By: Rona Samortin
LIKE other successful entrepreneurs of his background, the President of Fil-Global Immigration Services Corporation; Mr. Bertch Ian Ranis didn’t have everything handed to him on a silver platter. A self-confessed late bloomer, he was always at the last section since kindergarten to high school. Being born and raised in Tagbiliran City in Bohol, he was pressured to pursue a degree not of his own choos-ing. He was a dreamer who wanted to study Engineering, but he got told that he would not receive a single centavo of support from his parents if he doesn’t pursue Nursing. So with a heavy heart, he respected his parents’ wishes and studied hard to be a nurse. Naturally possessing bright optimism, he started seeing Nursing as something that cultivated him to be more empathic about people’s struggles and his surroundings.
“The journey was… difficult. Because nothing comes easy with success.” Bertch said with a tint of glow in his bespectacled eyes as he saunters down his memory lane. With a newfound passion and hunger for being a public servant, he joined the United Nations Youth and served as its President. During that time, it opened his eyes to the struggles of people outside his comfort zone. Coming to terms with the plight of the less fortunate and how rich the rich is. Bertch came to the conclusion that he was born to serve people. He used this as a tool to convince smart people to not go abroad because he believes that the country needs more people like them in order to help the stagnant economy of the Philippines.
His brother’s untimely death took a serious toll on him. He felt obliged and took the responsibility of prioritizing his family since he’s the eldest child. After five years of serving the United Nations Youth as its President, he decided to sacrifice and resign from his position in order to take care of his family. With a new vision and commitment to save his family from ongoing financial crisis, he started processing his visa to work abroad as a nurse. He flew to Australia on his own only to realize that the work referral is nothing but a vicious scam, completely wasting his hard earned Php 200,000. The hospital in Perth that he was supposed to work in as a registered nurse told him that his application is nonexistent. Feeling completely drained and utterly crestfallen, he went back to the Philippines.
Determined to move forward and forget about the mishap, Bertch worked as an emergency nurse for about two years in Silliman Medical Center, where he also took up and finished his nursing course in Silliman University. Not wanting to be stuck in the Philippines, he sought help from his friends who are preparing their application process to go to London and work there as a nurse. Still reluctant about the process because of his experience with deceit and fraud, he made sure that every process is authentic. In his own words, “The application center that I went to in Cebu was good, but I can’t really say that I was fully satisfied with their service. Because there are a lot of hidden charges that I didn’t like. There were extra charges to file an accommodation and there were extra charges to help you find a job.”
He finished his Masters in International Hospitality Management in University of Wales, Cardiff. Bertch landed on a job in an Immigration and Migration Law firm as a Business Development Manager and with that opportunity, he was able to train and learn about the smooth process of visa applications.
“When we arrived in the Philippines, I started Fil-Global Immigration Services Corporation. We were divided into getting work permits for nurses since I’m a nurse myself and doing student visas. But since red tape is such a headache in the Philippines, we did not go through that route to do work permits but instead focused with doing student visas because we are able to help 90% of Filipinos who wishes to study abroad and focus on that 10% who will pass the English exams.”
Of all the services and business ventures that he could start, he chose to provide services for people who aspire to go overseas because he believes that everyone who wishes to go abroad is a dreamer. And as a dreamer himself, he didn’t want other people to go through the same excruciating experience like he did. Truly empathic and caring to his community, he felt like if he wouldn’t be able to help these dreamers, then scammers will try to take advantage of them and burn out their lights. The industry is very dirty, and there are a lot of agencies in the Philippines but it is difficult to pinpoint which one is genuine enough to provide you a good and a very satisfying service. For Bertch, this is both a business and a charity. It gives him the most satisfaction because aside from earning for a living, he also get to see people with their brightest smiles abroad. Because his clients’ success is also his success and he takes pride in it.
Five years since Fil-Global Immigration Services Corporation was established, the company is rapidly becoming a major player within the Immigration Services Market here in the Philippines. Major threats are also arising and with Bertch as its President, it’s his job to secure his company’s reputation and authenticity. When asked about how he’s planning to solve these issues, “I see that there are some scrupulous people who are trying to take advantage of our reputation by pretending and using our identity. What we see so far is that we begin to make sure that we have available hotlines for the people to call, and that they’re able to contact us through our official emails only. People should be vigilant enough to understand that not everything you see online is true, so they have to check whether the person they’re talking to is a Fil-Global accredited agent. Something that we are working on is to strengthen our IT securities to make sure that all the data and the privacy is preserved because most especially when you do visa applications, you’re going to be getting a lot of information compliance and we’re doing our best to work on protecting every data that we have.”
Since Fil-Global has been receiving praises for their excellent service, what are Mr. Bertch’s plans for the near future? What are his plans in the near future? “Fil-Global right now is 2 years as a corporation and 5 years as a business since London in 2014. I believe in the next two years we are able to increase from 8 branches to probably a thousand branches. That’s really my goal. We have to spearhead and make sure that we multiply not just in the country but also across the globe because immigration is not just about the Philippines, it’s about as well serving other countries. We wanted to name Fil-Global into Filipino Global not because we only serve Filipinos but because we wanted to share to all the citizens of the world our corporate values which is compassion and integrity. As the President, probably the way that I could create positive change is that to set our-selves apart from all the agencies out there whose main purpose is just to make money. Our goal is to enhance the career of every individual whose plans is to be globally competitive. And by that, it doesn’t mean about just a Master’s Degree, it can be the form of internships, it can be in a form of getting themselves a green card or setting themselves for the next challenge of getting immigrant visa.”
From his experience with failure, deceit, influx of disappointments, and people who took advantage of his weaknesses to propel their own career into having a very successful and prosperous business, what exactly was that achievement of his that shaped his vision? “The greatest accomplishment that probably molded me to focus on one vision for Fil-Global is that for us to focus on our core values which is, number one, we wanted to become compassionate and make sure that we treat our staff and our clients like how we treat our own family. Because if I treat them in a very formal way, how am I going to form a relationship with them? It would be different. I wouldn’t care that much. We’re dealing with lives here. I know I’m not a nurse anymore but I felt like every decision that we do in our company especially when dealing with their visas, really matters. We make sure that we achieve their dreams when they aspire to move abroad. What satisfies me the most is that we are able to solidify their dream by getting their visas sorted. And I think that’s my best accomplishment. That I make my staff and clients feel safe and secured.”
Fil-Global Immigration Services Corporation is an uprising empire and it’s aggressively evolving. The company is more than willing to extend their hands and help you out with your applications! For more information, you can visit their office at the 9th floor of Times Plaza Building, United Nations Avenue, Ermita Manila. Enjoy their updates by following their Official Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter at @fgonestepcloser and their website: www.fil-global.com.
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