What Do These 3 Business Tycoon Moms Have in Common?

Turns out three of the country's most prolific female tycoons went to the same school. Robina Gokongwei-Pe, Josephine Gotianun-Yap, and Tessie Sy-Coson gathered at Immaculate Conception Academy Greenhills for the 20th anniversary Mass of the school's scholarship foundation on July 11. The three respectively sit atop Robinsons Retail, Filinvest, and SM.

Gokongwei-Pe is director and chairperson of Robinsons Retail Holdings, a post she moved into in January last year after seven years as president and CEO. She's also a trustee and vice chairperson of the ICA Greenhills Scholarship Foundation.

Gotianun-Yap is president and CEO of Filinvest Land and moved from president and CEO of parent company Filinvest Development Corp. to vice chairperson in 2023. She finished elementary school at ICA, then joined Ateneo's first co-ed batch in 1973.

Sy-Coson chairs BDO Unibank, credited with steering the bank into the country's biggest lender, and serves as vice chairperson of SM Investments Corp.

The foundation was established in July 2006 to fund ICA scholarships. Since school year 2009-2010, it has also assisted public high school and college students, mostly from San Juan. It's PCNC-accredited, BIR-registered as tax-exempt, and runs a partner arm through the Philippine Development Foundation, formerly Ayala Foundation USA.

Two decades in, the foundation counts three of the country's most senior businesswomen among its trustees and alumnae, its reach now stretching well past the San Juan gates it was built to serve.

All three business tycoons are also mothers—Gokongwei-Pe has two children, Gotianun-Yap has three, and Sy-Coson has three.

This story was first published by Esquire Philippines. Additional edits have been made by the Smart Parenting editors.