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 Miguel Arroyo (2004-10) as its own, Arroyo being a grandson of Jesusa Araneta Lacson de Arroyo.
Two Marcos children are likewise married to two Aranetas: Junior married Louise/Lisa Araneta; and his younger sister, Irene, married Greggy Araneta, son of architect Luis. The 2016 Liberal Party for president, Mar Roxas, is a grandson of J. Amado Araneta on his mother’s side while his paternal grandfather was Manuel Roxas, first Philippine post-war president.
7.Madrigal – big real estate, banking, and industrialist family brought into prosperity by Vicente Madrigal. The middle generation of Madrigals (whose daughters married a Bayot, a de Leon, two Vasquez brothers and whose two sons married a pair of Abad-Santos sisters) have all passed on and dispersed their wealth to the third generation. Of the Philippines’ top ten older families, the Madrigals are probably the only ones who have sent two daughters into public service. One of Don Vicente’s daughters, Pacita Warns Gonzalez, served as a senator in the late 1950s, and then her niece, Jamby, also held a senatorial position in the 1990s. One of the Bayot girls was married to the current oldest Ortigas scion, Paquito, ex-ambassador to Mexico.
8.Delgado – another well-connected mestizo family who for some thirty years, owned and held the franchise for the Manila Hilton, the first American luxury hotel brand in the Philippines and one of the first high-rises built in Manila. Their other businesses are a freight brokerage concern, supply-chain management, express courier, chassis leasing and repair, and real estate management and development. One of the Delgados also used to be an ambassador to the Holy See, and various Delgados are/have been married to two Magsaysays, a Cojuangco, a Laurel, a Rufino, among others.
When I worked for a bank in San Francisco in the 1980s, I came across a letter from Don Francisco (“Paco”), patriarch of the Delgado clan, asking the bank for an extension of time on his $2 million letter of credit, with their large SF apartment as collateral.
From the pre-war times and going into the 1950s, there were also the
9.Ysmaels – family of Lebanese descent into steel and real estate. They owned the big tract of land which became New Manila. The heirs owned Ysmael Steel and the Fiat franchise for a while.
B.Amongst the more Filipino blood families:
1.Lopezes of Iloilo (Meralco; ABS-CBN, Chronicle newspaper). The Lopezes would soon become the arch-enemies of the Marcoses and their primary target in the dismantling of the old oligarchy. Today, the Lopezes have divested themselves of their majority ownership of Meralco (the Manila Electric Company) and have diversified into other lines of business. (The Lopezes are sort of related to the Aranetas through Victoria Lopez de Araneta. Satellite families: the Jalandonis, Javellanas, Jisons, Lopas, Montelibanos; also allied