A FAMILY AFFAIR / OCTOBER 15, 2015Mar Roxas in a pensive mood flank by wife Korina Sanchez and mother Judy Araneta Roxas during his filing of certificate of candidacy at the COMELEC on Thursday, October 15, 2015.INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE, Field: Business, Politics MANILA – The society magazine Town&Country has listed 50 of the most influential and inspiring families in Manila. Guiding the family through its most difficult times was Don Eugenio Lopez (1901-1975), who resurrected the family fortunes (drawn mostly from sugar) after World War II, only to lose almost everything in the dark days of martial law. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. “Perhaps nine out of 10 of the most successful and wealthiest families derived and continue to derive incomes from real estate,” he reasoned in one interview. 5. Ejercito-Estrada 9. And though the founder died in 2006, Unilab is still a family run business, now helmed by his daughter Joy Campos Hess and her son, Clinton Hess. In the Philippines, the proportion of employed population below $1.90 purchasing power parity a day in 2019 is 2.7%. The House of Saud is the ruling family of Saudi Arabia. One beauty queen who stands out is Margie Moran-Floirendo, whose paternal grandfather was a chief justice and whose mother was related to President Manuel Roxas. ALICE EDUARDO. He died in December that year due to a stroke. At 29 he did just that, opening Metrobank in 1962. As he went on to higher office in 2010, his son Junjun took over as city mayor until 2015. Tessie Coson is in charge of the family’s banking interests in BDO Unibank; Elizabeth takes care of SM Hotels & Conventions Corporation. Behind the continuing success of this multi-generational business family are perhaps the most prominent set of twins in Philippine society, Ronnie and Joecon Concepcion. Field: Business Aquino-Cojuanco The next generation is led by Piki Lopez (First Philippine Holdings) and Gaby Lopez (ABS-CBN). The siblings developed a chain of cinemas, including the legendary Rizal theater and QUAD in partnership with the Ayalas. Who can ever forget the 10th president of the Philippines who declared Martial Law in September 1972 and became the figure of terror and torture all throughout the country? They are used for illustration and educational purposes only and we will credit their owners by a caption on them out of respect. Field: Business Paz Rufino, These Authentic Hong Kong Snacks Make Great Chinese New Year Gifts, Sapatero Manila Elevates Its Craft With Linya de Ilustrado, Creative Partnership: Tastemakers Ricky Toledo and Chito Vijandre, Award-Winning Novelist Chang-Rae Lee on the Art of Writing. His daughters, Nancy and Abigail are also into politics. She broke the proverbial glass ceiling in a male-dominated industry as founder and president of Sta Elena Construction and Development Corporation, one of the Philippines’ leading building and real-estate companies. Zobel-Ayala According to the United Nation’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), around 68.6 million people are affected , with 24.3 million living in the worst-hit areas. The family currently engaged in banking, power, and real estate among many other ventures traces its history in the Philippines to a Spaniard of Basque origin, Paulino Aboitiz, who arrived in the 1870s. You don’t get to have a university sports facility named after you for no reason. The Sy Family owns SM Malls, SM Prime Holdings, BDO, Chinabank, and Belle Corporation. Witnesses to the massacre and their families have since faced attacks and some have been killed. If there’s a family who knows about luxury, it’s the Tantocos. Amazon Head Jeff Bezos Is Now The World’s Richest Person His son Jaime Alfonso, also a Harvard grad, works at Globe. Forbes ranks Philippines' 50 richest. Though he didn’t live to see his companies (Meralco, ABS-CBN. ) Luis “Moro” Lorenzo certainly earned that right, after being a hoops star for Ateneo in the late 1940s and later as a visionary businessman. The family currently engaged in banking, power, and real estate among many other ventures traces its history in the Philippines to a Spaniard of Basque origin, Paulino Aboitiz, who arrived in the 1870s. Notable Members: VP Jojo Binay, Junjun Binay, and Senator Nancy Binay. Charlie, the son of Vicente Rufino (yes, the street in Makati is named after him) and brother of Marixi Prieto, is among the most visible of the current generation, being one of the top developers in Taguig and Makati. For every 1,000 babies born in the Philippines in 2018, 28 die before their 5th birthday. The family owns Aboitiz Equity Ventures, which umbrellas various ventures in shipping (Aboitiz Shipping), power generation and distribution (Davao Light & Power and VECO), construction, etc. His two daughters live in California. Who is the most powerful and influential? From the billionaire Chinese immigrant Henry Sy, the country’s richest person, to the homegrown Cebuano Aboitiz family, below is a list of the business elite you can’t afford not to know. His two sons, Jaime Augusto (“JAZA”) and Fernando, out of the seven children, work for the Ayala group. Now 92, Sy has long since transferred power in his various companies to his six children. He passed away in 2014, but the family’s influence and power carry on, much of which still comes from the Manila Bulletin, the daily paper his family has been involved in since the 1960s. We responded by supporting over 1,000 families in the area. Although his presidency was short-lived after he was impeached over plunder charges. 8. Andrew Gotianun called it a day back in the 1980s, hoping to spend a life in easy retirement with his wife Mercedes. In the early 1980s he purchased and turned around a failing banana exporting company; now Lapanday Holdings is one of the largest independent producers and exporters of pineapples and bananas in the country. Notable Members: Eugenio Sr., Eugenio Jr., Eugenio III, and Fernando Lopez Sr. Eugenio Sr., the patriarch of the Lopez clan, is the Father of Philippine Television. They were hacienderos in Negros Occidental, but carved a name in Manila Society after lawyer, Gregorio Soriano Araneta, married Dona Carmen Zaragoza y Roxas. They were prominent and influential since the Spanish colonization and until now. A big family of real estate moguls, bankers, philanthropists, and artists, the different branches can trace their roots from the children of Macario Rufino: Ernesto, Vicente, Ester, and Rafael (their initials are where the old EVER Theater in downtown Manila got its name). He married the daughter of a well-to-do merchant a few years later, and started the rise of the Aboitiz clan in the southern Philippines, first in Leyte and later in Cebu. “A.Y.”—as the ambassador is known in business circles—is a food and wine aficionado, and a member of the exclusive Chaine des Rotisseurs. The Zobel part of the name comes courtesy of Jacobo Zobel, who married Trinidad, Antonio’s daughter. Much controversy has clouded the family over the years, starting with the Hacienda Luisita Massacre, but the names Aquino and Conjuanco keep burning alive as Cory and husband Ninoy are immortalized in the 500 Philippine peso bill and were instrumental to ending the long-running dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. They are #44 in Asia and #7 in the Philippines as the richest clan. Field: Business, Politics Share prices of Lucio Tan’s companies got a boost thanks to the prospect of more efficient management (eldest son Michael is in charge), making him the fourth richest in the land. His mother, Judy Araneta, came from a family that has stakes in entertainment, logistics, retail, food and beverage, and the Philippine franchise to some of the world’s biggest beauty pageants. Sy This article explains different methods for obtaining these records. . The success of their family business may be greatly due to the organized processing of family members who want to work for the company. Read more articles here. After emigrating from Fujian Province, China, in the 1940s, Chan Lib and See Ying established the trading company Liwayway Marketing in post-war Manila. ), the Lopez family are also into politics. Apparently there are 15 thousand members of the family. He passed away in March 2016, with four of his children carrying the load in the company, Josephine (president and CEO), Jonathan (chairman), Andrew Jr. (director), and Michael (vice president). Guiding the family through its most difficult times was Don Eugenio Lopez (1901-1975), who resurrected the family fortunes (drawn mostly from sugar) after World War II, only to lose almost everything in the dark days of martial law. Another one who stands out is Gemma Cruz, whose mother is a Nakpil and later married an Araneta. He became a millionaire at 27 through his appliance business, but it was his distillery (makers of Emperador Brandy) and real estate firm (Megaworld) that elevated him to megarich status. Notable Members: President Ferdinand Sr., Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Jr., Imelda Marcos, Imee Marcos, Irene Marcos, Aimee Marcos, and model/host Xanda Rocha-Marcos (who married Luis Marcos-Araneta). Being named the richest man in the Philippines with a net worth of $13.8 billion and counting, Henry Sy is sure to make his children and grandchildren the richest people as well. Powerful families, not parties, are the building blocks of . returned to the family, his sons Geny (“El Capitan”), Oscar, and Manolo ushered in a new era of prosperity after the 1986 EDSA revolution. The following is a list of the most notable political families of the Philippines, each with the areas in which their influence was/is strong.Names in bold indicate the individual was/is a President of the Philippines.. According to the 2015 Forbes survey, the Sy Family is one of three Filipino clans who made it to Asia’s 50 richest families, along with Zobel and Aboitiz. (Or was it shabu? No list about Philippine families is complete without mentioning the Cojuangcos. IMAGE Courtesy of the Zobel de Ayala family. The third generation of Chans—including Carlos’s six children and Nenita’s two—are slowly filling in the big footsteps of their parents in their respective companies. 2017 – ShelterBox Operations Philippines is established as a non-government organisation. 4. He was also the quintessential kleptocrat who hoarded the so-called ill-gotten wealth to support his wicked ambitions and that of his wife and children. The family would shuttle back and forth between China and the Philippines, but the fortune was lost when Gotiaoco's grandson, John Gokongwei Sr. passed away prematurely. The Philippine political arena is mainly arranged and operated by families or alliances of families, rather than organized around the voting for political parties. Today Antonio and his family are among the richest in the country, worth an estimated $260 million according to Forbes magazine. Even before Manuel Roxas became the fifth president of the Philippines in 1946, the Roxas clan was a powerful family of politicians in their hometown of Capiz. For decades, centuries even, only a few privileged people ever set foot on the limelight of show business, politics, and commerce – and many of them come from all too familiar bloodlines. There's a lot we can learn from Manila's most influential and powerful families. what you can dig up on google from that name is a lot of fluff Now 90, Gokongwei has surrendered duties in his companies to his children. John of Selecta and Joey of Go Negosyo fame are the sons of Joecon. Grace was the #1 senator during the 2013 elections, and is currently one of the promising presidentiables in the 2016 elections. For prospective investors eyeing the Philippines, it would be more than wise to examine the intricate webs these families have woven across the archipelago. Ty ran out of money in his early 20s (he was setting up a flourmill at the time), he asked for a loan from a bank. Vice President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay Sr. may have a lackluster family background, but he sure made great waves while he had the chance to starting when he became Mayor of Makati after the EDSA revolution in 1986. This story was originally published in the December 2013-January 2014 issue of Town&Country. Who knew that it would lay the foundation for a multitude of successful business ventures including snack items (Oishi), lighting and bathroom fixtures (Chan C Bros), as well as a best-selling apparel brand (Bench)? Over the past two years, the consolidation of El Capitan’s companies has paid off—to the tune of $4 billion. LOOK: DOLE to give FREE BIKES to Delivery Riders, Philippine Islands still the top Favorite Destination by travelers according to Condé Nast Traveler. They hold absolute power – the country was even named after them. ), 3. The artist Marivic, the daughter of Rafael, is also a regular on the social circuit. Slideshow ( 2 images ) All Rights Reserved. JAZA’s daughter Mariana, a Harvard graduate, works with Ayala Malls. The Aboitiz Family has a net worth of $3.6 billion according to 2015 Forbes list. The 84-year-old brothers born just 10 minutes apart are the sons of industrialist Jose Concepcion Sr., the founder of Concepcion Industries and co-founder of RFM Flour Mills along with Salvador and Victoria Araneta, the inlaws of Joecon. When a young George S.K. Notable Members: Senator Benigno Aquino Sr., Senator “Ninoy” Benigno Aquino Jr., President “Noynoy” Aquino III, Kris Aquino, Eduardo “Danding” Cojuanco, former President Corazon “Cory” Cojuanco-Aquino, Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr., and Mikee Cojuanco-Jaworski. From living in a small one-room apartment to owning vast tracts of land here and in Spain (with more than 1,500 hectares of vineyards for his brandy business alone), Andrew Tan has come a long way in a relatively short time. He revealed how he got back on his feet with a speech at the 20th Ad Congress: "So, what can I do? At 82, Tan is still very much hands-on, known for calling business meetings with his top brass that last deep into the night. We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on Esquiremag.ph. What began with a small corner store owned by Jose Yao Campos in 1945 is now the country’s largest drug-manufacturing company. Ronald Allan Kelley Poe aka FPJ was the “Da King” of Philippine cinema for his portrayals in notable films such as Isang Bala Ka Lang, Iyo ang Tondo Kanya ang Cavite, Kahit Konting Pagtingin, and of course the Ang Panday series. 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