THE MANILA BOARD OF REALTORS INC.,

THE FIRST REALTORS®

POSTED BY: MARISSE TABOR
MBR Board Secretary 2013-2014

The First Realtors® of the Philippines and of Asia built a monument for the real estate industry. And beneath the sands, stones, slabs and sediments of that edifice are their dreams. As its apex is a glimpse of success. For those who dreamt and built it were great men whose visions were too far!

The First Realtors® were born to the mother of industries in the continent used to be connected by land bridges we now call Asia. They first saw the light in 1938 amidst the uncertainties of times and husbanded themselves to the land of their birth.

They were the first caretakers of a distinguished title bequeathed by their big brothers, the Americans, and nurtured this name, protected it from usurpers and pretenders, as they safeguard the land of their birth.
Today, the First Realtors® have many sons and daughters. They bear the name, but some have forgotten their noble beginning. Even in their modest achievement, some would not pay homage to their forebears-they, who made the ways for them to enjoy the blessings of being ‘REALTORS®’.

Would they even care to know who these founders were?
Spread in various clans, some would even look down upon others because they feel they are stronger than them. While this is true even among families, this must be also be true in a society that does little to cherish its beginning. That is why we see a world full of trickery and broken dreams, of greed and hate among fellow men.
Remembering the glorious past is the most important gesture, we REALTORS®, can do to honor the legacy of our forebears. For by doing so, one reflects his true character.

And looking back…with tears…one reminisces their hardships as they planted the seed and…
Realtorism was ushered in the Philippines with the organization on November 7, 1938 of the Manila Realty Board, later incorporated and renamed Manila Board of Realtors® in 1952 by REALTOR® Colin McCrae Hoskins.
With Hoskins, the following constituted the nucleus of the pioneer realty board: Jose Araneta, Federico Calero, Jose Felix, Rosendo Subido, J. Perez de Tagle, and Tomas de Vera.

Subsequently, the Manila Board of Realtors was admitted into the membership of the National Association of the Real Estate Boards of America (NAREB), and was thereby authorized to license its members to use the term REALTOR®, a service mark owned by NAREB and registered in the United States Patent Office as Doc. Nos. 519780 and 515200, and in the Philippines as Doc. No. 5385.

This humble beginning paved the way for the organization of many other Realtors® Board when members of the founding Board ushered the creation of what is now the Philippine Association of Realtors®, Boards, Inc. (PAREB) to where we belong, from where even other national realty associations such as the Real Estate Brokers Association of the Philippines (REBAP), the NAR Philippines, and many more came from.

Remembering the past comes the obligation to honor the name ‘REALTOR®’. The choice of this title came not only from our founding fathers, because even the United Nations to whom they have put their trust in the making of a civilized world, have – time and again-recognized and honored only the name REALTOR®. Nations around the world have done the same and even enacted laws to strengthen its meaning.

Many who do not recognize this may have lost the grasp of the real world. While short of demeaning themselves for renouncing a noble name, they forfeit the chance of what the future have in store for those who keep the tradition in the global community of Realtors®.

For the word REALTOR® is the sole title recognize worldwide. And in today’s globalization, this title is the only link to every country’s real estate service organization. The use of other names does not usher recognition.
It is for these reasons that we honor the vision of our First Realtors®.
This is the scenario they have seen when they adopted the name 69 years ago. And so today, in deep gratitude to the founding Realtors®, we, the siblings of the First Realtors®, hereby write this epitaph to them:

“The days of the old only pass but once. But once they walked this nations, this continent and developed the land to its highest and best use. They saw it flourish and it was good.

They ensured our success today and even nurtured a bright future in the families of nations. Their unselfish endeavor gave us a noble name - REALTOR® - which we owed so much to them.

They, the First Realtors® in the Philippines and in Asia, shall always remain in our hearts as we walk to reap the harvest they had sown for us and the generations to come”

Having done so, we see our future REALTORS® looking back and uttering the words we now speak in the language of the young and the wise:

“We walk a mile, and found nothing. Still another mile still nothing. And miles and miles, until we see many things footprints of our Realtors® who for centuries have walked this land, enshrined its meaning to what we call our home – and now our abode, the only place, the FIRST – The Manila Board of Realtors, Inc..”

A SALUTE TO OUR BELOVED

FOUNDERS

Macario Arabejo Rosendo O. Subido
Federico Calero J. Perez deTagle
Jose Felix Jose Araneta
Colin M. Hoskins Tomas de Vera


INCORPORATORS

Lucio R. Ildefonso Rosendo O. Subido
Colin M. Hoskins Artemio U. Valencia
Federico Calero Antonio Varias
Teodoro Kalaw, Jr. Tomas de Vera
Gervacio de Ocampo, Jr.