In celebration of its 70th anniversary, the Filinvest Group unveiled a collaboration with industrial designer Selena Placino, who created a bespoke corporate memento for the company’s partners’ event held on 17 September.
Placino designed a handcrafted set of wooden bookends titled Sandigan — a Filipino word meaning support or pillar — symbolizing strength, stability, and trust. Inspired by traditional Ifugao wood sculptures associated with good harvests, the piece pays tribute to Filinvest founders Andrew and Mercedes Gotianun, honoring their legacy as the Group’s “visionary” and “tireless implementer.”
Each bookend represents these qualities: one depicts a seated figure with closed arms in contemplation, embodying the visionary, while the other, with open arms, symbolizes readiness to act and the tireless implementer. Viewed from the side, both figures form upward-pointing arrows, expressing Filinvest’s forward-looking vision and commitment to progress.
“For Filinvest, the partnership reflects its commitment to nurturing creativity and talent,” said Francis Gotianun, First Senior Vice President of Filinvest Hospitality. “At Filinvest, we open opportunities for growth and success for people from all walks of life. Collaborating with creative minds like Selena reflects the value we place on talent and innovation, both within our organization and in the broader community.”
“This project was deeply meaningful for me,” said Selena Placino, describing the collaboration as her first with a corporate group. “Creating bookends felt symbolic, as they hold together the stories Filinvest and its partners have built and collected through the years.”
Placino’s portfolio spans a range of everyday objects — from furniture and lighting to packaging and toys — for both established brands and startups. She is known for her innovative designs, including the ‘Taho’ bench, which reflects her approach of crafting thoughtful, human-centered solutions.
Established in 1955, the Filinvest Group is one of the Philippines’ most diversified conglomerates, with businesses in real estate, banking and financial services, power and utilities, hospitality, and sugar. The collaboration with Placino, the company said, is another expression of its enduring mission to enable Filipino dreams through creativity, innovation, and collaboration.
In the event photo are Filinvest executives Francis Gotianun, Director of Filinvest Development Corporation (FDC) and First Senior Vice President of Filinvest Hospitality Corporation (FHC); Isabelle Gotianun Yap, Director of FDC and Vice President–Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer and Executive Director of EastWest Bank; and industrial designer Selena Placino, holding the commemorative bookends.opment Corp.
Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC) is a leading diversified conglomerate in the Philippines with strategic holdings in key industries such as real estate (Filinvest Land Inc., Filinvest Alabang Inc., and Filinvest REIT Corp.), banking and financial services (EastWest Bank), power generation (FDC Utilities Inc.), hotel and resort management (Filinvest Hospitality Corporation), and sugar (Pacific Sugar Holdings Corp). It is also the largest shareholder of the consortium Luzon International Premiere Airport Development Corp. (LIPAD), which operates Clark International Airport. Through its diverse businesses, FDC is a dependable partner in economic development and nation-building.