FACT: The eldest child of distinguished lawyer and GMA Network Chairman and CEO Felipe Gozon is devoid of the widely accepted psychological phenomenon, that is, the First-born Syndrome.

Pursued, proven and legitimized by Austrian psychotherapist and founder of Individual Psychology, Alfred Alder, this subconscious complex is deemed to emerge as early as a baby’s formative years or the moment they encounter a situation where they feel the need to compete for their parent/s’ attention and consequently win their approval.

The trigger can be as simple as the arrival of a second sibling or in toddler playgroups. The syndrome then progresses through one’s school-age years, becoming most pronounced in adulthood, especially among eldest children who choose or are forced to follow a successful parent’s footsteps.

And while largely left unsaid in psychology books or papers, a double whammy is likely to occur if the child is named after the parent, ergo given the suffix “junior.”

“Luckily, I couldn’t be named after my dad,” joked Anna Teresa Gozon-Valdes, firstborn of GMA’s revered head honcho. But while she doesn’t deny her father “brainwashed” her to become a lawyer since she was eight years old, Annette — as Atty. Gozon’s de facto “junior” is fondly called at home and work — happily shares she neither felt any pressure from her father nor the need to beat or duplicate his sterling achievements once she enrolled in his alma mater, the University of the Philippines College of Law.

“It is my father’s happiness to see his children succeed in what we do,” acknowledged the eldest of three professional siblings — one in Medicine and another also in Law. “But he would never badger us about studying or getting good grades because he ultimately believes that when you go to school, it’s not really the information or knowledge that you retain that’s important but the discipline of learning, which you will need to do your best for the rest of your life.”

Even then, Annette’s career profile thus far can already hold its own side by side with Atty. Gozon, Senior’s qualifications. Just as her father’s resume notes he is a UP Law graduate who placed 13 in the 1963 Philippine Bar Examination, secured a Masters of Law from Yale University, and went on to become the country’s leading expert in the field of aviation law and a luminary in business and corporate practice — his eldest’s impressively lists the following:

Annette was a valedictorian in both grade school and high school at Colegio San Agustin. She kept her remarkable streak through college, graduating Cum Laude from one of Ateneo de Manila University’s crown-jewel courses, BS Management Engineering.

A dutiful daughter, she pursued Law as her father requested in UP, but of course, going for the grand slam. Annette graduated both Valedictorian and Cum Laude for her batch. And, while she may not have gone to Yale for her Master of Laws like Gozon, Sr., Gozon, Jr. got hers from Harvard.

Purely professional

Granted that Annette had been spared the pressures of a firstborn namesake, as well as the intimidation of her father’s brilliance as a student and practitioner of Law, one would gamble — psychologist or not — that the First-Born Syndrome would still catch up with her in the real world.

But again, in talking to the 49-year old junior partner at the Belo Gozon Elma Parel Asuncion & Lucila law firm; former UP College of Law Associate professor (Taxation and Legal History); and concurrent GMA Network, Inc. Corporate Secretary, Programming Consultant to the Chairman/CEO, GMA Films, Inc. president, and GMA Kapuso Foundation trustee — The Sunday Times Magazine is compelled to correct any such assumption.

Yes, Annette is as competitive like any firstborn or successful career person is, but never in a privileged way, according to her peers — even if she is the

daughter of a senior partner at her law firm and all the more of a network giant’s topmost general.

Just as she seems to anyone who meets her, GMA rank and file personnel proudly attest that Annette is as friendly, accessible and caring as she looks.

“Ms. Annette works just as hard as anyone at GMA; and even if she doesn’t have to, she’s like a mom to all of us, especially through the pandemic,” shared a clearly inspired young department manager while setting up this Sunday Times Magazine Zoom interview with the lady boss.

Though still floored every time, it is no longer surprising for “Ms. Annette” to go out of her way to stop an employee in the hallway — bemasked and all — to ask how they and their families are coping with the pandemic. She is also always present at company-organized R&Rs — the virtual ones included — and doesn’t shy away from videoke nights.

“Enjoy talaga siya kumanta!” trilled a fellow top executive. “We tease her she should record an album with GMA Records one of these days, and she just laughs and sings some more.”

As for the perks of firstborn children who work in the same company as their boss parents, Annette can unimpeachably deny any allegations of special treatment from her Chairman and CEO father.

“In the same token that I never felt pressured to achieve what my father has accomplished here in GMA and for GMA, I can look anyone in the eye and tell them I was never given preferential treatment, especially by my father. Besides the fact that my dad is not the “you’re-my-childtherefore...-type” of dad — walang ganun-ganun sa kanya — he can never do that precisely because GMA Network is a publicly-listed company and therefore run very professionally.

“I don’t think you’ve ever heard anyone in GMA say that someone has been appointed or promoted who didn’t deserve it. Working in a genuinely professionally-run organization is a really great environment. Because everyone knows that if they are talented in a particular department and work really hard, they will always have the opportunity to climb up the company ladder.

“I’m proud that in GMA, you are promoted based on your skills for a certain position. Hindi yung, ‘Sino ba yung next in line?’ It’s who has the most responsibility now and who has the most capability.”

Kapuso indeed

At the end of the day, Atty. Annette GozonValdes may be the antithesis of the Firstborn Syndrome, but she is still and will always be her father’s daughter.

Stepping up to the plate not because she has something to prove but because she thrives in her

job — and because she can — this critical time in the history of Philippine Television has definitely seen Annette scoring coups for GMA Network.

With the careers of many showbiz heavyweights suddenly hanging in the balance when ABS-CBN lost its broadcasting rights in Congress, it was Annette who diplomatically and gracefully reached out to the likes of Bea Alonzo and John Lloyd Cruz to join GMA Network.

Unthinkable even to the most loyal Kapuso, Annette indeed managed a feat twice over in convincing Philippine Movie’s reigning King and Queen to entrust their careers to their former studio’s archrivals. Only a professional with dignity, credibility, and an earnest disposition can strike such a deal. And this is how Annette Gozon, who enviably remains unjaded despite the contentious nature of show business, comes across to everyone in the industry — famous, influential, newbie or striving.

Asked what approach she took in talking to GMA Network’s newest glittering artists, she humbly replied, “As in everything, I think I just proceeded with good faith with Bea and John Lloyd. The same way with everyone I deal with and everyone I talk to.

“I always want to be in good faith when dealing with people. Ayoko yung parang iniisip ko at the back of my mind, ‘Niloloko ba ako nito?’ Or may hidden motive ba ‘to? I don’t do that. I’ve never done that. And I think that’s one of the reasons why they’re with us now.

“When I speak kasi even to artists, gusto ko very sincere. So maybe when I approached them, hindi rin ako yung i-isipin nila na, ‘Ah, may hidden agenda yan.’

“When I talk to Bea and John Lloyd [separately], nilatag ko lahat. Na wala kaming hidden agenda and we just want to be partners with them, we want to work with them, and we want to welcome them to GMA and be part of our family.”

Hailed these days by old-timers in show business as GMA’s biggest asset, especially as entertainment excitingly but dizzyingly sprints toward globalization, Annette Gozon will still tell anyone who asks which among her current responsibilities brings her the most fulfillment the plain truth. Is it in programming and conceptualizing primetime series like GMA’s iconic “Encantadia” and “Mulawin” top raters, of which she was part, from start to finish? Is it the challenge of producing first-rate movies that will draw the public back to movie theaters as the industry rises from the pandemic? Or is it naturally following in her father’s footsteps in leading and looking after the welfare of hundreds upon hundreds of GMA Network employees into the future? The answer is none of these.

Because for this brilliant student, competent lawyer and thriving TV executive, the proud answer will always be that she finds the most fulfillment in being a mother to her two children.

And why ever not? When, for all her professional accomplishments, her own firstborn child Anja just beat her Cum Laude-finish in the same Management Engineering course she took at the Ateneo over the summer.

“She graduated Magna Cum Laude without any need for a push or keeping tabs from mom,” Annette added, thrilled, quickly recalling anew how her father lovingly and trustingly treated her back in college too.

Meanwhile, her second child, Andy, is right behind his big sister, growing up to be an accomplished young man who is sure to be another promising contribution of the Gozon andAbrogar clans to society.

“I love being a mother the most because your family, that’s your personal life. I enjoy programming, being creative and developing stories — yes — but career can always change. Family is your constant, and that’s what I always and will always value most.”

For the full transcript of The Sunday Times Magazine’s exclusive interview with GMA Network’s Annette Gozon-Valdes — how her love for artistas and the movies came about; how her unwavering faith in God got her through a major medical scare early this year; and more about her relationship with her mini-me, Anja, log on to www.manilatimes.net.