Uncle Bill

It was a pleasant surprise to receive a luncheon invitation from CTBC Bank vice chairman William “Bill” Go after more than three years since the start of the pandemic.

He and  former banker Edward Go were  two of the senior bankers that I unabashedly “adopted” as my uncles (since I had the same surname as them) when I first met them as a rookie reporter assigned to cover the banking beat in the mid-1980s.

Thus, during the annual banking receptions tendered by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas over the years, I would greet them as uncle and they would likewise jokingly acknowledge me as their niece. Uncle Edward unfortunately passed away last year.

Uncle Bill, now a still spritely 83, surprised me last week with an unexpected invitation to lunch at the Tee Room of  his favorite hangout, the Manila Golf Club in Makati, together with Manila Bulletin columnist Fil Sionil and CTBC marketing and communications head Therese Arnaldo-Marin.

I arrived about 10 past noon and had narrowly missed seeing former banker Deogracias “Sonny” Vistan and was not able to join the photo op they had with him...maybe next time?

Uncle Bill acknowledged that time slips by so fast that some things that he thought he would do end up not being done, noting with a tinge of regret that a book project that he, along with former The STAR publisher Betty Go-Belmonte and the late Mrs. Elizabeth Gokongwei, never came to fruition as the two have sadly passed away.

He had also met a Tibetan monk that he had wanted to teach him how to meditate... about nothing, but again-- somehow-- he lost touch with the monk and has not been able to master the art of meditation.

Last of the Mohicans

It was so nice to see Uncle Bill, who I also describe as one of the   “Last of the Mohicans,” part of the disappearing generation of bankers that I  had met during the term of former central bank governor Jose “Jobo” Fernandez.

He graduated from the University of the East where he got his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration,  and later earned  a Master’s degree in the same course from the University of Missouri.

He is a Certified Public Accountant and is also, unknown to most,  a licensed pilot for a single engine plane. In his college days he used to be a private pilot.

After getting his MBA from the US, he worked with Citibank for five years from 1963 to  1969 as an executive trainee. Part of his banking career included stints in China Banking Corp. and Philippine Bank of Communication.

Uncle Bill is now semi-retired, and  goes to work just twice a week as vice-chairman of CTBC.

He initially established Access Bank, which later on became Chinatrust Banking Corp. in 1995, and served as president until Oct. 15, 2001, when he was elected vice chairman.

Uncle Bill subsequently partnered with Jeffrey L.S. Koo and the bank was renamed the CTBC Bank in 2013.

Manila Golf

His favorite “office” is  the Manila Golf where he normally plays two to three times a week, an easy nine rounds of golf either in the early morning or late afternoon with either fellow Manila Golf Club members Charlie Rufino or former Shell president and former Monetary Board member Cesar Buenaventura, brother of former BSP Gov. Rafael “Paeng” Buenaventura.

Cesar Buenaventura was in fact, also at the club that day and we had a brief chat after lunch as we were leaving.

Uncle Bill regularly enjoys Sunday breakfast at  the golf club with Charlie Rufino, Cesar Buenaventura, Johnny Santos (formerly of Nestle), Guillermo Luchangco and a few others.

His golf circle may soon be welcoming BSP Monetary Board member Peter Favila who is seeking permission from the Manila Golf board to use the privileges of the BSP in lieu of BSP Governor Felipe Medalla who does not play golf.

He loves the oasis of tranquility that Manila Golf provides amidst the prime business district of Bonifacio Global City and Makati, with its low-key and laid back atmosphere where the movers and shakers of the business community are able to play a relaxing round of golf and conduct business without the prying eyes and ears of the public.

Entry to the venerable golf club now carries a stiff rate of P125 million and necessitates sponsorship by any of the existing members and acceptance by majority of the members, otherwise, money alone does not buy a ticket to the club.

Uncle Bill is quite attached to Manila Golf and is averse to seeing the golf club ever being sold to a commercial land developer. A majority of the golf club members he assures will also likely veto any move to sell the property.

While he prefers playing in Manila Golf, Uncle Bill also has shares in Wack Wack Golf and Country Club, which he admits is actually much bigger at over 120 hectares and has two separate golf courses. Manila Golf’s footprint in comparison is around 40 to 42 hectares only.

Wack Wack shares are are still much “cheaper” at around P50 million because of the lower valuation of real estate in that area.

Based on his observations, the property market remains weak, particularly office towers stemming from the pandemic and adoption of hybrid work arrangements.

A two-hour lunch, unfortunately is not much time to really discuss a whole lifetime, and we agreed to meet in January next year to reminisce even more.

Before leaving the club though, Uncle Bill wanted me to see the other refurbished function rooms of Manila Golf,  which were the Sand Trap Room -- with refurbishment sponsored by Enrique Razon; and the now more cozy  second floor function room, where DMCI’s Sid Consunji used to hold his press conferences, has now been transformed into a cozy, whisky-room vibe, Fairways Grill sponsored by taipan Lucio Tan.

Corrie Purisima, wife of former Finance secretary Cesar Purisima was having lunch with friends from Harvard and showed us the new menu of the new grill room.

Tan, Uncle Bill revealed, is also one of his regular lunch buddies, although they have not been able to meet up since the pandemic.

As we were saying our goodbyes, DOTR Secretary Jaime Bautista, who is also member and  board director of Manila Golf,  arrived for a meeting. Having known the new Transport secretary for a long time, we also agreed to meet soon.