Robert Coyiuto: Filipino Mandarin

(Editor’s note: Award-winning writer Charlson Ong is the author of the forthcoming book Robert Coyiuto: Filipino Mandarin published by the Coyiuto Foundation in celebration of Robert Coyiuto’s 85th birth-year celebration.)

When Robert Coyiuto passed away at the relatively young age of 58 in 1982 he was a giant of the Philippine insurance industry. He had led various companies to the pinnacle of the industry and helped found Prudential Guarantee and Assurance, Inc. (PGAI), which his heirs would eventually transform into one of the nation’s top corporations. Before the term taipan came into vogue to describe successful entrepreneurs and industrialists of Chinese descent, Coyiuto led corporations that boasted hundreds of millions of pesos in resources.

Born of humble origins in Fujian, China, in 1924, Coyiuto settled in Manila during the years shortly before the outbreak of World War II to help his elder brothers run the family trading business. The youngest surviving male child in a brood of 10 born to a goldsmith, Co Ji Dian, and a bound-foot village woman, Tan O Kuan, Coyiuto was a quiet, self-possessed boy who loved to read and study. In Manila, he taught himself English and learned the culture of his adopted land.

When the family went into the insurance business in the 1950s, Coyiuto, with his learning and language abilities, was well poised to correspond with foreign partners. He formed friendships with people of different cultures and countries and developed a taste for elegance and refinement.

Though well known for his impeccable style and manner — always well attired and a gourmand — Coyiuto’s reputation is founded on the bedrock of real achievement and character. A trailblazer, he guided the corporation he led — and consequently the insurance industry — to new heights by offering cutting-edge services and opening up fresh markets. He was also among the earliest to venture into petroleum exploration in the country.

In 1977, Robert Coyiuto became the first Filipino member of Lloyd’s, an insurance market of a kind based in London. Founded in the 17th century, the market insures almost anything: ships, aircraft, tankers, airlines, oilrigs, and represents an income of tens of millions of British pounds in premiums every working day. Coyiuto was among the first foreign industrialists to do business with China as that nation emerged from decades of isolation in the late 1970s.

For all his admiration of modernity, Robert Coyiuto was a gentleman of the old school. He was steeped in Confucian tradition and valued family above all. As with many of his generation he cherished propriety, filial piety, righteousness and compassion. Although known for his reserve and formality, he was a great party host.

He was a father figure not only to his children but also to employees whose careers he guided and whose lives he touched. He went out of his way to help friends in need and made sure the firms he led advanced important social causes before “corporate social responsibility” projects became common fare. A handshake, for him, was as good as any contract. His word was gold.

A self-made man of enterprise, he was a lover of culture, a supporter of the arts, and an antique collector. Who knows what further heights he might have scaled as a man of industry had he lived to a ripe old age? Still, despite the brevity of his career, Robert Coyiuto has left behind a legacy of compassionate enterprise that his heirs continue to champion.