“He’s been made into bags and shoes,” Robina Gokongwei-Pe answered in jest to a question about her supposed twin brother who was half human-half python rumored to lurk in a family-owned shopping center. It was even unclear whether the monster inhabited the Robinsons outlet in Mandaluyong City or in Cebu City.
The legend had it that this serpent fed on beautiful women and laid golden eggs that made the Gokongweis super rich.
Robina, born to John Gokongwei Jr. and Elizabeth Yu in July 15, 1962, attended the University of the Philippines and finished journalism at the New York University.
Until Jan. 1, 2025, she was president and chief executive of the Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. which has at least 151 branches across the country. She was replaced by Stanley Co, and Robina takes over as chairwoman of the enterprise.
Meanwhile, she also sits in the board of various companies including JG Summit Holdings which was recognized in 2012 and 2013 as one of the 50 best publicly-traded companies in Asia, and Cebu Air Inc., operator of Cebu Pacific. She is a trustee of Gokongwei Brothers Foundation Inc., Immaculate Conception Academy Scholarship Fund and Xavier School.
She is also part of the management teams for Robinsons Land Corp. and the Robinsons Bank Corp. She is vice chair of the ICA (Immaculate Conception Academy) Greenhills Scholarship Foundation Inc. and the Xavier School.
She was a member of the University of the Philippines Centennial Commission and a former trustee of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation.
Robina is patron of the UP Fighting Maroons basketball team. In one of her lighter moments with the squad, she said; “Win or lose, you get a buffet and a raffle because I love you. But you have to win by at least one point, otherwise, my twin snake will bite you.”
Despite being born rich, the Gokongwei children were raised in a Spartan way of life. They were taught early the value of labor. Robina even recalls her father telling them; “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.”
She joined the family enterprise as a receiving clerk at a warehouse, and had to time in and time out like the rest of the employees.
Robina has a storied life. In 1981, a kidnap-for-ransom gang snatched her in Cebu. Then Col. Panfilo Lacson, head of the Philippine Constabulary’s Metropolitan Command, instructed Robina’s father not to sound intimidated while negotiating with the kidnappers who were demanding a P10-million ransom.
“Do you know how long it would take to count that much money? You can have my daughter,” the old man told the abductors.
Lacson feared though that Gokongwei was acting too bold and arrogant as a ransom negotiator.
Cutting to the chase, Robina was rescued without any money changing hands.
Gokongwei offered P400,000 as reward money, but Lacson declined. Gokongwei ended up donating 10 brand new mobile cars to the Metrocom.
In the not too distant past, Robina reunited with fellow journalists at The Manila Times which she used to run.
“I don’t know if ‘celebrate’ is the right word to describe this reunion, but 25 years after the Manila Times of the 90s was forced to close, we decided to get together and relive the old times,” she said of the event.
“We just wanted to write for a paper not run one. But we were obedient daughters and we did. We ran the paper for 13 years and unfortunately, ran away from it 13 years after,” she said.