Business tycoon John Gokongwei Jr., considered the third richest entrepreneur in the Philippines, will be declared honorary mayor of Bacolod City at the Bacolod City Government Center today, Mayor Evelio Leonardia announced yesterday.

Leonardia said Gokongwei will be the third honoree of the BacoLaodiat Festival, after former ambassador Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. and business tycoon Lucio Tan.

Gokongwei will also be proclaimed as an adopted son of Bacolod.

He will be given a special luncheon honoring him as a Filipino-Chinese, and for having been the first major investor to put up a mall (Robinsons) in Bacolod City which paved the way for the entry of other investors.

Gokongwei is the chairman of JG Summit Holdings, one of largest conglomerates in the Philippines.

In 2005, his company spent $700 million of internally generated funds which was used to buy new aircraft for his airline,Cebu Pacific Air.

From 2003 up to the present his telecom companyDigital telecommunications Philippinesspent nearly $800 million for its mobile carrier,Sun Cellularwhich is the third largest mobile operator in the Philippines as of 2008.

Gokongwei also ownsUniversal Robina Corporation, one of the largest manufacturer of snacks in the Philippines. He also controls Robinsons Land one of the biggest property developers in the Philippines which also operates a chain ofmalls.

He was born into a wealthyCebu-based family, originally from China'sFujian province. The family fortune was lost when his affluent father died.

Gokongwei started his business career duringWorld War III, buying and selling rice, clothing and scrap metal. He is married, and has six children.

His only son, Lance Gokongwei, is now in charge of the Gokongwei Empire, serving as president and COO while his father is chairman emeritus.

On February, 2008,ForbesAsia magazine’s first Heroes ofPhilanthrophy list included four Filipinos –Jaime Zobel de Ayala, John Gokongwei, Ramón del Rosario Jr., and Óscar López, each selected from 13 selected countries and territories in Asia.

John Gokongwei and fellow businessman Andrew Gotianunare cousins.

Meanwhile, Leonardia, when asked if he has concerns to take up with him, said they will request Gokongwei if they can include Bacolod City and Negros Occidental in the expansion program of Cebu Pacific.

“Cebu Pacific is very aggressive and we would like to connect with their program to go international that will benefit Bacolod. And that goes well with our thrust because I am sending a letter to President Aquino thanking him for including the Bacolod-Silay Airport in the customs, immigration and quarantine facilities,” he said.

President Benigno Aquino III had directed the Departments of Transportation and Communication, Bureau of Immigration and other concerned agencies to install CIQ processing centers for the operation and handling of direct international flights of seven airports in the country. The Bacolod-Silay Airport is one of them.

Leonardia said “Our immediate focus are the Korean tourists. But if Cebu Pacific can seriously look into our market in Bacolod and Negros Occidental, we might be included in their expansion program. And hopefully, international flights can be regularly accommodated in the Bacolod-Silay Airport, he added.”*CGS

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