The Heroes of the Underserved: the DMCI Homes Brand Story
Inspired by Alfonso
With a wife and a baby on the way, the cost of living in the city became prohibitive for Alfonso. Far beyond the city boundaries, other builders began to develop sprawling neighborhoods of cookie-cutter houses on doily-sized lots. They're pretty but too cramped (for a growing family) and too far out of the city center.
The middle-class man became a stressed out man-in-the-middle, faced with no choice but to take the long daily commute--or pay big city prices. There was no middle ground. "Pagod ka na papunta sa trabaho, pagod ka pa pag-uwi..."
"Alfonso deserves better," the Builder remarked. "He deserves a real home, accessible to his work... a cocoon of good living."
The Builder saw land on the edge of the city--and bought it. SOMEDAY, he knew, this fringe would be part of the metropolis. This, he dedicated to Alfonso, the underserved middle manager--his needs, his family’s needs, his realities, and his dreams.
The Builder had friends who shared his passion for building and who possessed the expertise to make things happen. With knowledge gained from building skyscrapers, the Builder and friends built mid-rise havens that Alfonso could call home.
He used the best materials and fine finishing, and sold these at Alfonso-friendly prices.
Expanding the Vision
More Alfonsos came to stay. And the Builder and friends visited them every week, asking how they could make "home" more comfortable. See, the Builder was an experimental sort--and would innovate and iterate according to the wishes of Alfonso and his people. It sometimes drove his partners crazy, and these ever-changing plans often forced them to work late into the night. But when they built it and saw the vision come to life, they were thankful for the challenge that made them all better builders!
The Builder loved his motley crew, and often said "Not one of us is better than all of us!"
Other people--architects, builders, engineers, salesmen, contractors--happily joined the Builder! The team came to be known as The Heroes of the Underserved.
Alfonso and his people were a neighborly group. They thrived on social encounters and they valued friendships highly. So the intrepid team built neighborhoods with clubhouses where people would converge to party or to simply lounge around. They put up playgrounds and dug swimming pools; they incorporated parks and greenery. They built a world close to, or within, the city where children played and families found respite from the urban jungle.
Because no one should feel that he has compromised on his home. No, not even Alfonso.
The Daily Challenge
More Alfonsos came, inquiring about possible homes. So the Builder and his team built faster... and faster... barely aware that an enemy was rising within: the twin destroyers known as Complacency and Carelessness.
They are formidable enemies, said the Builder. They can make themselves invisible. They hide inside people who seem to be working, but whose hearts are not for Alfonso and the people they serve. They are enemies whose loyalties are not to the team.
The enemy can take shortcuts and call it expediency. It can lead the team into the rut of mindless repetition of projects. The enemy ignores Alfonso and his needs.
The enemy is the spirit of underservice. This, our heroes must fight everyday.
Moving Closer to the City of Tomorrow
As long as there are people like Alfonso, as long as people must go to the cities for their livelihood, Heroes of the Underserved continue to build cocoons of affordable comfort and serve Alfonso in the most personable, remarkable ways.
In some secret cavern, our heroes keep the blueprint of a dream: a city of tomorrow--a place where a more prosperous Alfonso shall live and work. Our heroes dream of a 50-storey tower with a view of the bay and mountains beyond. They dream of the easy flow of traffic and a causeway that gets Alfonso to the old city in a matter of minutes. The finest of leisure, entertainment, working spaces, and family havens are in one accessible site. For Alfonso...the city of tomorrow is a place NEVER out of reach.