WHEN Pinky Tobiano set up Qualibet testing laboratories in 2006, all she wanted was to put up a business. But when she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer a few years later, it became a matter of survival—and a life-changing cause.
Tobiano, who earned her chemistry degree from UST in 1993, saw to it that products containing carcinogens and other harmful substances would not be made available in the Philippine market.
Her laboratories now screen products of big companies such as food and beverage giants San Miguel Corporation and Universal Robina Corporation.
Indeed, she has gone a long way from a chemist who had sought merely “the most profitable and reliable laboratory in the Philippines.” She got her profits, alright, but the contributions of Qualibet to general public safety go beyond any balance sheet.
“I see myself as a guardian of safety,” said Tobiano, who also finished the Owner/President Management Program of the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts in 2003.
Qualibet and its partner companies address the major issues of health such as food contamination and poisoning through a consistent monitoring of veterinary, pharmaceutical, and consumable products in the Philippines.
In 2008, Qualibet discovered the presence of melamine in some products imported from China. Melamine is a harmful nitrogen-based compound that killed at least four of some 54,000 affected children in China that year.
Tobiano said her Thomasian upbringing had something to do with her renewed commitment as a safety advocate.
“That’s what UST is teaching is about—you have to serve your community and you have to also make people aware about the dangers in a very positive and constructive way. The values I learned there give me more integrity as a person,” she said.
Big C
Beyond her being a chemist, Tobiano became even more committed to ensuring product safety when she herself was diagnosed with cancer. Her life went downhill and she had to fight on.
“I had to refocus my whole life and priorities,” she said.
Tobiano conquered the Big C after five years. What emerged was a person who knew its dangers first-hand and how important it was to keep contaminated products off the shelves.
She also established the “Pinky Cares” foundation which helps cancer-stricken patients who could not afford medical services. It provides medical and psychological support, including music therapy, for patients.
Family life
Much of Tobiano’s strength comes from her two daughters.
“My children influenced my purpose; having cancer was only secondary. They are the purpose of my existence, and why I am working so hard to make a difference for so many people,” said the single-mother.
With her hard work and dedication, her children have decided to follow in her footsteps. Her eldest child is now taking up chemistry at Ateneo, while the youngest assists her in the business.
“I am very close to my kids and we always have bonding moments. We always travel together and I involve them in my work so they will be part of my success,” she said. A. N. MENDOZA V
