He may be a newcomer to Philippine politics, but is a tried and tested veteran in global business and finance. Joey de Venecia III has achieved a number of “firsts” in Philippine business. He successfully organized the first nationwide financial information paging network called “Index” in 1996; set up the first full-fledged call center with “Q” interaction; helped set up the National Bank of Equatorial Guinea in West Africa; and forever changed the Philippine business landscape when he launched broadband technology in 2000.
As President of Broadband Philippines, he introduced the first mobile voice, data, internet and fixed wireless voice service for business in the country, in partnership with US-West, (one of the largest telecommunications company in the world), Bank of America, and George Soros. As a businessman, he brought in around $100 million US dollars of foreign direct investments into the Philippines.
In running for senator, he draws his inspiration to serve the public to his father and maternal grandfather. He is the son of former Speaker Joe de Venecia, Jr. and is the grandson of Eugenio Perez, the last Speaker of the Philippine Commonwealth and the first Speaker of the Republic of the Philippines.
Joey became nationally known when he exposed the graft-tainted ZTE-national broadband network project which had First Gentleman Mike Arroyo as its godfather. His expose led to the cancellation of the P16-billion project.
A firm believer in the saying, God helps those who help themselves, Joey envisions a society that gives every Filipino the opportunity to help himself or herself through a working partnership between the private and public sectors. He also believes that through IT, the Philippines can achieve dramatic economic growth that will lift it out of Third World status.
His school years were spent at the Ateneo de Manila and La Salle Greenhills. After which, he continued his studies in the USA and earned a College degree in Accounting and a Master’s degree in Finance from the Fordham University as a full scholar.
Before taking his Master’s degree, he worked for five years at Arthur Andersen & Company (now known as Accenture) in Washington DC, the most prestigious accounting firm in the world at that time. He is owner and chairman of Hong Kong-based, Castle Rock Holdings, Ltd. which provides financial, information technology; and engineering services for infrastructure projects worldwide. He sits on the board of the agricultural company, Agrifisheries World Corporation, a joint venture with Chinese, Taiwanese and Filipino investors.
He is involved with several civic projects and organizations, notably: as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Virlanie Foundation which provides homes and education for street children; a member of the board of the New Beginnings Foundation: which helps victims of drug abuse; and a member of the Makati Business Club. He is likewise involved with one.org which combats extreme poverty; the Freedom From Debt Coalition Philippines which promotes economic development; the Jubilee USA Network which fights crushing debts of developing countries; and the Alay Sa Kawal Foundation which helps the families of Filipino soldiers. He also endowed a professional chair to the St. Luke’s College of Medicine for the research and study of liver disease.
A former Rotarian and a multiple Paul Harris Fellow, he has been cited in the publication of “Who’s Who in the World” in 2000.
Source : http://joeydevenecia.com/?page_id=17