biker, and amateur photographer.

In an article he wrote for the Philippine Daily Inquirer in August 2014, Ortiz talked about looking back and the perks and muses of men into their senior years--as a shooter, biker and photographer.

“Why do we ride?” he wrote. “Why are so many middle-aged professionals and senior executives buying big bikes, donning armored jackets, slipping into leather gloves and reinforced boots and riding off to Tagaytay, or Subic, or Tanay, or Gumaca at the crack of dawn every Sunday morning?

“The easy explanation dismisses it as merely the coming of our second childhood, the fulfillment of juvenile dreams, or simply the performance of male bonding rituals amidst the roar and the swoosh of high performance machines….”

Wise man’s view

Sometime in early 2010, Ortiz shared his views to some former colleagues in government and some newsmen, younger and older, about what ailed the Philippine society.

He talked about passing the baton to the younger generations and allowing them to shape their world for the future belongs to them.

It was Ortiz coming of age.

• Ex-power boss Alan Ortiz dies in Paris due to COVID-19 complications