Cojuangco vs Cojuangco

Sources tell us the Lakas-Kampi executive committee is leaning towards Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro as their standard bearer. They’re scheduled to meet on September 16. When that happens, we will have a “Cojuangco vs. Cojuangco” in May 2010. As many people know, Gilbert Cojuangco Teodoro is the second cousin of Benigno Cojuangco Aquino III or Noynoy, now the presidential candidate of the Liberal Party.

Tracing the family roots and the relationship of Noynoy and Gilbert, one will see that both come from different branches of the same tree: the Cojuangco clan — one of the wealthiest and most prominent in the country. The Cojuangcos are said to have come from Co Yu Hwan, a Chinese who came to the Philippines in 1861 and changed his name to Jose Cojuangco. He married a Filipina and sired three children, one of whom is Melecio who married a Chinese-Mestiza named Tecla Chicioco in 1894. Melecio and Tecla eventually transferred to Tarlac, and among their children are Jose, Juan, Antonio and Eduardo.

Jose is the father of the late president Cory Aquino and her brother, Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. Jose’s brother Eduardo is the father of Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr., the chairman of San Miguel Corp. That makes Peping and Cory the first cousins of Danding. The mother of Gilbert is Mercedes “Ditas” Cojuangco, the younger sister of Danding, who married Gilberto Teodoro Sr., the SSS administrator from 1966 to 1986.   

Melecio — the grandfather of Cory and Danding and Noynoy and Gilbert’s great grandfather — went into the cultivation of sugarcane and palay, eventually becoming a Tarlac Congressman in the 1900s. He is said to be the first politician in the family. Aside from politics, the Cojuangcos are also known for being one of the richest, owning huge tracts of land and having some of the biggest businesses in the country. Of course, everyone knows that Noynoy’s family owns the vast Hacienda Luisita and the Central Azucarera de Tarlac, one of the biggest sugar refineries in the country.

One of Cory’s grandaunts by the name of Isidra (with whom Antonio Luna was said to have been madly in love with) is credited for the growth of the Cojuangco fortune and was the one who put up the Bank of Commerce. During her time, she was acknowledged as one of the richest women in the country and being unmarried, she bequeathed her vast fortune to Melecio’s sons Jose, Eduardo and Antonio (Tonyboy Cojuangco’s grandfather). The brothers then proceeded to expand the family’s wealth. 

 While they may be facing each other in May 2010, Gilbert says there is nothing personal about it; they just happen to be on opposite sides of the political fence. It’s also known that Danding is the founder and chairman emeritus of the Nationalist People’s Coalition which might field either Chiz Escudero or Loren Legarda as standard bearer. Gilbert has since left NPC because of differences with his uncle. And while Danding and Cory may have had political differences, they quietly reconciled a couple of years before Cory passed away. As they say, blood is thicker than water. 

In any case, people will be comparing the two Cojuangcos and examining their track records, even scrutinizing the “women” in their lives. In fact, where they went to school will most likely figure in the comparison. Gilbert spent elementary and high school in Xavier and is a La Sallista, having obtained a Commerce degree from the De La Salle University. Noynoy is an Atenean through and through, having spent his elementary, high school and college days with the Jesuit-run institution where he finished AB Economics.

Although Noynoy is a bachelor, everyone is interested about his current girlfriend, Valenzuela councilor Shalani Soledad. Gilbert is married to Nikki Lopez Prieto, a former Pantene model who took over the Congressional seat of Gilbert in Tarlac. Nikki belongs to the prominent Prieto and Lopez clans. Her father Jaime is the younger brother of Alex Prieto, owner of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Nikki’s father died in an airplane crash in Baguio sometime in the ’70s, and her mother, Mary Lopez Prieto, has since married Jose Vicente “Joe Vincent” Madrigal de Leon — a member of the landed Madrigal family. He is one of the heirs of the vast fortune of Doña Chito Madrigal-Collantes and with whom another presidential aspirant, Jamby Madrigal, is feuding. Nikki’s grandfather, Don Enrique Lopez, belongs to the prominent Lopez clan of Balayan, Batangas. There is no mistaking the fact that from both sides, Nikki belongs to the landed gentry, coming from families that are among the wealthiest in the country.

It is clear that Gilbert Cojuangco Teodoro Jr. and Benigno Cojuangco Aquino III were both “to the manor born,” and no doubt this is an issue they will be facing as they embark on their presidential aspirations. Having been born to wealth and privilege, people will wonder if indeed, they can relate to the plight of the poorest of the poor.

The challenge for the next president, as many have said, is poverty and a growing population. The Asian Development Bank reported that in 2006, almost 30 percent of our population lived on less than $1.35 a day — a condition described as “isang kahig, isang tuka.” By 2012, there will be 100 million Filipinos, with majority belonging to the poorest sector whose biggest problem would be surviving by having even one decent meal a day.    

Time is running out. With poverty growing at a rate faster than economic growth, the next president must have a firm resolve to do something about the poor in this country and make it his priority before any other agenda.

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