Remembering Filinvest’s ‘bow and arrow’ couple

Notes on the beat

MANILA, Philippines — Like a bow and arrow, each is useless without the other.

That is how tycoon Josephine Gotianun-Yap described the relationship between her late parents Andrew and Mercedes Gotianun – whose love and passion built the Filinvest empire from the ground up.

Originally based in Cebu, Andrew made a living salvaging naval vessels for inter-island shipping after the Second World War. Many of the families in the province were involved in that business at the time.

Eventually, the Gotianun family moved to Manila in search of new opportunities and a fresh path forward.

“When my dad, Andrew Gotianun, arrived from Cebu in 1955, he was starting from scratch. He had just sold their family’s shipping business,” JGY said in her speech during a media event last Friday.

“He decided to take a different path. With grit and courage, he came to explore a city where he knew no one and where no one knew him,” she recalled.

According to JGY, the late tycoon fueled his ambitions and took the high stakes by borrowing money against the family’s properties.

“He had his widowed mother, a widowed sister-in-law with two daughters, a sister, and his family all looking up to him. And he just had another new baby girl, making that three generations of women (dependent) on him. I was that baby,” JGY said.

But Andrew was not alone in his pursuit of success because at every step of the way, there was someone who believed in his vision as much as he did.

“He came with his secret weapon: a UP magna cum laude Manileña, Mercedes. And the two of them made Filinvest history,” JGY said.

“They often quote from the Longfellow poem on Hiawatha to describe their relationship. The quote is about a bow and arrow – useless each without the other.” JGY was referring to the “Song of Hiawatha,” an epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow about Native Americans.

Josephine Gotianun-Yap

Mercedes – “Chita” to friends and family – was a consistent university scholar throughout her four years at the University of the Philippines, where she graduated with a BS Pharmacy degree.

Andrew brought the vision, and Mercedes helped chart the course, steering the Filinvest Group to become the P90-billion empire it is today.

“For many of you who might have known them, it was a relationship built on love and passion in all aspects – personal and business,” JGY said.

“Mom and Dad passed on a lot of values that continue to guide us: integrity to customers, credit reputation, fairness to partners, concern for our co-workers, entrepreneurial spirit and innovation in pursuit of excellence,” she added.

These values, the tycoon said, laid the foundation to start and fuel the expansion of the group’s businesses.

The Filinvest Group, which first ventured into real estate, has since diversified its portfolio to include investments in banking, hospitality and tourism, power generation and sugar.

With decades of history and legacy, the conglomerate remains bullish on its growth prospects, driven by its impressive financial performance last year.

“We have much to celebrate in 2025 – the 70th anniversary of the group. We are starting on good footing, with 2024 registering the highest revenue and income numbers in our corporate history,” JGY said.

From January to September 2024, Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC) recorded a net income of P9.5 billion, up by 59 percent from P5.9 billion previously and propelled mainly by its banking, power and property businesses.

Revenues and other income for the period surged by 34 percent year-on-year to P86.8 billion.

FDC COO Ysmael Baysa credited the conglomerate’s “very strong” performance last year to the leadership across the group’s business segments.

“The Filinvest Group looks forward to great years ahead, and we have been building even stronger foundations to make this happen,” Baysa said in his speech last Friday.

Over the last five years, the conglomerate has taken a significant leap forward to gear up for its aggressive plans ahead.

“Starting from the top, we have welcomed new leaders in all our subsidiaries – it is the first time in the history of the group that all leadership positions are held by non-family members,” JGY said.

“The leadership has made great strides in optimizing return on our substantial asset base and network. We are confident in our ability to accelerate growth in the coming decade under new leadership,” she said.

Although new leaders have emerged, the legacy of Andrew and Mercedes will remain forever intertwined with Filinvest, just like the unbreakable connection between a bow and its arrow.