The long-form work. Biography, documentary, podcast, investigation, explanation — projects built for depth, not speed.
John Gokongwei Jr: A multimedia biography
John Gokongwei Jr. started with a bicycle and a small table of goods to sell at the taboan (local markets) of towns outside Cebu City. He died in 2019 as the founder of JG Summit Holdings, one of Asia’s most diversified conglomerates, with businesses spanning food, aviation, real estate, petrochemicals, banking, and telecommunications.
His is a story that begins in wartime poverty, moves through decades of calculated risk, and ends with a man who pledged half his shares in JG Summit to education. It deserved to be told at full length, and in more than one form.
In 2023, the Gokongwei family — championed by Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng, Lance Gokongwei, and Robina Gokongwei-Pe — commissioned this authorized multimedia biography. The project was designed from the start as a trilogy: a documentary, a book, and a podcast, each using its format to tell a different dimension of the same life.
The Documentary. A Boy, a Bicycle, and a Legacy: Remembering John Gokongwei Jr.
Produced by Lala Rimando. Directed by Troy Bernardo. Commissioned by the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation · 2024
A 57-minute film told through the people who worked closest to Mr. John and the scholars whose lives his foundation changed. The documentary asks: what did John Gokongwei leave behind? It answers not through boardroom achievements but through the human architecture of a legacy — the foundation, the scholars, the family, the staff.
Premiered August 2024. Available to watch free on YouTube.
The Book. Untitled · In progress To be published by Summit Media
The book takes on the harder question: how did John Gokongwei build it? Where the documentary tugs at the heart, the book follows the mind — the deals, the pivots, the risks taken and the rivals outmaneuvered, the decades of building a conglomerate that outlasted its founder.
Forthcoming.
The Podcast. Untitled · In production
The podcast will be the most intimate of the three formats — closer to a conversation about a life than a chronicle of it. It follows the book.
Forthcoming.
This project is the first of its kind in the Philippines: an authorized biography conceived and executed simultaneously across documentary film, book, and podcast. It was commissioned by the Gokongwei family and produced independently.
Have a story that deserves this kind of treatment?
I take on authorized biographies, corporate histories, and legacy publications for families, executives, and institutions. Get in touch →
The Lopez Files
One of the Philippines’ oldest and most powerful family conglomerates — the group behind ABS-CBN, First Gen, and Rockwell Land — is in the middle of a corporate governance war between cousins. This is an ongoing investigative series tracking that dispute from the inside.
Published in Rappler, Esquire Philippines, and lalarimando.com.
Part 1: Debt, discipline, and daring: Inside the Lopez Group’s high-risk bets → Rappler · March 31, 2026
Part 2: The Lopezes, presidents, and the cost of dissent → Rappler · March 31, 2026
Part 3: Lopez vs Lopez — the secrecy fight behind the Razon power deals → Rappler · April 1, 2026
Explainer: Who Really Owns Lopez Inc.—and Why the 29% Cousin Is in Charge? → Esquire Philippines · April 1, 2026
How the Lopez family lost Meralco → Esquire Philippines · April 4, 2026
The 13-hour Meralco meeting: Inside one of the most dramatic shareholders’ battles I’ve covered → lalarimando.com · April 3, 2026
Covering Lopez vs Lopez without becoming part of the war → lalarimando.com · April 13, 2026
Poison Pill and What the Lopez–Razon Deal Teaches Us About Power and Fine Print → Esquire Philippines · April 16, 2026
Who writes the Lopez story? How lawyers, headlines, and ABS-CBN shape a family war → Rappler · April 17, 2026
More pieces in this series forthcoming.
Work With Me
If you have a story that deserves this kind of depth — a founder’s biography, a family company’s history, a complex project that needs to be explained and documented — let’s talk.
Lala Rimando 