IN the afternoon of May 1, a holiday, Jose Yao Campos called for a management meeting at 6 that evening. Eldest son, Joselito “Butch” Campos had just arrived from Bangkok at about 4:30 p.m. He saw his father at his home and promised to be back at 6 p.m.

A little past 6 p.m., however, JY Campos was pronounced dead, from stroke, the last of many he had had in the past 84 years. He is survived by his three children, Joy Hess, the chairman of United Laboratories, the soft-speaking Butch, the CEO of Nutri-Asia, and Jeffrey who inherits the real-estate properties. Until his dying day, JY Campos was working. Remarkably, the day, 5-01, also happened to be his security code at the sprawling United Laboratories on United Street, in suburban Mandaluyong.