I will quote the URL address. But after a certain time, a whole series of random letters and /s and seeming gibberish might NOT really make any sense and would appear to be just that—gibberish.
Finally, I am hoping to get this book published well in advance of the May, 2016, elections in the Philippines. There was so much more I could have covered, but in the interests of space and logistics, I had to stay under 200 pages. Even after this book goes to press, there will certainly be more revelations and answers to many questions. So if you read this in time and you liked it, here’s hoping you can pass it along to those you care.
| MAG | March, 2016 |
I – The Oldie-garchs v. the Crony-garchs
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive."
– Sir Walter Scott, Marmion
In their twenty-year rule, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos tried to destroy some of the old families who blocked their ambitions of absolute power, and in the process, install their own cabal who would be beholden to them. To a certain degree, they succeeded, but on another level, they also failed. We are seeing this manipulated shuffle of the deck at work in Russia today—in the Vladimir Putin years. In the wake of the collapse of the old Soviet Union, well-connected (with the Putin apparatus) entrepreneurs picked up a lot of the state industries that had been sold off and privatized.
As the rest of the world has also now seen so often, if a newly minted Russian billionaire steps out of line, he is very crudely dealt with. He is picked up, thrown into jail, or, if beyond the easy reach of the Kremlin, assassinated in the streets of London or Brussels. In a way, it’s as if the Communist Party never really left Russia – except that Putin and his gang, of course, levy “protection money” from Russia’s new rich—which is why they are the outer shell that Western sanctions hope to crack first in order to have the inner layer of Putin and his Kremlin co-thugs be breached.
Someday, when the whole Machiavellian world of post-communist Russia’s story is truthfully told, we will learn that it’s as if they almost took a page from the Marcosian Manner of Ruining a State 101, except that Marcos did it more deviously, if not more refinedly. At one point, the Russian billionaire count was at all time high of ninety. Marcos barely reached the fabled forty in Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. His favors were doled out to far fewer.
Prior to Marcos’ ascension to the presidency, power and wealth in the Philippines, as in many post-war democracies like Pakistan, Mexico, Venezuela, etc., were concentrated in probably two dozen families and clans who owned 85% of the wealth and as such wielded tremendous influence and sway with whoever was seated in power.
Before martial law in 1972, here were the wealthiest, most prominent and politically influential clans in the Philippines—in three groups. I will try to point out in this listing satellite families who are in-laws or allied to the larger, more prominent line.
A.The insulares (term for the Spanish-descended Filipinos who were/are predominantly Caucasian) or the old mestizo families:
1.Zobel de Ayalas – Sorianos – Rojases (into insurance, banking, and incredibly successful land development – responsible for developing much of Makati, the Philippines’ postwar financial capital and having the most prestigious business and residential addresses). Although Zobel was actually a German pharmacist from Hamburg, he married into the Castilian Ayala family. The present day Zobel de Ayala family claims the ruling Bourbon family in Spain as fifth cousins, and somewhat closer to the Duchess of Alba.
Essentially, two branches today carry on the Zobel de Ayala name and empire: (a) the Jaime Zobel, Sr., branch now run by the two sons, Jaza (Jaime Augusto) and Fernando, and their five sisters. The second branch is (b) the Enzo line, essentially represented by son Iñigo, and to a much quieter extent, his only sibling, sister Mercedes.
The Zobel de Ayalas are probably the closest the Philippines have to having a “royal family” in the European sense of the word, who do look like Europeans. And they have tried to maintain those Caucasian (or mestizo) bloodlines through the generations. It was only recently that one of them, Fernando, chose a non-Caucasian for a mate. Iñigo Zobel is an active name in the international polo circuit, and they are the first Filipino family to present a daughter at the uber-exclusive La Bal des Debutantes, 2012 edition, held in Paris each fall. One of Jaime Sr.’s daughters, Sofia, is married to Santi Elizalde who comes from the next family on the list.
2.Elizaldes – the most prominent of the Basque-descended Hispano-Filipino families. There were five Elizalde brothers who in the 1950s and ‘60s ruled over an empire that included Yco Wax, Yco Paints, La Carlota Sugar Central, Tanduay Distillery (the reigning rum maker in the Philippines for years), Elizalde Paint and Oil, Elizalde Rope Factory, Samar Mining, Manila Steamship Company, Metropolitan Insurance Company, Metropolitan Broadcasting, and a few others.
3.Aboitiz – fourth- and fifth-generation Basques, come from the central city of Cebu. Their biggest holdings are several power companies in the Visayas, shipbuilding companies and a majority stake in Union Bank. Again, they intermarry with mestizas and fair maidens of fellow Basque extraction.
4.Ortigas – second only to the Zobels in terms of ownership of vast prime metropolitan Manila land which they developed into the second hub of exclusive subdivisions and high-rise, light industrial tracts—primarily that whole Greenhills/ Wack-Wack//Ortigas/Meralco areas of Mandaluyong, San Juan and Pasig. Like the Zobels and the Tuasons, the vast tracts of strategic Ortigas land were deeded to them from the Spanish crown. Allied families: Lanuza and Olbes.
5.Tuason – Like the Ayalas and the Ortigases, big land-owning family whose holdings were spread over Quezon City and Marikina, out of which the present University of the Philippines, Ateneo-Loyola Heights and Miriam College campuses were carved.
When Andres Soriano, Jr., liquidated his majority shares in Philippine Airlines around 1959, one Benigno Toda stepped in and bought the majority shares. However, the real source of the Toda purchase was Tuason money since Mrs. Toda was Rosemarie Tuason. The last First Gentleman of the Land, Mike Arroyo, husband of recent president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and the current Philippine Ambassador to the Holy See, H.E. Mercedes A. Tuason, both belong to this otherwise quiet and low-key clan.
6.Araneta – perhaps the largest, most diversified clan whose fortunes started primarily with sugar haciendas. Is made up today of three main branches actually:
(a) The most visible branch today is the J. Amado Araneta branch, responsible for developing Cubao into a commercial and entertainment hub of the capital city of the Philippines.
(b) The Gregorio Araneta branch. Gregorio married Carmen Zaragoza and had fourteen children. Among the fourteen Gregorio Araneta children are Salvador Araneta, founder of Araneta and Feati Universities; architect Luis Maria, and Fr. Fritz Araneta, former rector of the Ateneo de Manila. This branch also founded GAMI, Gregorio Araneta Machinery, Inc. (dealer of farm and heavy equipment), and developed the Araneta subdivision in Sta. Mesa.
(c) The Carlos Aranetas (LBCargo, among others).
There are some interesting Araneta clan in-laws. It is the first and only clan known in the world to have two former Miss International title-holders marry into the family (the first Miss International, Stella Marquez, formerly of Colombia, married Jorge Araneta; and the Philippines’ own Gemma Guerrero Cruz, 1964 winner, married Tonypet Araneta). It can also claim former First Gentleman Jose
