ROBINA GOKONGWEI-PE REMEMBERS HER MOM WITH A LOT OF LOVE — AND LAUGHS

slice of life

- CHING M. ALANO

"She was very funny and always very nice to people," Robina Gokongwei-Pe, chairman of Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc., says, remembering her mom Elizabeth Gokongwei with a lot of love — and a humongous dose of laughter.

Robina shares this incident out of so many funny ones: "Mom was also working with us at Robinsons Retail on E. Rodriguez Ave. in Libis and she had a new driver who was very old. They tried to enter a compound and the guard said they were not allowed inside. But my mom insisted, 'But I work here.' The guard stood his ground. Then my mom said, 'But look, I'm Elizabeth Gokongwei, I own Robinsons.' And the guard said, 'Ma'am, this is not Robinsons, it's in the next building.'"

Robina adds with a chuckle, "She was very nice. She didn't threaten the guard that he would be fired because he didn't know Elizabeth Gokongwei."

Always kind and gentle, Elizabeth never talked down on people; instead, she talked to them. It's probably the best lesson Robina learned from her mom, "Respect people whoever they are. Even with this guard, she was very respectful, asking him calmly how come she was not allowed in her own office."

Did Robina inherit the foregoing trait from her mom?

"No, I'm masungit," goes her frank reply.