On April 24, 2025, the Gokongwei Group gathered together for an unforgettable afternoon of recognition, reflection, and celebration at the 14th Pride in Performance (PIP) Awards. Held at the Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria with 400 onsite attendees and streamed to over 4,000 viewers online, the event recognized the outstanding projects and teams that exemplified the Gokongwei Group’s core values: Entrepreneurial Mindset, Integrity, and Stewardship.
This year’s theme, “Celebrate Meaningful Breakthroughs,” reflected innovation, performance, courage, and collaboration—the qualities that continue to drive the Group’s long-term growth.
“We are here to recognize the excellent results achieved from pursuits in business transformation, in technology, and in community,” said JG Summit Chief Human Resources Officer Gully Go in his opening remarks, noting that there were over 70 projects submitted for consideration this year. “These awards honor the work of those who made the extraordinary happen. You have reminded us that we have what it takes to face any challenge—and win.”
Go also emphasized to the audience that PIP represents a shared mindset, one that fuels the Group’s continued drive toward excellence and impact. “Beyond Pride in Performance, PIP also means: our Passion for excellence, driving our entrepreneurial mindset like winds to our sails. The Integrity in everything we do, and have been entrusted with. And the Purpose of 'an unrelenting commitment to provide our customers with better choices, creating shared success with our stakeholders.'”
Stewardship: Sustainability and People at the Center
The ceremony began with awards under the Stewardship category, the value that focuses on responsible leadership in managing resources, people, and the environment for long-term impact.
The Sustainability Award recognizes initiatives with strong environmental, social, or community outcomes. This year’s winner, Universal Robina Corporation’s La Carlota operations earned the Sustainability Award for its “La Carlota Solar + Biomethane” project. Integrating solar power and biomethane into its energy mix, URC reflected a strong commitment to greener, more responsible operations.
The People & Culture Award celebrates programs that nurture employee engagement, growth, and inclusivity. JG Summit Olefins Corporation earned this recognition for its “Integrated People Plan: When People Truly Become the Bottom Line” project. Even during a challenging time for the company, it empowered employees and managers through holistic leadership development, improved systems, and an inclusive mindset – putting people first.
Integrity: Prioritizing Wellness and Operational Excellence
The second set of awards honored those who exemplified the value of Integrity, which recognizes ethical leadership, accountability, and continuous improvement.
The Wellness, Safety & Health Award honors projects that build a culture of care and well-being. URC’s Cebu 1 Plant earned the honor for its program “Triumph Over Adversity”, which supported team members’ mental health, safety, and resilience through a period of significant transformation. The initiative stood out as a model of care-driven change, rooted in genuine concern for people.
The second award in this category, Operational Excellence, highlights initiatives that strengthen productivity, quality, or efficiency. URC earned the committee’s nod for its high-impact project “MYDAS: Crushing the Stone, Harboring the Gold.” Through a culture of continuous improvement, cross-functional collaboration, and data-informed action, the team unlocked significant savings, efficiency, and productivity gains, proving that operational discipline is a true growth driver.
Entrepreneurial Mindset: Performance, Innovation, and Customer Focus
The final category, Entrepreneurial Mindset, spotlighted business units that pushed boundaries, put customers first, and achieved excellent results.
The Customer Excellence sub-category, which recognizes initiatives that enhance satisfaction and loyalty, was topped by CEB Group, whose Customer Journey Management Team and CEB Squad led data-driven, cross-functional initiatives that enhanced customer experience at every stage. Their work reflected a deeply customer-centric mindset, one that translates to trust, loyalty, and brand equity.
The Breakthrough Award, on the other hand, celebrates groundbreaking projects or innovative business models. Here, GoTyme Bank was recognized for the ingenuity of its “phygital” banking model, an industry game-changer that combines digital ease with in-person service. This innovation made financial inclusion much more achievable, especially for first-time users and underserved segments.
Robinsons Hotels and Resorts clinched the Business Outperformance Rising Star Award for its remarkable growth and dedication to excellence in the hospitality industry. IMAGE Gokongwei Group
The penultimate award of the ceremony, Business Outperformance – Rising Star, is bestowed on emerging units with less than PHP 8 billion in revenue that show strong potential and impressive results. GoTyme Bank and Robinsons Hotels and Resorts shared the top spot this year, both achieving significant gains while building agile, scalable platforms for sustainable growth.
Since its launch, GoTyme has built a base of over 5 million customers with deposits of PHP 25 billion. The bank generated PHP 2 billion in revenue in 2024. Robinsons Hotels and Resorts, meanwhile, expanded its hotels portfolio and focused on improving customer experiences. By doing so, it achieved PHP 6 billion in revenue.
Finally, Business Outperformance, possibly the most coveted award of the ceremony, recognizes high-performing business units with annual revenues of at least PHP 8 billion. This year’s winner, URC International, demonstrated exceptional financial growth, strong regional leadership, and consistent market execution across its international operations. In 2024, URC International achieved PHP 35 billion in revenue, and its disciplined, strategic approach stood as a blueprint for sustained regional success.
A Group Inspired to Achieve More
The 14th PIP Awards not only introduced refined categories aligned with the Group’s values but also reflected a broader transformation in how success is defined—through purpose, resilience, and people.
“These are the stories of champions,” said Lance Y. Gokongwei, JG Summit President and CEO in his closing message. “Let their achievements inspire us all to strive for excellence as we work toward our collective goals for 2025 and beyond. Each one of us has a role to play in this journey, and it's our collective effort that will lead us to success.”
Gokongwei went on to praise standout stories of resilience and transformation, citing how teams from URC Cebu Plant and JG Summit Olefins Corporation overcame immense challenges, and how initiatives from Maxicare, Robinsons Land, CEB Group, and Robinsons Retail exemplified what’s possible when change is embraced with purpose.
He also commended innovation across the Group, from GoTyme and Aspen Shared Services to Summit Media, highlighting their work as “laying the groundwork for the future of our group” and showing “the incredible value of pragmatic use of ready-now technology.”
To reinforce unity and well-being across the organization, he officially launched the Gokongwei Group Olympics, calling it “an opportunity to strengthen our bonds… forging stronger connections within our Gokongwei Group family.”
“Let us continue to push our limits together,” he urged, “to create meaningful breakthroughs that uplift our business and improve lives.”
The PIP celebration does not end with the awarding. In September, the Group will host the 2nd Gokongwei Group Learning Festival, where this year’s PIP-winning entries will be showcased alongside other initiatives. Designed to foster knowledge-sharing and cross-SBU collaboration, the festival highlights the Group’s commitment to learning as a cornerstone of long-term success.
Congratulations to all the winners of the 14th Pride in Performance Awards!
Entrepreneurial Mindset—Business Outperformance
1st Universal Robina Corporation – International
2nd Robinsons Land Corporation - Commercial Centers
3rd Maxicare Corporation and Cebu Pacific (Tie)
Entrepreneurial Mindset—Business Outperformance Rising Star
1st RLC’s Robinsons Hotels and Resorts and GoTyme Bank (Tie)
Entrepreneurial Mindset—Breakthrough
1st GoTyme Bank: “Phygital Model, a Technological Innovation Made Accessible”
2nd RRHI-Robinsons Supermarket: “Full Category Data Sharing Program (FCDS)”
3rd Gokongwei Brothers Foundation: “GBF STEM Collab Community”
Entrepreneurial Mindset—Customer Excellence
1st CEB Group: “Customer Journey Management Team & CEB Squad”
2nd URC-URMunchy's: “URM Customer and Category Share Growth in Roller Coaster”
3rd Aspen Business Solutions: “The New Employee Experience powered by Transformative Digitalization” and RRHI–The Generics Pharmacy: “Community Care in Action: Bringing Health Closer to Customers” (Tie)
Integrity—Operational Excellence
1st Universal Robina Corporation: “Project MYDAS: Crushing the Stone, Harboring the Gold”
2nd Summit Media Group: “ID8: Empowering Summit Media Creators with AI-Driven Innovation”
3rd CEB Group: “Aircraft Datalink Transmission Optimization”
Integrity—Wellness, Safety & Health
1st Universal Robina Corporation: “Triumph Over Adversity: The Transformational Journey of Cebu 1 Plant”
2nd CEB Group-1Aviation: “Operational Excellence: Walking the Path of Safety”
3rd CEB Group: “Wellness Flight Path: Employees and Dependents Route to Better Health”
Stewardship—Sustainability
1st Universal Robina Corporation: “La Carlota Solar + Biomethane”
2nd RRHI-Food Segment: “Food Rescue Program of RRHI Food Segment Banners”
3rd Gokongwei Brothers Foundation: “Juan Kapatid Learning Remediation Program”
Stewardship—People & Culture
1st JG Summit Olefins Corporation: “Integrated People Plan: When People truly becomes the Bottom Line”
2nd Maxi Group: “Project AORTA (Accelerated Organization Transformation and Agility)”
3rd CEB Group-1Aviation: “From Ground UP to Excellence”
