Even as a student, Rolino “Jun” Bucao has been a proponent of educating people about IT; so after getting a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at the University of the Philippines, he went to teach at the Central Colleges of the Philippines for two years. There he taught IT subjects to students in all levels while being laboratory custodian, a position he previously held when he was still a student.
“I have always been very fond of teaching and would have stayed being an educator. Unfortunately, other than being grossly overworked and underpaid, I found myself being behind in technology since there are not enough opportunities to learn and apply new things,” shares Bucao.
To address his desire for higher learning, Bucao decided to practice his profession and, thus, worked as the MIS head of Beatriz Marketing and Trading Corporation, the sales and marketing arm of the roofing division of the Jacinto Group of Companies. A year after, he transferred to Far East Bank and Trust Company and became an analyst/programmer, providing support to the Trust Banking Group (TBG). There he worked for 8 years, including his one year stint at BPI (where he helped with the integration of the Trust systems of both banks) before finally joining Banco de Oro (BDO).
“In my current job, it is a ‘must’ to stay updated; I am also able to mentor and teach the members of my team. I’m actually being paid to do something I like,” cites Bucao. At BDO, he was senior manager of the group handling outsourced IT projects. Now, he takes care of the bank’s front-end and channels system.
“I am currently heading the IT development team providing support to the TBG. Our team is in charge of the maintenance and development of systems primarily related to electronic channels for both retail and corporate clients including ATMs, POS, mobile banking, Internet banking, phone banking and the debit card system of BDO,” says Bucao. His team also manages the BDO systems interfacing with different partners, such as Megalink, ExpressNet, Bancnet, Mastercard, Visa and telco companies (Smart, Globe and Sun Cellular), in addition to providing support to the remittance unit of the bank.
According to Bucao, the banking industry is very competitive in nature, thus it relies heavily on IT for product development, which require ingenuity on the part of his team. “I find it fulfilling and challenging to find the technology appropriate to these business initiatives and try to deliver them in a timely manner without sacrificing the quality of these products once they are introduced,” he explains.
Quality means keeping the response time to the absolute minimum, resolving problems at the soonest possible time, and satisfying clients with the bank’s product offerings. “To be able to do all of these, my team and I have to be updated on the latest in technology to keep up with the business and the market,” relates Bucao.
Technology briefings, information from the Internet and the constant exchange of ideas among his team, keep them updated. “I have always made it a point to know and understand what everybody else is doing. I do not limit myself only to the people directly reporting under me but I check on all the other people who report to them as well,” notes Bucao.
What keeps Bucao going is finding fulfillment in what he is doing. “I will probably keep doing this job as long as the challenge is there and the hunger to learn still exists.” Right now, Bucao hopes to make all their systems stable and error-free, that’s why enhancements and modifications are being made continuously to cope with increasing transaction volumes, new requirements, regulatory compliance, and innovation.
Outside work, bowling, badminton, watching TV and doing online shopping are just some of the things that keep him busy. “I used to spend more time playing badminton (at least three times a week) but my current work load wouldn’t allow me to do so. I also enjoy going out with my family and friends to visit different tourist spots in the country,” states Bucao.
Aside from these, he also heads the reunion preparations (Silver Jubilee) for HS Batch 1984 of the PUP Laboratory High School, making him even busier. “I would normally keep my weekends for family and leisure but that alone is proving difficult since most of the systems I’m handling are up 24×7. Still, I do have people who can already handle the trivial issues so I’m now getting more out of my weekends (and my non-working hours). It only gets disrupted whenever we have shortage of personnel due to resignations,” quips Bucao.

DOSSIER
Name: Rolino “Jun” C. Bucao, Jr.
Title: Vice President and Head of ITD-Transaction Banking Systems
Company: Banco De Oro Universal Bank
Favorite Technologies: Java, Unix, any SQL database
Favorite non-work pastime: Badminton, shopping whether in the mall or online, and watching TV (sports, news and movies).
Philosophy in a nutshell: “We find ways!”

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