Chinos Bravos: The Go Dynasty of Cebu City
Todd Lucero Sales
What do the GO (owners of the University of Cebu and Elizabeth Mall), the SYGAISANO (owners of the veritable Gaisano group of companies), the GOKONGWEI
(owners of Robinson’s Mall, JG Summit, Cebu Pacific, and Sun Cellular), the
GOTIANUN (owners of FILINVEST Group and East-West Bank), and if rumors are
true, the OSMEÑA families have in common, other than being five of the richest and
most influential families of Cebu City? They also happen to be descendants of the GO
family of Kei-tang, Fukien, China, who came to the city of Cebu in the late nineteenth
century and established a wealth that continues to this very day.
From a humble origin in the Fukien province of China, the enterprising young man Go
Bon Tiao, known more commonly today as Don Pedro Singson Gotiaoco, went on to
become known as one of the 19th-century Cebu wealthiest taipans. His story is not
unlike those of many prominent Filipino-Chinese businessmen with their quite literally
rags to riches story. But what sets Pedro Gotiaoco apart from the rest of his Chinese
brethren is not only the continuation of the family wealth to the present generation, but
also the diversification of the business enterprises in not one, two, or even just three
families but in 5 financially entrenched families in the country today with their influence
stretching in all corners of society. Truly, the rise to wealth of the Go family and their
contribution to the economy of the Philippines is indeed a story worth telling.
Humble Origins
In an interview with Atty. Augusto Go, the President of the University of Cebu and the
Honorary Consul of South Korea to Cebu, he depicts his grandfather Don Pedro Gotiaoco
as a pioneering man who left his feudal homeland to search for the proverbial greener
pastures here in Cebu City. Late nineteenth century China was still pretty much feudal,
with the lords living prosperously while the peasants barely able to make ends meet. The
Go family was one of those who had to toil the land for survival, and, added to this
dismal poverty, Pedro Gotiaoco’s life was further burdened by his step-mother, who
always managed to find fault in the young Chinese man. Thus, with all these happening,
the young Gotiaoco decided to leave China and seek his fortune elsewhere.
But there was also a more pressing reason why he had to flee his hometown, and it was
this reason, above all, that precipitated the young Gotiaoco’s escape from China.
According to Atty. Go, who is the considered the best authority regarding the history of
the family, Pedro Gotiaoco had accidentally shot a cousin and wanted to escape
prosecution by running away. Indeed, if Pedro Gotiaoco had been arrested in Kei-tang,
he would most probably have languished in jail and the Go dynasty of Cebu would never
have been created. Thus, with barely anything to his name, Gotiaoco ventured the
unknown and arrived in Cebu City during the late nineteenth century.
Start in Cebu
Like most of the Chinese population in the country, Pedro Gotiaoco started in the lowest
wrung of the social ladder. The Chinese were already considered second-class citizens in
late Spanish-colonial Philippines, and it must have indeed been difficult for a newcomer
such as Gotiaoco to establish himself in the already crowded market of Cebu City.
Displaying ingenuity and patience, Gotiaoco started from peddling oil and upgraded to
selling rice which was consigned to him by a Vietnamese merchant. Upon the return of
the Vietnamese, Gotiaoco informed the merchant that he was unable to sell all sacks of
rice but, instead of getting mad, the Vietnamese instead gave the remaining sacks of rice
to Gotiaoco as commission and even further consigned to him more sacks to be sold.
This arrangement suited Gotiaoco, and, pretty soon, he was a trusted vendor for the
Vietnamese merchant. At one point, Gotiaoco casually asked the merchant what made
him trust Gotiaoco with his goods. The Vietnamese said that one night, as Gotiaoco was
sleeping, he noticed that he had his hand on his heart, and, to the Vietnamese people,
those who sleep with their hand upon their chest is an indication of honesty. Indeed,
Pedro Gotiaoco remained an honest businessman, and pretty soon, with enough capital,
he began to sell his own rice and, even when the selling of opium was legalized, he
refused to sell it because of its addictive and negative effects. Thus was his business
started in Cebu. He later called his products “JO”, in allusion to the hook-and-ring which
he used to carry his sacks of rice when he still peddled.
Rags to Riches
Pretty soon, Pedro Gotiaoco decided to assimilate with mainstream Chinese-Filipino
communities by being baptized in the Christian faith. According to American culture
historian on the Philippines, Michael Cullinane, Don Pedro Gotiaoco was baptized with
Don Mariano Singson, from the prominent Chinese mestizo family of the Parian, as a
sponsor. Thus Don Pedro was also known as Don Pedro Singson Go Tiaoco, with his
influential baptismal sponsor's name incorporated with his own, after the fashion of the
times. A "padrino" was deemed a necessary protector for an immigrant like Don
Pedro. The sponsor’s son, Don Segundo Singson, was later on the brother-in-law of the
late Philippine president, Don Sergio Osmeña. Singson's second wife Eleuteria ChiongVeloso was the sister of Osmeña's first, Estefania. A Singson lady also became a
mistress of Pedro Gotiaoco and conceived his only daughter, Modesta.
Similarly, the ennobling title of “Don” soon became attached to Gotiaco’s name. Don
Pedro Go Tiaoco, according Southwall magazine's Arts and Culture Editor Gavin Sanson
Bagares, was a "Chino Cristiano" or Christianized Chinese who got his honorific title of
"don" from some form of service to the Spanish Crown, most probably as a"teniente" or
an adjutant of the Chinese "gremio" or tax ward. In the available list, he does not appear
to have been a "capitan" or "gobernadorcillo" (a position equivalent to that of mayor
today) of the said ward. The “co” on his adopted Hispanized surname also appears to
indicate some form of influence; although the word "CO" is also a Chinese last surname,
when it appears as part of a three-syllable Chinese-Filipino surname it then corresponds
to a title or distinction given to affluent citizens, similar to the "DON/DONA" titles used
by Spanish aristocratic mestizos. Says Hector Santos, an expert on indigenous
Filipino/Chinese-Filipino names, “co was a title of respect given to someone like an
elder, or an older brother. However, Co was also a valid name so that it would be hard to
say whether the "Co" in the name was part of the original Chinese name or was an
honorific. Generally speaking, if it is at the end it would have been an honorific.”
Progeny and Prodigy
It would seem that after becoming prosperous in the Philippines, Don Pedro Gotiaoco
repeatedly returned to China and there married a woman whose name we know only
today as “Disy”. Go Disy was the mother of four children, three boys and a girl. The
girl, however, died young. The three sons were Go Chong Tut, Go Tian Uy, and Go
Chong An. It would also seem that Don Pedro also had other children outside marriage.
The first and verifiable child was Doña Modesta Singson, whose mother was believed to
have been a Chinese-Italiana mestiza who bore Don Pedro a daughter. When she was 13
years of age, Doña Modesta was taken by Don Pedro to China to be adopted by Disy,
who was grief-stricken over the death of her daughter and who was lonely as all three of
her sons decided to seek their own fortune in the Philippines. The other alleged child of
Don Pedro was Don Sergio Osmeña. Although Atty. Augusto Go categorically denies
having proof that former President Osmeña is another Don Pedro son, it cannot be denied
that Atty. Go’s father, Don Manuel Gotianuy, was very close to Don Sergio and they
treated each other like brothers. Up to today, the parentage of Don Sergio Osmeña
remains a controversy, with some historian claiming that he was a son of Don Pedro
Gotiaoco, while others claiming that his father was another prominent Chino-Christiano.
Whatever the truth about Don Sergio, Don Pedro Gotiaoco and his brother Go Kiam Co
(who later followed his brother to Cebu City) have left many descendants who are wellknown in Philippine society. Prominent among these are Atty. Augusto Go, grandson of
Don Pedro Gotiaoco and the President of the University of Cebu; John Gokongwei, Jr., a
great-grandson of Don Pedro Gotiaoco and the owner of Cebu Pacific, Robinson’s Mall,
JG Summit, and many more; and the Sy-Gaisano family, who operate chains of shopping
malls all over Visayas and Mindanao. A grandson of the brother of Don Pedro is Andrew
Gotianun, who owns FILINVEST Group and East West Bank.
Indeed, the family of Don Pedro Gotiaoco has gone a long way. From humble origins the
enterprising and honest Don Pedro Gotiaoco ventured the unknown to become one of the
pillars of the Chinese community in Cebu and has left men and women who are similarly
respected in their own fields.
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Surname History of GO - SIDEBAR
Researched by Todd Lucero Sales
The Filipino-Chinese family name GO is a variant of an old Chinese last name, WU,
which also comes in the forms of Gao, the Cantonese Ngo, Ngor, or Gor, Ng, Ang, Eng,
and Ing. The family name is traced to the town of Wu Jin of the Jiang Su Province in
China and is considered by most experts of Chinese genealogy as the top 10 most
common Chinese last name. The word WU means “men of brotherly love”.
According to official records, the surname Wu is from any of the following sources: first,
that they are descendents of Wu Quan, who was an official of Zhuan Xu (2,513 – 2435
B.C.); second, that they are descendents of Yu Shun (2,255 – 2,205 B.C.); third, that they
are descendents of the famous archer of Xia Shao Kang (2,079-2,057 B.C.); and fourth,
that they are descendents of the kings of the Wu Kingdom established by Tai Bo and
Zhong Yong. Most researchers agree that the last source is the most credible and
plausible origin of the family.
The father of the founders of the Wu kingdom was Zhou Gu Gong, who had three sons;
the oldest son was Tai Bo, second son was Zhong Yong, and the third son was Ji Li
(Zhou Wen Wang). According to the story, Ji Li had a son, Ji Chang, who was extremely
smart. Gu Gong wanted to make Ji Li his heir so that his son Ji Chang might become the
king. Tai Bo and Zhong Yong understood their father’s intention and left the Zhou
kingdom to the south east coast, where they set up their own kingdom, Wu. With Wu Zi
Xu as prime minister and Sun Wu as general, Wu became a powerful kingdom, defeated
Chu, Yue and Ji, and began to challenge Jin. Unfortunately, Wu’s duke Fu Cha became
arrogant and refused to listen to Wu Zi Xu, leading to the elimination of Wu by Yue.
Descendents of Fu Cha began to bear the last name of Wu ever since.