After the People Power Revolution that erupted from the aftermath of the snap election, he served as the Secretary of Trade and Industry from 1986 to 1991, during the term of Corazon Aquino.
[9] Following the declaration of martial law in 1972,[10] he was briefly imprisoned in the gymnasium of Philippine Constabulary headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City,[11] during which he was noted for organizing his cell block to do daily tasks.
He helped mobilize thousands of members through his slogan "it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness"[8] and organized its meetings at his residence in Forbes Park, Makati.
movement to promote the Philippines' economic recovery after the Marcos dictatorship[15] and his establishment of the One-Stop-Shop program for obtaining business permits and licenses.
After leaving the Aquino cabinet, Concepcion returned to leading RFM, during which he also owned the Pop Cola Panthers competing in the Philippine Basketball Association from 1991 until the sale of its franchise in 2001.
He also co-founded several other civil society and business organizations such as the Capitol Jaycees, the Bishop-Businessmen Conference for Human Development, and the ASEAN Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
[9] One of his children, Jose Maria "Joey" Concepcion III, succeeded him as the head of RFM when he joined the Aquino cabinet, and served as Presidential Advisor for Entrepreneurship to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Rodrigo Duterte,[1] as well as a trade adviser to President Bongbong Marcos.