One wise man

"He is a wise man who gives away what he cannot keep"

John Gokongwei has repeatedly made headlines for his many business ventures. But the most attention grabbing acts of John Gokongwei has not been about the business of making money but his acts of giving away money.

Many people took unusual notice of his generous contribution to the Ateneo business school, many took time out to read his speech about his personal struggles, about being entrepreneurs and not employees.

Once again John Gokongwei has given away money but this time he has given away half of his wealth to a foundation tasked to help educate deserving kids. It is undoubtedly a brave and gallant thing to do in times of great poverty.

It is also a very very smart move.

Because it is not the way of the world, many skeptics have raised their eyebrows and call it a copy cat act taken from Billionaire investor Warren Buffet. Buffet recently gave away much of his fortune to Microsoft founder Bill Gates with the condition that several million is to be spent annually to fight poverty and ignorance.

The timing is certainly awkward but whatever else the fence monkeys may say, I don’t see or hear any of them giving away half of their fortune since they’re so busy shoveling misfortunes around.

As far as philanthropy is concerned, its not just about generosity, it is about legacy, far sightedness, and economic smarts. To begin with no public relations wizard could possibly get more combined benefits for Gokongwei.

The media and the public are always attracted by such acts since they are normally out of the ordinary, few and far in between here in the Philippines, and is a "Feel Good story".

Of course who in the business and society page would dare miss on such an event specially when its "Big John " giving out REALLY hard earned millions.

Beyond the immeasurable goodwill he earns for himself, it spins off for the clan, their various business concerns, or just about anything with John Gokongwei’s fingerprint on it.

A very funny but very telling comment by a "next generation" big business player is that " John Gokongwei got a real bargain when he donated 250 million to the Ateneo school of business and ended up with a school in his name ! " you would need more than 250 million pesos to build your own business school ! "

Well. He was giving away his money and not his brains !

Putting away all the goodwill points, a very strategic coup in the scheme of things is the fact that having donated the wealth to charity it has been preserved and protected from the usual problems.

First of all would be John Gokongwei’s landlord on earth, otherwise known as the Philippine government. With hardly any contribution or participation on the difficult lifelong process of making money, the Philippine government expects to collect the usual 10 to 35 percent tax from corporate to estate taxes.

Imagine, all they need is for Big John to croak and they get more than one third of his wealth! I’m no expert but by channeling the taxable amount to a foundation that then channels it to charity effectively reduced the amount to what the Philippine government thinks it deserves for its ministerial duties.

Second most common concern about having all this wealth and then dying, is the fact that you leave it all behind. The more you leave behind the more likely your heirs and their in-laws as well as your out-laws will fight bitterly over it.

You hope that everybody will be more loving and willing to share when you die.

NO CHANCE. I don’t care how great your family is, there will always be discontent on the planet earth and one of your relatives near or far is bound to cause trouble. And if it’s not a relative it will be a lawyer!

As my favorite lawyer put it so honestly; " Cito sort it out because if you bring in lawyers, our job is to be merciless and mean."

The sad part is many estates dwindled to nothing after the family feud dragged for decades, lawyers were no longer advising, they were sitting on the board of the companies and properties that should have been divided on the very first year.

The best example is the so-called Marcos millions. Four and a half presidents after Marcos, we have the PCGG, the Swiss authorities, the Hawaiian court, several sets of lawyers. I don’t know if anybody has been paid but someone has to foot the bill somehow. So far it’s the Filipino tax payer who’s still paying to settle claims over money that supposedly was stolen from the tax payer in the first place.

By deciding early on to distribute half and give away half, John Gokongwei smartly turned half of a potential headache and embarrassment into a powerful tool for education, charity, and gave a shinning example on how to be a blessing and still have your cake.

For us mere mortals such matters may seem remote since we don’t have the vast wealth of the taipans. We can’t even swagger or act like typhoons. But we all have our own little patch of heaven.

The question is when we die, will we be leaving a blessing or a curse. Will we be leaving unserviceable loans in our vain attempt to accumulate or maintain wealth our children can’t preserve?

Drive around and you will see homes that were once called "palatial" and "grand" but are now run down. Company buildings and factories ruined and abandoned , not even a hint of their former glory.

Exotic cars, expensive hobbies. Things only their present owner could afford or maintain. All sold, abandoned or rotting away.

Some failed because of misfortune, but many were built and amassed based on their present capacity, their abilities, never considering to ask who would continue, who could preserve

To build a castle and leave it to children is to give them a future beyond their means. Let us give them a home, give them a future, give them a means.

Most importantly let’s teach them a lesson we have not fully learned . . .to share.