A Boy, a Bicycle and a Legacy: Remembering John Gokongwei Jr.
Mr. John Gokongwei Jr. is one of the founders of the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation. He donated half of his shares from JG Summit Holdings to set up the foundation to support education. Mr. John was an avid reader and a life-long learner, and he believed that education was not just the key to personal growth but also to the nation's progress.
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00:00You know, he announced it, he surprised everyone during his 60th, or was it 60, no, what?
00:15He announced it during his 80th?
00:18I think he announced it during his 80th, oh gosh, I can't remember.
00:22It was a little bit of a bittersweet moment because somehow you always say, wait, part
00:28of that is my inheritance and it's being donated.
00:31I remember it quite clearly.
00:33It was a big surprise to the entire family when he announced that he would donate 50%
00:40of his ownership of the company to the foundation when we found out about it on his 75th birthday.
00:51I am not surprised.
00:54He will give something for sure, but not 50%, but he said it's simpler to calculate, 50%.
01:03The foundation is currently the biggest shareholder of the J.C.
01:08Summit.
01:09It owns 28% of the company.
01:12And I think if the business do well, then foundation will do well.
01:17And if the foundation do well in getting the country education to improve and develop the
01:23country, the J.C. Summit group will also do well as a benefit of the economic development.
01:30You know, my dad, he really loved this country and he felt that it was because of this country
01:36that he became successful.
01:38And he felt that he had to give back to society after what society had given to him.
01:44And he said he'll do it through the Gokongwis Brothers Foundation or the GBF.
01:48And it's supposed to support kids who cannot afford to go to school.
01:52And he said for this country to improve, they have to industrialize.
01:55And so the GBF now focuses on STEM, science, technology, engineering, and math.
02:01So this is like the two strands of what we call DNA of the group.
02:07If J.C. Summit grows, the GBF will have more resources for education.
02:13This is a symbiotic growth.
02:16One needs the other.
02:18I think we were quite surprised, but at the same time, very proud of this gift.
02:23I think he only told my mom, he probably told, I don't know who he mentioned it to.
02:29But we were caught by surprise, but we were so happy when he announced it.
02:33After an initial reaction, and then you feel quite sweet, quite proud, quite gratified
02:37that you have a father, mother, obviously, who were willing to contribute so much to
02:44cause greater than themselves, which is really the foundation.
02:48Hopefully will make an impact on the Philippines.
02:52I felt that it was very generous, which is why we were very proud of it, because of the
02:57size of it and what it would mean for education in the country.
03:03The beginning is a smaller percentage, but he put a very significant part of his holdings
03:09into the foundation.
03:12That will also make sure that the JG Summit's control and benefits of the fruits of the
03:18JG Summit success will be the foundation, which will also lead to the greater budget
03:24for the educational development of the country.
03:27He's always been a man of principle, a man of his own independent thinking, and his belief
03:32was that to improve a person's life, you do not give a man fish, no, you teach the man
03:36to fish.
03:37My father believed that education was important and that everyone should have an equal opportunity
03:43to receive a good education.
03:44It's his way of saying what's important is the longevity of the business now.
03:50The business is not here to serve the family, the family is here to serve the business.
03:55All the brothers like education, especially Mr. John, he's a self-learner, he loves education.
04:01Because my father died so early, he didn't have that opportunity to have formal education
04:06in the beginning, so a lot of that is his passion for learning.
04:12And so we thought the best way to help the country is through education.
04:19We can build up the capital income of the country by training them on all the different
04:25skills to help a developed economy.
04:28We want to make sure that this foundation will do the greatest good for the country
04:34to have it dedicated to education.
05:34What I lost was, I had to stop my violin lessons, I had to stop my Chinese lessons, and in school
05:55I had a lot of friends because my father had 11 movie houses and I always bring them in.
06:04I lost some of my friends because I couldn't bring them to the movie house.
06:08But when he died, my mother realized that he had mortgaged everything and well, everything
06:18was taken from us, including our house.
06:20That was the most painful thing, was the house.
06:26I lived there for 12 years.
06:33My father, he came from a very difficult childhood.
06:40His father died when he was 13.
06:42The family had to go back to China because they couldn't afford to stay here, at least
06:46there was family there.
06:49Mr. John and my dad were only one year apart, and I think if any of the brothers, it was
06:55my dad and him who grew up together, so I think they shared a lot of experiences.
06:59These guys lost everything when they were 12.
07:02Nothing beats that, right?
07:04Maybe that's why these two are always so calm.
07:06It doesn't matter how bad the business is or how the market collapses, and our house
07:11burned down in 94 and then the office at Libis, you know, it just dawned upon me.
07:16It was always, what's the next step?
07:18It's never that bad.
07:21It's resilience.
07:23You know, bad things will happen, right?
07:26And it doesn't always work out the way you plan it to.
07:30I believe he always had purpose in his life.
07:33When his father died when he was 13, his purpose was to support his family.
07:38When he was able to build a business, then his purpose was to provide great affordable
07:45products to the consumers.
07:48As the business grew, he wanted to start helping the country.
07:52It was like the apex already of that life of purpose.
07:56So from helping his family to helping society, this was really in line with the man I knew.
08:03I know.
08:07He always had foresight.
08:10I think since my father died, he's always that compass to take care of the family.
08:17And from that, he built a company that the family can work together.
08:21And then when he get to a certain size, he start thinking of the community, of the country.
08:26How to make this venture that get all the family members to work together, to create
08:33something good for the family, good for the country, yeah.
08:36It's really just proud of where he came from.
08:41That he was able to raise himself from humble beginnings and overcome adversity during a
08:47very difficult time, Second World War, and really pull himself up.
08:52You know, Mr. John is really a very special person.
08:55I will never take for granted that opportunity to have worked with him and to have worked
08:59directly with him.
09:00It's a rare privilege to watch him in action, to see how dedicated he was, how focused he
09:05was on things that were important to him.
09:12I think most people, including myself, learn by observation.
09:16It's like my dad's main focus was really building the business, being an entrepreneur.
09:21And that's why there's the risk taking there, because you're not punished for making mistakes.
09:25I think you're punished for not making the effort.
09:28He was really hands-on.
09:30You know that you're entering into a fight together.
09:33So you know he has your back, you know he'll defend you.
09:36Something goes wrong, he really talks about it and says, what did we do wrong?
09:39What can we do right?
09:41But he never imposed on people.
09:43I think I worked with him for 56 years, and I don't think he ever told me what to do.
09:52He might make suggestions, he might create an environment for you to, I think you never
09:57have to say you're sorry for making a mistake, as long as your intentions are good, you try
10:03your best.
10:04I love working with John because we get to do many things, learn many things.
10:10You work hard, you sweat a lot, you sacrifice, but it's also a lot of fun.
10:18So it's a great journey.
10:21He was supportive because some of it are his ideas, right?
10:25He wanted to make it succeed also.
10:27He saw my success as his success.
10:29He wanted me to succeed because in the end it was also him succeeding and the group succeeding.
10:34It really had a lot of vision, courage.
10:37He believed in the ability of entrepreneurs to make a difference.
10:41So I think he's really a classic entrepreneur, someone who's really a catalyst for change.
10:47The idea was to really allow the common man to have access to all kinds of goods and services
10:53that they should be democratized for.
10:55He did that for airlines, for mobile phones, for snacks and beverages, just these comforts
11:00of life or these basics of life should not just be for a small minority, but should really
11:04be available to all.
11:05I think he's always had that desire to make a difference.
11:08He doesn't have to say it.
11:10You can see it with the way he lived his life.
11:12He was always not afraid to be different.
11:15He didn't care what other people thought about him.
11:19He just did it.
11:20He competed against the Goliaths.
11:22He put up an airline to compete with an incumbent airline.
11:26He put up a mobile phone company to compete with two giants.
11:30He was never, never afraid to compete.
11:32He would do things because he thought it was the right thing to do.
11:34He was always very clear.
11:37He was always very decisive, which I think is what everybody appreciated.
11:42He left no room for doubt of what direction the business was supposed to go.
11:47His leadership was very clear.
11:49If you take a look at it, go through the management principles, I think he was really very good
11:53at executing it.
11:55I don't think he had an idea of what it was called, right?
11:57He was quite good at scenario building, trying to understand what could happen.
12:02He wasn't big on reports.
12:04He would rather just sit down and talk to you and pick your brain.
12:07That was his style.
12:08Working with him talaga, it rubs off on you.
12:11It makes you want to be passionate, hardworking.
12:13It wants you to have integrity.
12:17Those values that are often used to describe Mr. John are really true.
12:22Yeah, I think he's inspirational to everybody around him.
12:26He worked pretty hard until midnight every day, if not later.
12:31When he retired, it's not as well as when he was younger, but he still worked about
12:36midnight.
12:37Even at the hospital, he wants to look at the financial statement.
12:40That's what makes him happy.
12:45I'm always so impressed with his continuous learning.
12:49Even when he was 90, he was still trying to learn.
12:51Sometimes he would call me up to say whether I know something.
12:58I think he never stopped learning.
13:00He's very strict and disciplined on himself.
13:05He always has long-term visions of things.
13:08He often tells me that if my father did not die early, his dream was to be a doctor.
13:16One thing I really appreciated with him was he was always down to earth.
13:19He was always very respectful.
13:21Of course, when they were wrong, he'd get mad, right?
13:23But that's something I think that happens to everyone.
13:26He has a reputation for just blowing up sometimes.
13:29But he also has a reputation for being very nice to them.
13:32People understood that it was really genuine emotions coming from him.
13:41I remember I had done something really bad at work.
13:44One of my magazines had an event.
13:47Something scandalous happened in the event.
13:49And there were so many reporters.
13:51It appeared in the tabloids the next day.
13:53And I was so horrified that I had embarrassed the whole family.
13:57I remember I woke up early for breakfast because I wanted to explain what had happened.
14:04I was there, and he came, and he took his newspapers.
14:07And I said, Dad, can I talk to you?
14:09And he said, sure.
14:10So I explained to him what happened.
14:12And then he says, it's not a problem.
14:15Then he went back to his newspapers.
14:17And I think I realized, based on his experience, this thing was small.
14:21It wasn't something I should worry about.
14:24Just by saying that, I realized there are bigger problems to worry about.
14:28He's very practical.
14:29He's very upfront.
14:30He won't say, oh, come on.
14:32He's not like that.
14:33Like, I empathize with you.
14:34Tell me more.
14:35He's not like that.
14:36He'll just tell you what he thinks.
14:37And I derived a lot of comfort from that.
14:41You know, my dad, he never looked down on people.
14:45There was one time he had to go on a trip abroad.
14:48And he had this bag of money, and he had forgotten to deposit it or put it in a vault.
14:54So he gave it to me and told me to keep it, and then give it back to him when he comes
14:57back.
14:58After one week, and of course it's in my closet, he came to me saying he had to apologize to
15:05his janitor because he thought that he left the money in his office, and the money disappeared.
15:11And of course, a poor janitor is always the one accused by everybody of taking things,
15:15right?
15:16So I found out from him after three days that he had left the money with me.
15:20So he called the janitor to the office and really apologized profusely to the janitor.
15:26You know, my dad, if he commits a mistake, he will really apologize, whoever you are.
15:33I remember when I was a kid, and I had to do summer work at the old URC office.
15:38He told his secretary, call up Mr. Katipunan of PCIB.
15:41And the secretary said, I don't know Mr. Katipunan.
15:44Cannot be.
15:45What do you mean you don't know Mr. Katipunan?
15:47I've been dealing with him for so many years.
15:49So she goes out and says, anybody here remembers Mr. Katipunan?
15:52Nobody.
15:53Then he got mad.
15:54Then one of them said, sure, it's not Mr. Katipunan, it's Mr. Bonifacio.
16:00So he said, oh, wrong, wrong, wrong.
16:02So he apologized again because his voice was so loud.
16:05He was so mad at everybody for not remembering who Mr. Katipunan was.
16:09No, I've seen him get angry at people, right?
16:13Fortunately for me, I've never been on the receiving end of any major trouble.
16:17I don't want to get into trouble.
16:21When we were growing up, we were scared of him because he was this big man with a very, very loud voice.
16:26I remember he would order us around, you know, get me a glass of water, get me a slice of cheese,
16:31cut my nails, stuff like that.
16:33No, no.
16:34But he was always focused on reading and finding out what's new.
16:40Of course, Mr. John would have a booming voice and people would be scared whenever his voice would come up, right?
16:47But it was always in context.
16:49So it was never personal.
16:51So he would always be fair and he'd always talk about what can be done.
16:55So it was always a productive and constructive meeting with him.
16:58He was already big in the first place.
17:01And then his voice was so loud.
17:02Even if you were at the end of the room, you could hear what he's saying.
17:06And it would be so loud.
17:08Sometimes it would be so funny.
17:10There was once we got into a big fight.
17:12I remember when I was in high school, Hershey's chocolate was very hard to get.
17:16It was given to me by a friend.
17:18And so I saved it and put it in the refrigerator.
17:20When I went there to retrieve it, it was half gone.
17:23So I was so angry.
17:24I said, who ate my Hershey's?
17:25And he said, I did.
17:27And so we got into this big argument.
17:30And I said, you know, this is my, I own this piece of chocolate.
17:33You had no right to eat it.
17:34And he said, this is my house.
17:37If you don't follow my rules, then leave.
17:39And so I packed my clothes and I called my friend, can you pick me up?
17:44So we did talk for three months.
17:45It was so funny.
17:46I was so hardheaded.
17:48And I was expecting him to apologize.
17:51But in the end, you know, why would he apologize to me?
17:54It was, he had the right to, for him, he had the right to eat that piece of chocolate.
17:59And so when I got older, he would always bring that up.
18:02And we would like laugh about how funny that was.
18:05He was the typical traditional father.
18:07He was the man of the house.
18:09What he said, went.
18:11I don't think he needed charm.
18:18He would laugh and I cannot even remember why he'd laugh.
18:21Gosh, I cannot, I cannot remember.
18:23But he'd just laugh.
18:25I mean, I cannot remember.
18:27You know, my, my dad and my mom, they know how to laugh at themselves.
18:31So almost anything they'll find just amusing or something to be happy about.
18:35You know, there's a Goh Hong Wei sense of humor, or even among the cousins,
18:38it's very self-deprecating, it's very baka.
18:42So I think that's, that's probably from, from my parents, you know?
18:47When he was getting heavy, he doesn't feel like walking.
18:51And I bought a electric chair for him.
18:53And he played like a toy and you see his face smiling and very happy
18:58that he wouldn't be driving around.
19:01Vroom, vroom.
19:03You know, my father's very, and I'm, I'm sure my siblings,
19:07my cousins would say that he's very thrifty.
19:11I mean, other people would say he's koripot and all that.
19:14He doesn't like to spend money, even though he can afford it.
19:17He will not splurge on fancy things.
19:19He will not splurge on fancy shoes.
19:21No, he's been like that all his life.
19:23I never seen him in any fancy Gucci, except the one bought by Lance.
19:29And he never buy anything fancy himself.
19:33He made me pay for his beer.
19:35We, we went to a wedding in, in Tramuros.
19:41So we got locked out.
19:42He said, boy, they won't let us in anymore because they closed the doors.
19:47So I said, let's just order beer and wait for them outside.
19:50So he said, I'll buy the first round, you buy the second round.
19:55I said, I'll see you.
19:58Every year when he traveled with his family and
20:00the only outsider invited, me and my wife.
20:03I feel honors, but I have to pay for my own fare.
20:08No, because he will save me the bill.
20:11There are times I would see him also at the food court,
20:14sampling food from the stalls.
20:18And I couldn't forget it because he asked if I had money.
20:21He said he forgot his wallet.
20:23And then the bodyguard said, no, no, Mr. John, it's okay.
20:26I'll be the one to pay for it.
20:27And I'll just get from, you know, from Lina, his secretary.
20:31He's very generous to his people around him.
20:34When we go out to have a meal, they make sure they are taken care of as well.
20:39And when we travel, they give them extra allowances.
20:42He gave all his pocket money because he has no use for it.
20:46We arranged everything for him.
20:48His pocket money is only for buying ice cream.
20:51He cannot refuse an ice cream.
20:52If the wife is with him, he cannot have more than one.
20:57You know, when I was a child, you would not really see the big things.
21:00You just go to his office and he had this cabinet full of pasalubong.
21:05He had perfume, he had chocolates, he had candies.
21:09He had all sorts of knickknacks.
21:11And then when an employee would come to the office and say,
21:14wait, I have something for you.
21:16He'll open the cabinet, he'll just get something.
21:18This is for you.
21:19I bought it in the US.
21:20I bought it in Europe.
21:21He'll just give it randomly because he really appreciated the employee.
21:26And so he'd always come home with a mallet of pasalubong.
21:30Did he give me pasalubong?
21:31He'd always, oh my gosh, what a question.
21:37So his acts of generosity were supernatural or spontaneous.
21:41It's not really planned.
21:42My dad would never remember anyone's birthday.
21:45He won't even celebrate his own birthdays.
21:47But I do know when he was younger, when he made his first million pesos or so,
21:51one of the first things he did was he helped endow the old Sacred Heart
21:55School in Cebu.
21:56Obviously, he's a well-off man, but his own needs were quite simple.
22:00His priorities were really his family, his quest for new knowledge,
22:04his reading.
22:05When we were growing up, every week he would bring us to the old Unimart
22:09to have a spaghetti, but also to, that's one of the bookstores there,
22:12not to buy books.
22:12So I'm not sure if that's an act of generosity
22:15or just an act of doing something together as a family,
22:18but also supporting something he enjoyed and felt we should enjoy,
22:23which is reading or continuing the quest for learning, right?
22:27He's very generous for education.
22:30Well, a good example is he financed my education overseas.
22:35At that time, he was just a fairly modest businessman.
22:40For a modest businessman who need every peso so that he
22:44can grow his business.
22:47Even after I finish four years, I stay another year for master's degree.
22:51He has no questions asked, just stay.
22:53That's generosity, yeah.
23:00He's very caring.
23:02He invited me to lunch on Saturdays, every Saturday when he's in town.
23:07So wherever I am, I have to fly back to serve lunch with him
23:11because otherwise he will ask me a lot of questions.
23:14Where have I been?
23:14Who have I been with?
23:15Why am I going there?
23:17How long did I stay there?
23:19Where did I stay?
23:21According to his wife, he spends more time with me than the wife.
23:26Every time we have a picture taken, he will hold me or hold some part of me
23:30or I'll be sitting on the armrest.
23:33That was the most memorable, I thought it's worth it.
23:40When my mother was fighting with her cancer of the colon
23:45that spread out, and John is constantly bringing her to San Francisco
23:50for checkup and cure.
23:52There was one time I was visiting San Francisco.
23:54My mother was suddenly spitting blood.
23:58John, that time, I think, is already 60 plus
24:01because our apartment is on the third floor.
24:03There's no elevator.
24:05I saw him.
24:05In a moment, he just picked up my mother and ran him down three stairs,
24:10down to the ground floor, put her in the car, and went to the hospital.
24:14It's just amazing, the devotion to my mother.
24:18I oftentimes play back that memory.
24:22When she was 13, promising my mother that she would take care of the family.
24:27I never saw him cry.
24:29I don't know.
24:30Maybe he cried in his room, but I never saw him cry.
24:33Even when his mom died, he would look at the good side of things
24:37and said, she died at the age when people were already dying.
24:41He would always try to look at the better side of things.
24:45He would never regret.
24:47He would, yeah.
24:52The most stress I've seen him was when Robina was kidnapped.
24:55But when he's stressed, he'll soldier on.
24:59He'll take it.
25:00He won't take it out on anyone else.
25:01But you could see he was stressed.
25:03But he would lose weight.
25:05His appetite would diminish, be a little bit more quiet than normal.
25:11You know that at that point, he's stressed, right?
25:14You know when he was stressed, we didn't know that he was stressed.
25:18That's how he was able to keep those things.
25:22To be honest, his relationship with the older kids, Lance and Robina,
25:27was very different from his relationship with the four kids.
25:30I guess the two older kids were more exposed to him as they were growing up.
25:35When he was stressed, we did not see it.
25:37The most I've seen him stressed was when I think Robina was kidnapped.
25:42I would see him pacing, you know.
25:44But, you know, he knew how to compartmentalize, really.
25:47When he got home, he was able to turn it off.
25:50He's not somebody who talks a lot.
25:52You have to connect him on many levels.
25:55He was interested sometimes in talking about history, about science,
25:59about geopolitics, macroeconomic trends,
26:03where the world is going, where the economy is going.
26:06But he loves history, especially ancient history, archaeology.
26:10Those things, he talks a lot.
26:12Once you're in that mood, he can talk.
26:14But emotional, personal, he has very few words.
26:19He only shows it by actions.
26:27At first, I wasn't familiar with Gokulig.
26:30I only knew that there was Robinson and Ministap.
26:32I only knew that there were businesses like that.
26:34But I didn't know that he was the owner of Gokongwei.
26:38Mr. John Gokongwei, I only heard of him on TV.
26:43I only heard of him from my teacher,
26:46that he is a Gokongwei scholar.
26:48When I found out that the scholarship that was offered to me was Gokongwei,
26:52I felt so great.
26:53It's like they gave me a lot of trust.
26:57Many employees started their careers there.
26:59Until their retirement.
27:01My manager told me that
27:03when it's a holiday or December,
27:05Sir John goes there even if he doesn't work there anymore.
27:08He went to our building, to the starch plant,
27:11which was one of his first companies.
27:12He was just there for a while.
27:14It just reflected to me that
27:15wherever you go, you will always go back to where you were before.
27:19To be honest, Gokongwei to me is like...
27:23Maybe I can speak of anyone else that
27:27when it comes to Gokongwei group,
27:29the first thing that comes to mind is Robinson's.
27:31And I never thought that they would have a program like this
27:36that would really touch the lives of their scholars.
27:42I never knew before entering GBF
27:46that Gokongwei group has this kind of advocacy.
27:54It's hard.
27:55We also reached a point where
27:57we have to look for a family
27:59to provide us with food.
28:02Our father left us when he went abroad.
28:07I was able to see the condition of my parents.
28:12Almost every day, they were looking for
28:16where to get our food.
28:18My father, on the other hand,
28:20he didn't have enough time to work for 24 hours.
28:23I remember that he was awake for two days.
28:25There was no sleep.
28:27He was just finishing his work.
28:29For us to be able to survive,
28:31he was our only provider.
28:32I told myself,
28:34I know that I can do this.
28:36I can help.
28:38I really grabbed the opportunity of Juan's scholar.
28:40And until now,
28:41it's so heavy for me to see them suffer.
28:45My parents made a huge sacrifice for us.
28:50It's time to make up for it.
28:53My brother was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
28:58It's a rare type of blood cancer.
29:01Because of this,
29:02our family's expenses went up
29:07for medical expenses,
29:08for hospitalization,
29:09for chemo,
29:11and all other medications.
29:14So, when GBF approached me,
29:17I saw it as a sign of hope
29:21that I can do this.
29:24That there is someone who will always remember me.
29:27I also take my education seriously.
29:33So, with the help of GBF,
29:36we were able to survive.
29:40Before, back when I was in high school, elementary,
29:43I was selling banana cubes.
29:45I was dreaming of becoming an engineer.
29:47It was hard because financially,
29:49my family wasn't that capable.
29:51Then, in my third year, my father passed away.
29:55Literally, I grew up in a school
29:59because my mother was also a teacher.
30:01My motivation for every day in my teaching
30:04is, of course, the kids.
30:06Because if I don't go to school,
30:08how will they learn?
30:09So, if there's no teacher,
30:11no one will help the kids
30:14to build their knowledge,
30:16to build the concepts, the knowledge,
30:18and how will they apply it
30:20on their day-to-day living.
30:22As a teacher, not only transmitting,
30:24actually, not transmitting,
30:26building knowledge,
30:27constructing knowledge for the kids.
30:29We are also playing the role
30:31as their second parents.
30:34And sometimes, we are also social workers
30:35because we also help
30:37with their scholarships,
30:40especially those from the government.
30:42And sometimes,
30:45we are also sponsors
30:47because sometimes, we are giving them money.
30:51Especially if we know the child
30:53that they really can't go to school
30:55or they can't do the project
30:58because they don't have the money,
30:59they don't have the scholarship,
31:00or they don't have the allowance
31:02from their parents.
31:08When you're 15, you're in a war.
31:10You either starve or you work.
31:14Life was difficult.
31:15Food was hard, but you have to work.
31:18And people still do business
31:20because they want to survive.
31:21And my business was
31:23buying a second-hand bicycle.
31:24I think it cost me
31:26maybe 100 to 50 pesos.
31:30Put a box in the back,
31:32buy textiles, candles, and all that,
31:34bring it to the small town to sell,
31:37and then come back at 6 o'clock.
31:40I did that about two times a week
31:42or three times a week.
31:43Selling a bicycle is...
31:45I think you only sell about
31:47200 or 300 a day
31:48and make about 10, 20, 30 pesos.
31:51At that time,
31:53a car was 2,000 pesos.
31:56A kilo of pork was about 40.
32:00But you can survive with 2 pesos.
32:08I would hear the bicycle story
32:10many, many times.
32:12Oh, so many, many, many, many times.
32:14I can't even count the number of times
32:16I heard it.
32:17But he'd make a story
32:18and other people would make a story.
32:20My dad was a storyteller.
32:22When we were growing up,
32:23he would recount the days.
32:24During my time,
32:25things were much tougher
32:26than they were now.
32:27My father passed away,
32:29and I had to go around in a bicycle,
32:30et cetera, et cetera.
32:32I love the bicycle story
32:33because I love thinking of my father
32:36as a tween
32:38riding a bike filled with soap candles
32:41and then setting up a stall in a market,
32:43running around,
32:44trying to sell things
32:45with people so much older than him,
32:47competing with people so much older than him.
32:49He would bring whatever he can bring
32:52in the bicycle to the market
32:53and when it's done,
32:54when it's sold and he goes home,
32:56he doesn't want to carry it
32:57back to the inventory
32:58or to the bodega.
33:00He bought a bicycle in Shanghai.
33:03Of course, now we won't let him
33:05ride the bike.
33:05He tried to ride the bike.
33:07He said, no, no.
33:10When I was 13 years old,
33:11I was doing that,
33:12but I was doing that with my sisters.
33:14We were playing house and market, market,
33:16but he was doing it in real life.
33:20Well, to me, it's never about
33:21just the bicycle.
33:23To me, it's when my father passed away
33:26with six children,
33:2713 years to six months,
33:29and my mother as a young widow,
33:3230, 31.
33:34He told himself,
33:35I am the head of the family now.
33:37I want to make sure
33:38the whole family is OK.
33:40That, to me, is the decisive moment.
33:43There was the compass
33:44and there is the willpower
33:47and the dream and the passion
33:50to make that happen.
33:52The bicycle, the batel,
33:55these are just conveyances.
34:01Channels of achieving that decision.
34:06I never thought of giving up.
34:09In fact, whenever times got tough,
34:11I got tougher, you know.
34:14It built me up.
34:17I think the training I had
34:19the last four years of the Japanese occupation,
34:22that was the type of thing
34:24that really helped me
34:27build up my business career first.
34:30The four years there with the bicycle
34:32and then a small store,
34:34there's no connections whatsoever.
34:36You just use your wits
34:38and your sweat.
34:41I'm 50 on my personal thing,
34:43but I gave 500 million
34:47to the schools during the last seven years.
34:50I don't spend that.
34:51I could spend that on my own pressure,
34:53but instead I gave it back to the community.
34:57I eat what I want.
34:58I travel where I want.
34:59But if they say I'm Kripot
35:01and I have to give away 500 million pesos,
35:03I don't know who has given out 500 in the Philippines.
35:06I don't know of anybody else
35:07who has given 500 million.
35:14Back then, I was really looking for a job
35:17because I didn't have any hope of going to college.
35:20All I could think of was to find a job.
35:22I searched on Facebook
35:24for the Public Employment Service Office of Biniyan
35:26and I saw the Scholar New One program.
35:29At first, I was hesitant if I should grab it
35:31because it's a one-year technical training
35:34before you can work at the URC.
35:36But I grabbed the opportunity
35:38because I was told that it was a good opportunity.
35:41The original plan was,
35:43when I pass the board examination,
35:45I should continue with my Ph.D.
35:47But I have two younger sisters.
35:50What if it's more difficult?
35:52So I applied for the Gokongwe Brothers Foundation.
35:57My father died when I was three years old.
36:00After a year, I was interviewed by GWF.
36:03It was a big opportunity for me to catch up
36:06because I was a bit nervous.
36:08I struggled financially, emotionally,
36:10and it was very difficult in school.
36:12I never thought that I would pass the scholarship.
36:15I'm just an average student
36:17but I'm working hard for my life.
36:19I'm thinking if I'm worthy.
36:22A lot of us applied
36:24and we only got two out of our course during that time.
36:27Then, after GWF, I became a scholar.
36:30They not only helped me financially,
36:32they also helped me to get a job.
36:36They also helped me boost my confidence
36:39and motivate me.
36:41They gave me assurance that after I graduated,
36:44I would be able to work for them.
36:46I applied for GWF.
36:48I was in my second year of college.
36:51I was part of the UP School of Statistics Student Council.
36:55I really feel so, so, so grateful
36:59and honored for GWF
37:02because they recognized that I have this potential
37:06in STEM.
37:08Maybe one thing that they saw in me
37:12was my eagerness
37:16and my hunger to learn in this field.
37:22I think it has well reflected
37:25in my academic performance,
37:30in God's mercy,
37:32and in the help of GWF
37:34and all the people behind this,
37:36that we were able to graduate.
37:40Before I went to GWF,
37:43it was only a one-week gap.
37:45That's why I applied earlier.
37:47My mom called me.
37:48That's when I passed.
37:50At first, I couldn't believe my mom
37:53because she thought that I was gone.
37:56I was like my other siblings
37:58who couldn't continue their jobs.
38:01My mom thought that I had no hope.
38:05We struggled a lot financially.
38:07So instead of feeling the pain,
38:12we created a stepping stone or a foundation
38:15for us to improve as siblings.
38:19When I got home that Saturday,
38:21I told my mom and sister
38:23because my sister was sending me to school.
38:25I told them and they were so happy.
38:27It was unexpected.
38:28They didn't know that I applied.
38:30When I got accepted,
38:32that's when they found out.
38:33That's why they were so happy.
38:38GWF opened up to me.
38:43I tried my luck and luckily,
38:45I passed.
38:47I believe in the vision of GWF,
38:50which is building the future through education.
38:53Of course, without education,
38:55people will not be well-informed
38:59on what is happening.
39:01That's why we make wrong decisions in life
39:06because we are not well-informed.
39:07So how are we going to be well-informed?
39:09We are going to be well-informed
39:10through the quality education
39:12that we get from quality teachers.
39:15It's always good to remember
39:20the values and the stories
39:22that bring us to this point.
39:23I mean, kids do what their parents do,
39:26not what they say.
39:27I can see that both my mom and my dad
39:30were totally committed to each other.
39:33They were willing to sacrifice things for the long term.
39:36They lived very simply.
39:37My mom was committed to helping him.
39:40I guess they were a very good combination.
39:42My parents showed their love by being around.
39:46They were there for dinner every night.
39:48We would spend our time with them after dinner.
39:52You know, we would just watch TV in the room together.
39:54Both of them were reading books or newspapers.
39:57I think the fact that we were just
39:58hanging around together all the time.
40:00We would talk a lot about business.
40:03We would talk a lot about our family.
40:05We would talk a lot about our future.
40:08We would talk a lot about business as we got older.
40:12But I think it's very common,
40:14the way that we were raised.
40:15But the fact that they were there,
40:17I think that was enough for us.
40:20We felt secure, I think, and that was important.
40:27In the beginning, we worked together as a family.
40:30Ever since my father passed away,
40:32John, the eldest, promised himself
40:35and to our mother that he wanted to make sure
40:38the family would be together
40:40and would be financially safe.
40:43And we worked our lifetime together
40:45to build up the business.
40:47In the 1990s, 1993, you'll be 67.
40:50That's the time we were going to list
40:53our holding company called J.G. Summit.
40:56Before that, we were Universal Rubina,
40:59CFC, Robinson Land.
41:02But that year, we consolidated everything
41:05and formed the J.G. Summit Group
41:07and we listed as a public company.
41:10Well, we set up a foundation,
41:13it's all for education,
41:14and a company of this size
41:16where we hire almost close to 100,000 people.
41:19And more than anything else,
41:21it's that it's sustainable.
41:23And I've seen the great things,
41:25Lance and his cousins and his professional managers,
41:28the whole team, they are doing great things.
41:31I think they are going to improve the company even more.
41:34They have bring the group now
41:36even to a much more formalized, institutionalized way
41:40of achieving further growth.
41:42I have no doubt that Lance will bring it
41:44to even greater heights
41:46in the next 33 years, 20.
41:49It'll be century, 100 years anniversary.
41:56I think Mr. John's biggest legacy is
41:59to build, enable an organization,
42:03both the company and the foundation,
42:05that can sustain and last.
42:07That will be down to the benefit of the people
42:11and also the country.
42:13Those are his three legacies.
42:15It's his family, it's his business,
42:18and it's the foundation, right?
42:20So those are the three legs of his stool, right?
42:23I share exactly the same values as my father.
42:26I view his legacy as one worth emulating.
42:29And for me, it's really, how do I build upon
42:31all these gifts that have been shared with me?
42:34Also, of course, this heavy responsibility
42:37and accountability.
42:38But it's something I look forward to.
42:41I remember when I really got busy at work,
42:45I told Lance, Lance, I really have no more time
42:48to handle the Gauteng Way Brothers Foundation.
42:51It's just, I'm so busy with other things.
42:53Can you give it to someone
42:54who will be more responsible
42:56and who will love it more?
42:57And then he said, you know, Liza, think about it.
42:59In the end, this is what will matter.
43:02After all is said and done,
43:03it's the foundation that will matter.
43:06So I thought about it,
43:08and I realized what he said was true.
43:11It's really valuable.
43:12It's valuable to me.
43:13I think it's valuable to the company.
43:15It ties what the employees do to helping the country.
43:19And in helping the country, they feel very good.
43:22So it goes back to them working hard for the company.
43:26But also, I think it binds us as a family.
43:30I hope all the generations,
43:31they'll realize that they were given such a gift,
43:34not only the business, but also the foundation.
43:37I hope it will remind them of what their fathers built.
43:44You know, I think he was happiest
43:46when he was building something.
43:49Whether it was business or philanthropy,
43:52for as long as he knew he was building something of value,
43:56I think he was happy.
43:58The GVF's trust is education.
44:01It's very important, a good cause.
44:03It goes back to that thinking
44:04that you want to teach them how to fish
44:07instead of just begging for fish.
44:08It's something that will be meaningful moving forward.
44:12GVF is really important in my life
44:15because it changed me.
44:17It changed the way I see things,
44:19how I see the future.
44:21It helped me build the future that I want.
44:25GVF is important because of the way they are helping
44:29in building the Philippine economy.
44:32He wanted the Philippines to be a Philippines
44:35that was as progressive
44:36as the rest of the other countries he saw around us.
44:39After the Second World War,
44:40we were the second richest country in Asia,
44:42after Japan.
44:43Korea was poorer than us, Thailand, Malaysia,
44:46especially Singapore.
44:47China, where he recalled it being really poor at the time.
44:51And then he saw that they were all developing
44:54beyond the Philippines.
44:55So he just felt the Philippines had the capacity to do that.
44:59And there were two things I think he felt that were needed.
45:02One is some entrepreneurship.
45:04And the second thing is he saw that the Philippines
45:06were very strong in the services.
45:09But we were really lagging behind in manufacturing.
45:12So he said he wanted to really invest in businesses
45:15like infrastructure or manufacturing,
45:17which would really form an industrial base,
45:19which he thought would provide the Philippines
45:21a more balanced economy beyond services.
45:24We need a lot of philanthropists like Sir John Gaungoy.
45:28Being a third world country,
45:30there are a lot of Filipinos who are struggling,
45:32lacking opportunities.
45:33But because of what Sir John is doing,
45:35there are a lot of young people who are helping,
45:37which is what Sir Rizal was saying,
45:40that young people are the hope of the country.
45:42Of course, we definitely need more leaders like him.
45:46It's something you don't get taught at school.
45:49His skills, his ability to dream,
45:52his ability to have a vision,
45:54it's really unparalleled.
45:56You have to witness it in action to get inspired.
45:59In this day and age where creativity or entrepreneurship
46:03is being challenged by the economic conditions of the world,
46:08it would be refreshing to have more Mr. Johns, right?
46:12That's how the economy of the country can recover, perhaps.
46:15He was always very conscious about the multiplier effect
46:18of his actions on the economy.
46:22I benefited from the JBF program,
46:26which teaches STEM scholars in particular.
46:28First, it opened me a lot of opportunities
46:31to share my expertise
46:33and to share my knowledge to people.
46:36And second, it also opened opportunities to my students.
46:39Because if I don't know, how will they know?
46:42If it weren't for JBF, if it weren't for Gokong May,
46:45I cannot provide to support my education further.
46:52Personally, I appreciate my field more,
46:57especially in these times
47:01where misinformation is very rampant.
47:06I want to take part in promoting
47:09an evidence-based and data-driven society.
47:17We have several JBF beneficiaries already
47:19at the Petrochemical Plant.
47:21Most of them are engineers,
47:23so they will be in different fields
47:25and operations-related activities for the plant.
47:28A lot of the graduates of the technical school,
47:31for example, are working in our plants.
47:35Some of the scholars are working
47:37in different parts of the conglomerate.
47:39I believe that two of them work in corporate services.
47:42We're very excited to hire more of these scholars
47:44to work for us.
47:46Maybe if I didn't grab the JBF INJ,
47:49I wouldn't have been able to continue college.
47:53Maybe until now, I was still saving
47:55to go to college.
47:56A lot of things have changed for me
47:58because of the JBF.
47:59I was able to help my parents.
48:01I was able to buy a gadget.
48:02I was able to enroll in college.
48:04I was able to pay my tuition.
48:06The JBF Scholar Earning One
48:08has really helped me a lot in my life.
48:13I've heard a lot of stories
48:15with regards to the Gokongwe siblings.
48:19I don't think anyone wouldn't want to get involved
48:23with such names because their name Gokongwe
48:26really embodies hope, integrity, and reliability.
48:53His legacy to his nuclear family is fantastic.
48:57He has great children.
48:58They work hard.
48:59They're humble.
49:00They're grounded.
49:01They also have extremely good values.
49:04To the siblings and their families,
49:06I think he's also looked upon as a patriot
49:09who have set good examples of good values,
49:12ability to do great things,
49:15to take risks,
49:16the commitment for education,
49:19to be productive,
49:20a company that would be helping the community
49:23and the country
49:24where everybody have a chance
49:26who want to work and work together
49:28to build up something they can all be proud of.
49:36During the war, I was pedaling my bicycle.
49:42And then after the war, 1946,
49:45I saw the big companies like
49:50Ayala and San Miguel were already very, very big.
49:54I said, my God, how do I reach that height?
49:59So I tried, and I think we reached that height.
50:19♪♪
50:29♪♪
50:39♪♪
50:49♪♪
50:59I'm James Goh.
51:02I'm the youngest brother of Mr. John Goh Conway,
51:06and I'm the chairman of the JG Summit Group.
51:09I have been working with the company
51:12starting 1964 up to now.
51:15This year is my 60th year.
51:18I'm Lance Goh Conway.
51:20I'm the chief executive of JG Summit
51:23and chairman of Robinson's Retail,
51:25only son and second child of John and Elizabeth Goh Conway.
51:29I am Robina Goh Conway.
51:32My baptismal name is Joan, which comes from John.
51:35I'm president and CEO of Robinson's Retail Holdings, Inc.,
51:40and I'm the eldest in a brood of six.
51:43My name is Liza Goh Conway Chang,
51:46and I hold three roles for the group.
51:49I am the senior vice president
51:51for digital transformation and corporate services.
51:54I am the president of Summit Media,
51:57and I am also the general manager
52:00of the Goh Conway Brothers Foundation.
52:02I am the third in the family.
52:04I'm Patrick Goh.
52:06I'm assigned with the Petrochemical Group,
52:08so I'm officially the president and CEO
52:11of JG Summit All the Kids Corporation.
52:13I am Frederick Dee Goh.
52:16I am a nephew of Mr. John.
52:20I run the real estate businesses of the Goh Conway Group.
52:25The most known among them would be Robinson's Land Corporation.
52:30My name is Tony Goh.
52:32I'm a good friend of Mr. John Goh Conway.
52:36Our relationship started when our family bought his bank.
52:43And when we sold the bank,
52:46I didn't sell it to him.
52:49That's how we became friends.
52:52I am Carl Angelo V. Lorenzo,
52:55a registered pharmacist and a store head
52:58of South Sturglard Incorporated.
53:00I am John Marvinier,
53:02a scholar in Gohan Batch 13.
53:04I currently work at URC St. Peter's Plant 1.
53:09I am a packaging operator.
53:12I graduated from Gohan Batch in 2021.
53:15My name is Martin Elias Turias.
53:17I'm 24 years old.
53:19I currently live at Imus Cavite.
53:21I currently work at Universal Rubina Corporation
53:25as a project engineer
53:27where I handle mechanical projects for extension,
53:30innovation, and improvements.
53:32I'm a GBF STEM Scholar alumni.
53:35I am Camille Madarang.
53:36I am an Asset Liability Management Analyst
53:39of the Enterprise Risk Management Group
53:41of the Robinson's Bank Corporation.
53:44And I am a scholarship recipient
53:46of the GBF STEM Scholarship for Excellence.
53:49I am Andrine F. Sagun,
53:51Special Science Teacher 1
53:53and a very proud teacher STEM scholar.
54:06♪♪
54:16♪♪
54:26♪♪
54:36♪♪
54:46♪♪
54:56♪♪
54:59I help our family recover its position in the community,
55:05helping some schools.
55:08I help a little bit in improving the economy of the country
55:12and providing jobs to 50,000 families.
55:15It's not too bad.
55:17♪♪
55:26Dad? Dad?
55:28♪♪
55:33Dad?
55:37♪♪
55:48♪♪
55:58♪♪
56:08♪♪
56:18♪♪
56:28♪♪
56:38♪♪
56:48♪♪