Gokongwei group launches fourth ‘Go’ brand

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First it was CebGo, then came Go Rewards, followed by GoTyme, now there’s GoCharge.

The Gokongwei group has unveiled a new brand that again pays homage to the Chinese ancestors of the Gokongwei family.

The Gokongweis trace their Chinese roots to Pedro Gotiaco, the great, great grandfather of the children — Robina, only son Lance, Lisa, Faith, Hope, Marcia — of the late John Jr. and Elizabeth Gokongwei who both passed on in November 2019. Gotiaco migrated to the Philippines from China in 1871. Their ancestral home is in the village of Kendong, Jinjiang, China.

In their first foray into the sunrise electric vehicle (EV) industry in the Philippines, the Gokongweis’ property arm Robinsons Land Corporation (RLC) recently launched the GoCharge hub in GBF Center 1 of Bridgetowne Destination Estate in Quezon City in partnership with EV car dealership Wuling Philippines.

Coincidentally, two RLC leaders with “Go” in their surname were present in the ceremony last February 28: Mybelle Aragon GoBio, the first woman president and CEO of RLC; and project proponent Jericho Go, senior vice-president and general manager of RLC.

Though it may seem to have been a Go family affair on the part of RLC, you may be surprised to learn that these two high-ranking officers of the Gokongwei Group are not related by blood to the Gokongwei family.

Jericho Go, in fact, started his career in one of RLC’s competitors, Ayala Land. He clarified in a podcast interview in 2024 that he was not a member of the Gokongwei family, noting that it’s often asked of him.

In that interview, he recalled the first time he made a presentation to his big bosses in the Gokongwei group. He referred to John Gokongwei Jr.’s brother, James Go, as “Mr. Go,” which prompted the latter to break the ice by saying, “Don’t call me Mr. Go — all of us are Mr. Go, including you. Call me Mr. James.”

GoBio, on the other hand, is a unique, Chinese-sounding surname. Her maiden name is Aragon, and she is a daughter of the late former National Bureau of Investigation Director Antonio Aragon who had a brief stint as head of the agency during the Fidel Ramos administration. She, too, isn’t related to the Go family.

The Gokongweis’ budget airline Cebu Pacific’s subsidiary Cebgo is the rebranded Tigerair Philippiines; their lifestyle rewards program GoRewards used to be Robinsons Rewards; and GoTyme is their digital banking joint venture with Tyme Bank of South Africa.

Wuling Philippines as partner

The Gokongweis’ first partner in their EV venture is EV car dealership Wuling Philippines, headed by its president, Lloyd Lee, husband of architect Shamcey Supsup-Lee, the former Binibining Pilipinas Universe 2011 who won 3rd runner-up in Miss Universe 2011.

Shamcey is the brand ambassador of Wuling Philippines and is promoting the use of EVs in the country. She showed how the charging works at the GBF Tower in Bridgetowne Destination Estate in this Instagram video below:

In her speech announcing the partnership with Wuling Philippines, GoBio noted the growing demand for green solutions in the face of climate change and climate crisis.

“Our answer to that is GoCharge, RLC’s initiative to build a robust and expansive network of electric vehicle charging solutions. We see Wuling as a very good partner in this initiative,” she said.

RLC plans to expand the GoCharge network to 2,000 charging units in 5 years by partnering with other EV and energy industry players.

Go said RLC was committed to expanding charging stations for EVs, saying that a shift to EV can help improve people’s lives through savings on fuel costs.

Expanding charging stations in the country is an important factor in getting consumers to shift to EVs. Many prospective buyers of EVs are hesitant due to what’s called “range anxiety,” as they fear that their EVs might run out of power while driving.

“This collaboration inaugurates an initial deployment comprising of car chargers and motorcycle chargers powered entirely by green energy, courtesy of the solar panels installed by Wuling Philippines atop the GBF Tower in late 2024,” RLC said.

“This milestone marks the beginning of a partnership built on a shared vision of a cleaner, greener future. We’re proud to donate solar panels and electric vehicle charging stations to Robinsons Land as part of our commitment to sustainability and creating a healthier environment for everyone,” Shamcey said.

The new GoCharge hub has standard charging units offering 220 volts/32 amperes at 7 kilowatts with a full charge time of 6 to 7 hours. It also includes fast-charging units delivering 400 volts with 114-228 amperes at 60-120 kilowatts (up to 200 KW) that allow vehicles to charge in as little as 30 minutes.

Slow EV adoption

Another company that has committed to expanding EV charging stations is the Ayala Corporation’s AC Mobility. The Ayalas’ AC Motors is the official distributor of BYD, the global leader in EVs. AC Mobility is putting up over 70 charging points in different parts of Makati by the first quarter of 2025.

It has also put up charging stations in most of its malls, bank branches and offices of the Ayala Group in its other properties in Luzon and Visayas

Filipinos are slowly becoming more open to buying an EV, especially with growing awareness of the climate crisis, and the worsening air pollution in urban areas. Perks such as EV exemption from number coding and eye candy models of mini-EVs are also pushing car buyers to consider buying an EV.

It’s still a long way to go, however.

In 2019 or six years ago, only 214 EV cars were sold in the country. This went up to 378 units in 2020, 843 units in 2021, and 3,091 units in 2022, according to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Comprehensive Roadmap for the Electric Vehicle Industry or CREVI.

Total Philippine electrified vehicle sales in the third quarter of 2024 reached 14,178, a 133% increase from the 6,088 in the third quarter of 2023, according to data from the latest earnings report of industry leader Toyota Motors Philippines (TMP) released last week.

The DOE roadmap sets a 50% EV fleet share in the Philippines by 2040. In the short term (2023 to 2028), the target is to have 2.45 million electric vehicles (cars, tricycles, motorcycles, buses, and public utility vehicles) by 2028. For cars, the targets are 415,000 Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs), 69,000 Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs), and 69,000 Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs). – Rappler.com