From retail queens to talk show hosts: Robina Gokongwei, Tessie Sy-Coson share limelight at retail conference

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August 10, 2026 | 12:00am

Notes on the beat

MANILA, Philippines — Retail tycoon Robina Gokongwei-Pe switched hats and channeled her inner “queen of talk” to ask her friend and business rival Teresita Sy-Coson or TSC a question that has probably been lingering on her mind for quite some time now: “What’s your secret to looking forever 59?”

It was a moment that drew laughter from the crowd, including TSC herself, who responded by saying Robina “is a very good friend.”

To the delight of those in attendance during the 32nd National Retail Conference and Expo held in Pasay last Friday, Robina, who was part of the audience, decided to throw not one, not two, but a slew of questions during a brief Q&A segment to one of the special guest speakers, TSC, who gamely answered each query.

Robina, 65, narrated that a few people had asked her if she and TSC, 75, were batchmates in ICA (Immaculate Conception Academy), noting that the question made her “almost jump off the ledge.”

“Are we not batchmates, or schoolmates at least?” TSC asked, tongue in cheek.

“Schoolmate is OK, but not batch mates because that means I need botox,” Robina replied in jest.

TSC then responded, “I like to be younger. I like to be batched with the younger ones also.”

Robina also inquired how TSC was as a student, which the latter replied: “I was a very quiet student because my mind is always somewhere else. So they think that I am very attentive in school.”

“I was always crazy about what I can do in the store. You know, just (thinking) crazy things – just not maybe listening to the professor or the teacher,” TSC jokingly said.

TSC, chairperson of BDO Unibank, the country’s largest bank, further shared that her favorite subject as a student was mathematics.

Robina then pointed out that it does not mean, therefore, that one has to be an honor student to be very good in business, citing TSC as an example, who she said “was quiet and her mind was always wandering.”

Talking about succession, meanwhile, Robina shared that there is currently a very small number of third generation Gokongweis who are into the business.

As far as the third generation Sys are concerned, TSC said that not everybody is interested in the business.

“My own kids do not like to follow (in my footsteps), so I’m happy to have my nieces and nephews,” she said, again drawing laughter from the adoring crowd, which also included third generation retail industry leaders like Mariana Zobel de Ayala of the Ayala Group as well as brothers Bryan and Brandon Liu of the Penshoppe Group.

It was truly an exchange for the ages between two of the country’s most beloved business personalities, who probably deserve a talk show segment of their own.