Annette Gozon-Abrogar: Excellence personified
MANILA, Philippines - If excellence can be personified, there’s no other way for it but to take a form and be called Annette Gozon-Abrogar.
Annette, the youthful looking president of GMA Films, was a no-nonsense lawyer before embarking on becoming the programming consultant to “big boss” of GMA 7 eight years ago. The “big boss” being talked about here, of course, is her father, GMA president and CEO lawyer Felipe Gozon. Though Annette remains a junior partner in her father’s Belo Gozon Elma Parel Asuncion Lucila law firm, she does not deny her equal passion for the entertainment industry.
“It also gives me a different kind of satisfaction doing all these things,” she says, referring to her job as the top honcho of the film arm of the network station. She adds that she heads the GMA Worldwide Inc., the arm that purchases canned programs for GMA and sells GMA programs abroad.
“When I was given the mandate five years ago to head GMA Films, I knew that excellence of the job was expected of me,” she says. Well, Annette has not encountered any problem when it comes to perfecting excellence. She was valedictorian of the UP Law School in 1997. When she passed the Bar in the same year, she started working for her father’s firm. With flying colors, she finished her Master’s at the Harvard Law School in 1999. She even taught Taxation in UP after studying in Harvard.
Knowing that she is a top caliber lawyer, Annette is a whiff of fresh air in the film industry. Her eyes sparkle recounting the 12 to 14 movies GMA Films has produced and co-produced when she assumed the post.
“Now, we produce mostly romantic comedy films,” she says. Perhaps such is the genre of the movies she makes now because it is reflective of who she is — light hearted, positive and romantic.
“I always laugh even if things get very challenging. And yes, I’m also very romantic,” she says while glancing at her husband Lito Abrogar, a businessman, who is seated beside her during the interview.
Annette and Lito have two kids — Anja, nine and Andy, five. “I play with them but I sometimes get a bit strict. But they both can have their way with their Dad,” she chuckles with her chinky eyes.
Her positive outlook in life and a very strong support from her loved ones make Annette a very inspiring and inspirational person.
“My parents taught me to always maintain my principles intact — to be honest all the time because it always pays to do the right thing,” she says.
She adds: “Lito taught me to be careful all the time because I am too trusting.”
Annette is well-grounded that she knows with humility that life is not always what one expects it to be. “There will always be problems but those challenges should not deter one to be motivated, analytical and thorough.”
Sure, life always has stumbling blocks. But, for Annette, those are not enough to stop her to excel.
