Two weddings and John Gokongwei’s coup
August 10, 2003 | 12:00am
HONOLULU, Hawaii – Why did business taipan John L. Gokongwei Jr. hold the recent weddings of his two daughters in the sunny Aloha State of Hawaii, 10 hours away via Philippine Airlines? Is it because of Hawaii’s image as one of the world’s most romantic hideaways, far from the cares of our problematic world?
Remember the famous 1953 film From Here To Eternity based on the novel of James Jones and starring Burt Lancaster and the beautiful Deborah Kerr? Their sizzling kissing scene on the beach of Halona Cove in Oahu, Hawaii has been described as "the most famous love scene in movie history." This award-winning novel set in Hawaii was a bestseller and the movie went on to win Best Picture in the Oscar Awards. Pop icon Elvis Presley also added to Hawaii’s idyllic romance image with the South Pacific and other hit songs and movies set in his favorite vacation place.
The original plans for the recent two weddings of the Gokongwei family in dazzling Shanghai or cosmopolitan Hong Kong were abandoned in favor of Hawaii due to the SARS scare in East Asia last summer. The tradition of the family of pioneer industrialist John Gokongwei Jr. to celebrate intimate weddings abroad reflects the simple, austere and no-nonsense values of the self-made taipan.
The choice of Hawaii as venue for these two low-key weddings of the business leader’s daughters Faith and Lisa was providential, for they were held on July 25 and 28, uninterrupted by nationwide anxieties caused by the July 27 military rebellion in the Philippine’s financial district. I didn’t bother to tell the taipan a text joke I had received, which said the military coup was supposedly sponsored by his Sun Cellular, because the Magdalo’s sun insignia used in the armbands of the rebel soldiers was similar to the Sun Cellular logo.
The happy father of the two brides was content to quietly take a back seat during the two weddings. Despite being a close and doting father to his kids, he was not like the anxious and hilarious Steve Martin in the two movies Father of the Bride. Every afternoon, I would join him to go to the world-famous, Baywatch-like beach where he would swim in the ocean for an hour.
Gokongwei said that marrying the right spouse is the most important decision in a person’s life, and he cited his unassuming wife Elizabeth Yu-Gokongwei as the perfect example. He said, "Now that all of my six children are married and have settled down, I have retired in business (and only retain the position of chairman emeritus), I can now spend 365 days a year reading and traveling."
To celebrate the two weddings, John and Elizabeth Gokongwei hosted a small, simple yet very festive traditional Hawaiian-style luau dinner on July 26 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village resort hotel’s Rainbow Tower function room. The original venue was the outdoor lagoon of the resort, but the overcast skies that afternoon prompted the hosts to quickly change the venue in case of rains. Almost everyone wore colorful aloha shirts and dresses, but none wore bathing suits or came barefoot as many locals do in a luau.
The luau showcased traditional delicacies of Hawaii, haunting chants, music and Polynesian dances by performers in native garb. A Hawaiian lady surfer said that in the past, dogs were a very popular part of the luau menu, and women used to dine separately from the men until King Kamehameha II abolished the old kapu system in 1819. The usual way to cook the foods were to kalua (bake) the meat, chicken, dog and fish in an imu (underground oven). The luau remains to be a time of fun, feasting and thanking the gods for the bounty of the land.
In this luau between the two weddings, among the foods served were pig roasted to flaky tenderness in the imu, accompanied by poi (made by pounding taro roots into a paste), sweet potatoes, chicken long rice (tasty chicken dish cooked with translucent noodles made of rice flour and garnished with green onions), marinated lomilomi (not the Chinese lomi noodles but meaning "mashed") salmon with chopped tomatoes and onions, and opihi (a shellfish plucked from the rocky shorelines and eaten raw as a local delicacy). Their coconut and pineapple-flavored white-colored drink, with or without liquor, was very delicious.
The highlight of the evening was when a native Hawaiian dancer invited John Gokongwei Jr., Berck’s father Cheng Han Sui, Winston’s father Wilson Lim of Abenson, insurance tycoon and Philippine Stock Exchange leader Robert Coyiuto Jr., Equitable PCIBank chairman Antonio "Tony" Go and Lance Gokongwei’s father-in-law Ricardo Leong to go up the stage to do the traditional Hawaiian hula dance. The small cozy function room exploded in laughter and thunderous applause, as all the relatives jockeyed for strategic positions to record the spectacle in video and photos. One of the few non-family guests, Carlos Chan of Liwayway/Oishi (but better known as the elder brother of Bench boss Ben Chan) said, "I have never seen Gokongwei and these other tycoons participate in any kind of dance before tonight."
During the luau, we eagerly anticipated what would happen after President Gloria M. Arroyo’s 5 p.m. deadline on July 27 (it was 11 p.m. of July 26 in Hawaii). Among the most well-informed about the unfolding events was Gokongwei’s youngest brother and JG Summit Holdings chief executive officer James L. Go, who kept sharing with me the latest news on the unfolding events back home.
The questions uppermost in the minds of people were: What will happen to the country and the economy after this coup or revolt or mutiny? Who are these highly-educated young military officers and what are their objectives? How will the GMA government respond to this crisis and what will she say in her State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday?
Since the luau ended promptly, we would later get the news in our hotel rooms from CNN and text messages that GMA had extended her original deadline for the rebels to end their coup.
Although the invitation to mostly close relatives and a few personal friends specified the attire as "smart casual to semi-formal," most of us wore coat and tie. John Gokongwei Jr. walked Lisa towards the gazebo, with the radiant bride wearing an elegant wedding gown by Richie Ortega.
The lady Episcopalian Minister Marilyn Watts was eloquent, but she also at times exhibited unique wit and humor. She didn’t deliver any homily, but instead read Bible passages about the meaning of true love from Corinthians chapter 13. The lady minister was recommended by the mother of sister-in-law Jay Leong-Gokongwei, while the talented wedding coordinators were the bride’s friends Atty. Frances Yuyucheng and Regina Mercado.
The early wedding reception for 70 guests at the Kahala Mandarin’s Waialae Ballroom was memorable, lively, full of humor and surprising parlor games.
The Philippine Star columnist Robina Gokongwei-Pe recited a well-applauded poem she wrote as her special gift for her younger sister Lisa and Berck. During the wedding of Lance Gokongwei to Jay Leong, also in Hawaii three years ago, Robina offered her original poetry as her gift as well.
It is a coincidence that both Lisa and Jay studied at Columbia University. A graduate of University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), Berck delivered a thank you speech after surviving a series of humorous speeches and the exciting parlor games where the penalties were for him and the bride to kiss for five minutes each time! Brushing off suggestions that he run for Congress in 2004 due to his wit and eloquence as emcee, lawyer and brother-in-law Perry Pe at the start of the dinner successfully set the casual and fun mood by requiring all the men to take off our ties and to relax.
The mostly Hawaiian-inspired food served in the elegant dinner lived up to the excellent standards of Mandarin Oriental everywhere – lavosh, dinner rolls with butter, ahi variation, ahi poki, grilled ahi and macadamia nut-encrusted ahi, steamed onaga Hong Kong-style with ginger and green onions, shiitake mushrooms, Chinese parsley and red chili, duet of grilled beef tenderloin and kona lobster, wasabi mashed potatoes, tomato pine nuts spinach, strawberries, French vanilla ice cream and chocolate wafer.
Anvil Executive Club is a dynamic organization of young and idealistic Filipino-Chinese entrepreneurs and professionals, whose monthly dinner meetings have seen several Philippine presidents, tycoons and all kinds of leaders as guest speakers. Coincidentally, another then Anvil director and head of the Chan concert project was our good friend businesswoman Aileen Uygongco-Ongkauko of Iloilo, whose parents Alfonso and Agnes Uy would become among the few godparents of the Berck-Lisa wedding.
The Anvil officers and members may be talented entrepreneurs and business managers, but the very first presscon was an embarrassing flop. Although the singer Joe Mari Chan failed to show up in the presscon, his absence prompted the other officers led by chairman Elena Tanyu Coyiuto, president George T. Siy to call upon Berck to explain the project and apologize. It was here where Lisa first met Berck.
Yvette Fernandez recalled, "Unfortunately for the shame-faced producers, Jose Mari Chan – the guest of honor – never showed up. To our diva-like consternation, a humble Berck got up onstage to make the announcement that the planned press conference was not going to happen, but that he hoped we would publicize the concert anyway. Luckily, we didn’t have rotten tomatoes. How dare they make us waste our time! As the organizers handed out our press kits (with our free tickets inside), we surreptitiously managed to find out Berck’s name. Burke? No, Berck, with a C-K."
"Ewww," said Lisa to Yvette at the time. "Talk about the Chinese messing up names." Yvette later laughed, commenting: "But she was the one to talk. She was the only Lisa I knew whose name was pronounced with a long I." When Yvette and Lisa mentioned the whole Anvil Executive Club’s non-presscon and about that guy named Berck, the enterprising Lance eventually managed to set up Berck on his first date with Lisa, which started the long courtship and friendship from Greenhills to Manila to New York and back, culminating in the romantic Hawaiian seaside wedding.
Lisa’s secretary Luz Bolos recalled, "Every Valentine’s Day, Sir Berck’s ‘I love you so much Lisa’ flowers would arrive at the office. His were always the BIGGEST, REDDEST, TALLEST bouquets of roses to ever land in the Summit Media executive office. Sali kaya natin sa Guinness Book of World Records, Ma’am Li? That was one of the many kilig ways Sir Berck wooed Ma’am Li."
Elder sister Robina Gokongwei-Pe said of the Berck-Lisa love team: "I think it was cool that a guy who attended Sunday service regularly (and I heard, taught Sunday School) would marry the publisher of the racy magazines Cosmopolitan and FHM. As they say, opposites do attract. As Perry said in the wedding reception, Berck is now a certified member of UHAW, an organization of which Perry is president. UHAW stands for Union of Husbands Afraid of Wives. Lisa is now a certified member of UWAK, an organization of which I’m president. UWAK stands for Union of Wives Against Kabit. Cheers!"
Yvette is now with Bloomberg media. She said that when she got the text message of Lisa’s engagement to Berck on Jan. 24 this year, her reaction was:
"Hooray! I yelled, like a New York baseball fan who just watched the Yankees win in extra innings. Twelve long innings that eventually brought them victory in the end. And today, in this simple yet romantic wedding in Hawaii, we’ve just witnessed the ticker tape celebration."
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