If there will only be one defining post of this blog, the height of things awry, THIS IS IT [ ala Michael Jackson 
].
It is universal: the Biblical stories of Cain and Abel, of Joseph and his brothers, happens over and over again, like an unshakable curse, in the lives of privileged families all over the world… and there is no exception even here in the Philippines…
INHERITANCE. What a lovely, utterly desirable word to those who wish to have it. And what a weird word it is to those who have had the fortune, and more often the misfortune, to have it.
In the annals of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Sy Joc Lieng et. al. vs. Petronila Encarnacion, et. al. [ 04 December 1905 - 19 March 1920 ], aside from being a landmark case of the validity of the celebration of marriage, was an early example of a war of inheritance. Unlike the contemporary archetype, the first SY QUIA was no poor Chinese immigrant who migrated to Las Islas Filipinas; he was already a man of substantial means who lived in the biggest house in Am Thau town, near Amoy. After Sy Quia [ Vicente Ruperto Romero Sy Quia ] passed away on 09 January 1894 in Manila, leaving a vast fortune in commercial real estate and other holdings, mostly in Manila, worth about Php 1,000,000.00/xx to his Chinese-Filipina wife Petronila Encarnacion [ whom he married in 1853 in Vigan, Ilocos Sur ] and their five children Gregorio, Pedro, Juan, Apolinaria, and Maria [ surnamed Sy Quia y Encarnacion ], his hitherto unknown first family in Amoy, China, the descendants with his Chinese wife Yap Puan Niu [ whom he married in 1847 in Am Thau, Amoy, China ] suddenly appeared, claiming his estate. The Supreme Court case chronicled the war between his Filipino family in Manila and his Chinese family in Am Thau, Amoy, China.
http://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1920/mar1920/gr_l-4718_1920.html
The Sy Quia wars of inheritance did not end there. Vicente Sy Quia’s second son Pedro Sy-Quia y Encarnacion married Asuncion Michels de Champourcin y Ventura of Bacolor, Pampanga and had three sons: Pedro Jr. “Pete,” Gonzalo “Gonz,” and Leopoldo “Ponding” [ surnamed Sy-Quia y Michels de Champourcin ]. Pedro Jr. “Pete” married Caridad Arguelles Cruz [ granddaughter of Maria Alonso Rizal ]; Gonzalo “Gonz” married Ramona Vargas [ sister of Jorge B. Vargas, Executive Secretary to President Manuel L. Quezon ]; Leopoldo “Ponding” married Maria Pabalan Chanco. The three brothers forthwith engaged in a protracted inheritance dispute over the vast real estate holdings of their parents, which included the first high rise apartment buildings in Malate prewar. When Pedro Jr. “Pete” and Gonzalo “Gonz” had finally become exasperated, they offered the best properties to their youngest brother Leopoldo “Ponding,” who oddly enough, refused to accept the settlement. He thought it was too good to be true and that there had to be a “catch” to it.
The Sy Quia wars of inheritance did not end there either. To this day, 105 years later, the various Syquia descendants are still locked in bitter property and other inheritance disputes.
According to the patrician social historian Martin “Sonny” Imperial Tinio Jr., every death in the affluent and prominent TUASON family of Manila from the late 1800s all the way to the 1900s was followed by a barrage of lawsuits, intrafamily and otherwise. It was not a Tuason death if it wasn’t followed by lawsuits aplenty.
It has never been and will never be discussed in any official ZOBEL or ROXAS family history, but I’ve always wondered what the Zobel-Roxas siblings Jacobo, Alfonso, and Mercedes thought about their Roxas inheritance of the “Hacienda San Pedro de Makati” outside Manila in 1914 [ following the unexpected passing of their maternal grandfather Pedro Pablo Roxas in Paris in 1912; they were only children at the time; their mother, Pedro's daughter Consuelo Roxas de Zobel, passed away during the cholera epidemic of 1908 ], way before the serendipitous McMicking developments postwar. Weren’t they resentful that it was among the less valuable of the assets in the portfolio of Pedro Pablo Roxas? Yes, it was a big, picturesque piece of land — originally 1,616 hectares purchased by their maternal great grandfather Jose Bonifacio Roxas for 52,800 pesos from Simon Bernardino Velez in 1851 — but, aside from the pasture and rice lands, it was mostly nonproductive marshland and practically worthless then, most probably more a burden than a blessing in those times. At that time, among the crown jewels of the vast holdings of Pedro Pablo Roxas and Carmen de Ayala were the large sugar hacienda in Nasugbu, Batangas and the recently established centrifugal sugar mill in 1912 [ and finally incorporated as the "Central Azucarera de Calatagan" in 1927 ], which were assigned to their uncle Antonio Roxas de Ayala [ brother of their mother Consuelo Roxas de Zobel; married to Carmen Gargollo ], who headed the newly formed Vda. e Hijos de Pedro P. Roxas. Margarita Roxas viuda de Soriano, Antonio’s and Consuelo’s sister, received the large Roxas hacienda in Calauan, Laguna which devolved to her son, Andres Soriano y Roxas. However, in a happy twist of fate, the Zobel-Roxas siblings Jacobo, Alfonso, and Mercedes also inherited the vast Roxas family playground, the 10,000 hectare Hacienda Calatagan in Batangas, following the passing of their maternal grandmother Carmen Ayala viuda de Roxas in 1930 [ who had inherited it in 1876 upon the death of her father Antonio de Ayala; it had been purchased by the couple Margarita Roxas and Antonio de Ayala from Sociedad Roxas Hijos, the family partnership, in 1862; it had been inherited by the siblings Margarita, Jose Bonifacio, and Mariano Roxas y Ubaldo from their father Domingo Roxas de Ureta upon his passing in 1843 ]. Also, in 1934, the title of the “Central Azucarera de Calatagan” was transferred from the Roxas to the Zobel.
When Senator Maria Ana “Jamby” Abad Santos Madrigal sued her eldest sister Susana “Chuchu” Abad Santos Madrigal-Eduque and Madrigal first cousin Atty. Ana Maria Gizela “Ging” Madrigal Gonzalez-Montinola over the estate of their aunt, Consuelo Alejandra “Chito” Madrigal [ ex-Vazquez ]-Collantes, it was not the first time there was an argument over inheritance in the extremely affluent MADRIGAL family. Consuelo “Chito” was the most glamorous and famous [ not necessarily the most beautiful ] of the 5 Madrigal-Paterno heiresses and she first married Dr. Luis “Chichos” Earnshaw Vazquez; however, they had no children and they separated. Years later, she married government career man and diplomat Atty. Manuel “Manoling” Collantes; they had no children. All that time, Chito turned her frustrated maternal instincts on a succession of nieces and a grandnephew: the first was Ging [ Atty. Ana Maria Gizela Madrigal Gonzalez-Montinola, only daughter of her sister Maria Paz "Pacita" Madrigal and her second husband Atty. Gonzalo Walfrido Rafols Gonzalez; the newly-born baby Ging was brought from the hospital directly to Chito in her house because her mother Pacita was busy with politics; however, the time came when Chito requested that the adoption be made legal with the proper documents, but Pacita and Gonzalo refused ], the second was Vicky / Marivic [ Maria Victoria Madrigal Vazquez, daughter of her sister Maria Luisa "Ising" Madrigal and Dr. Daniel "Danny" Earnshaw Vazquez; however, the time came when Chito requested that the adoption be made legal with the proper documents, but Ising and Danny refused ], the third was Chuchu [ Susana Abad Santos Madrigal-Eduque, daughter of her brother Antonio "Tony" Madrigal and Amanda "Mandy" Teopaco Abad Santos; Chuchu was already a young lady at the time ], and finally the fourth was little Vicente Gustav [ son of Vicente "Bu" Madrigal Warns and Maria Angeles "Marian" Paris; "Bu" was the only son of her sister Maria Paz "Pacita" Madrigal and her first husband Herman Warns ]. In brief, the childless Chito named just 3 heirs to her estate: her grandnephew Vicente Gustav Paris Warns 40 %, her niece Susana “Chuchu” Abad Santos Madrigal-Eduque 40 %, and her niece Atty. Ana Maria Gizela “Ging” Madrigal Gonzalez-Montinola 20 %. Jamby is challenging the will of her aunt Chito in court. For now, it seems that Jamby has the tacit support of several of the Madrigal-Paterno first cousins — the Bayot-Madrigal, the Madrigal-Abad Santos “Belec,” the Vazquez-Madrigal — because if she wins the legal war in court, the “piggy bank” will break and all the cousins will inherit from their Tita Chito’s large, multilayered, and secreted estate rumored to be in the hundreds of millions of USD $ dollars or in the billions of Php pesos. Regarding the declared, purported ( almost ridiculous ) Php 26 million value of the estate of universally acknowledged multimillionairess ( in USD $$$ terms ) Consuelo Alejandra “Chito” Madrigal-Vazquez-Collantes, a niece quipped: “Php 26 million??? That’s not even her bathroom!!!”
Such legal wars over vast sums, properties, and corporations had always been the case with the seven children of Vicente Lopez Madrigal and Susana Ramos Paterno: Macaria “Nena” [ married Juan "Johnny" Lichauco de Leon ], Maria Paz “Pacita” [ married Herman Warns, later Atty. Gonzalo Walfrido Rafols Gonzalez ], Josefina “Pinang” [ married Francisco Maria "Paquito" B. Bayot ], Antonio “Tony” [ married Amanda "Mandy" Teopaco Abad Santos ], Jose “Belec” [ married Victoria "Vicky" Teopaco Abad Santos ], Consuelo “Chito” [ married Dr. Luis "Chichos" Earnshaw Vazquez, later Atty. Manuel "Manoling" Collantes ], and Maria Luisa “Ising” [ married Dr. Daniel "Danny" Earnshaw Vazquez ].
After the 06 June 1972 passing of Vicente Madrigal, his seven children were divided into two camps, essentially Antonio “Tony” versus Maria Luisa “Ising.” Antonio “Tony” wanted the vast family assets to remain intact, Maria Luisa “Ising” wanted to go off in her own direction. The other siblings Macaria “Nena,” Maria Paz “Pacita,” Josefina “Pinang,” Jose “Belec,” and Consuelo “Chito” supported Antonio “Tony”; Maria Luisa “Ising” was alone in her struggle. Because all the seven children, both the two gentlemen and the five ladies, were “reared to be bosses,” they all had strong opinions regarding the management of the vast family holdings.
Antonio “Tony” and the five siblings told Maria Luisa “Ising” that, yes, they would hand over certain assets to her, but that she would not have a choice and that she would have to be content with whatever they were. Maria Luisa “Ising” responded with a defiant “No!” and demanded a full, detailed accounting of the multifarious estate assets, declaring that if she were found to be in debt to the vast estate, she would pay up. Antonio “Tony” ordered the accounting process started but for complex reasons the other five siblings prevailed on him not to proceed. Maria Luisa “Ising” decided to pursue the estate partition, her way.
Maria Luisa “Ising” Madrigal-Vazquez complained bitterly about the estate partition to President Ferdinand Marcos in his office at the Malacanang palace and he recorded it in his journal. He remained impartial towards the Madrigal-Paterno siblings, who were among the richest of the rich in the country. However, First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos supported Antonio “Tony” Madrigal and the five siblings against their youngest sibling Maria Luisa “Ising” Madrigal-Vazquez.
According to a Marcos family member, while it was true that Maria Luisa “Ising” complained to President Marcos about the estate partition — that the businesses were handled by Antonio “Tony,” etc., etc. — her brothers Antonio “Tony” and Jose “Belec” simultaneously complained to President Marcos about the partition because they claimed that all the original documents pertaining to the vast estate — corporate papers/articles of incorporation/corporation books, property titles/original and transfer certificates of title, bank placements/bank notes, etc. — were actually in the possession of their youngest sister Maria Luisa “Ising.” The crucial papers were with her since it was she, her husband Dr. Daniel “Danny” Vazquez, and their family who were the ones living with their erstwhile ailing father Vicente in the Balete Drive residence.
That Marcos recollection was challenged by Maria Luisa “Ising” Madrigal-Vazquez herself. She insisted that she did not possess any of the crucial papers — corporate papers/articles of incorporation/corporation books, property titles/original and transfer certificates of title, bank placements/bank notes, etc. — at that time because the entire estate of her father Vicente was under the full control of her brothers Antonio “Tony” and Jose “Belec.”
On hindsight decades later, there was truth to the speculation then that President Ferdinand Marcos actually wanted to break up the inconceivably immense wealth and the great power of Vicente Madrigal and his family, fearful of what they, whom he liked to collectively term as “the oligarchs” [ the richest men in the Philippines in 1965: Vicente Madrigal, Eugenio Lopez Sr., Andres Soriano Sr., Jose C. Cojuangco Sr., Senen Gabaldon, Jose Yulo, Joseph & Mercedes { Zobel } McMicking, Alfonso Zobel, Salvador Araneta, J. Amado Araneta, Francisco Ortigas II, Jose J. de Leon II, Ernesto O. Escaler, et. al. ] could do to him and to his plans, and that he had really used Maria Luisa “Ising” Madrigal-Vazquez to do so. Succeeding interferences in Madrigal business affairs pointed to the unseen but palpable hand of the Malacanang palace. President Marcos had thus divided the Madrigal and had conquered.
President Marcos had quietly begun a singlehanded campaign to destroy the wealth and power of the oligarchs in the country, as they were one of the principal obstacles in his quest for permanent authoritarian power. He silently but effectively encouraged them to divide and destroy themselves. Aside from Vicente Madrigal, he also sought to destroy Jose Yulo. In the case of Eugenio “Ening” Lopez Sr., divisiveness could not work because the Lopez were, uncharacteristically enough for the very rich, a united family. President Marcos used other, worse tactics on Eugenio Lopez Sr..
Maria Luisa “Ising” Madrigal-Vazquez took her struggle to the United States of America, where many Madrigal assets were located, and stayed there with her family for six to seven years from 1974 – 1981. Her efforts paid off: She succeeded in the American courts and obtained the partitions that she had wanted for so long. Thus, the Madrigal-Vazquez holdings finally spun off in their independent direction. Furthermore, First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos staged a big apology and reconciliation with Maria Luisa “Ising” Madrigal-Vazquez and her family in New York. [ Meanwhile, her sisters Maria Paz "Pacita" and Consuelo "Chito" cleaned up/emptied their father Vicente Madrigal's house on Balete Drive --- in preparation for its redevelopment in partnership with the Rufino family --- and displaced much of Maria Luisa's "Ising's" personal possessions in storage there; by the time Maria Luisa "Ising" returned to the country in 1981, many items of sentimental value to her --- dresses, shoes, bags, photographs, letters, and souvenirs --- had disappeared. )
Because of its sheer enormity and complexity, it took twenty-three years of cooperative, not-so-cooperative, and not-at-all-cooperative efforts between his seven children to settle the estate of Vicente Lopez Madrigal from the time of his passing on 06 June 1972 all the way to 1995. But to this day [ 2012 ], there are still large estate holdings which have not been divided by the seven children, of whom only the youngest, Maria Luisa “Ising” Madrigal-Vazquez, is still alive.
The Vazquez-Madrigal, despite their many vicissitudes, remain one of the richer branches of the extremely affluent Madrigal family. It also has the fewest heirs — just 2 — in the fourth generation of the Vicente and Susana Madrigal family.
Brother Andrew Gonzalez F.S.C. of De La Salle University occasionally recalled with amusement how his first cousin Atty. Gonzalo W. Gonzalez once described his Madrigal-Paterno in-laws: “They meet once a week to argue about money [ Sundays ]. Unbelievable.”
Recently, the subject of inheritance came up while a good friend [ a Madrigal grandson ] and I were talking about business away from the rest of the company at a dinner party. I reminded him that his family was one of the last “Old Filipino,” non-taipan fortunes: Roxas-de Ayala-Zobel-Soriano, Madrigal, Lopez, Cojuangco, Ortigas, Aboitiz… He reflected lightly: “I don’t know how it can stay that way. They keep on arguing, arguing, and arguing. How are we going to get anything done?”
It has never been and will never be discussed in any official LOPEZ DE ILOILO family history, but during prewar, the siblings Eugenio and Fernando Hofilena Lopez sued their paternal uncle Vicente Lopez y Villanueva — one of the richest Lopez-Villanueva siblings at that time — for the “return” of the sugar hacienda which they inherited from their assassinated father, Benito Lopez y Villanueva. It was an interesting episode in the Lopez family history, because not only was Vicente the brother of their father Benito, but Vicente’s wife Elena Hofilena y Javelona, was the sister of their mother, Presentacion Hofilena viuda de Lopez. Also, Vicente and Elena took their young nephews Eugenio and Fernando into their home after the assassination of their father, Benito; their mother, Presentacion, retreated to the house on “Roca Encantada” in the Hofilena hacienda in Guimaras island. However, it seems that an agreeable settlement was made, because close family relations were happily restored between the feuding families. The Lopez-Hofilena siblings Nelly, Benito, Lilia, and Vicente were close to their Lopez-Hofilena first cousins twice over “Manong Ening” and “Manong Nanding” to the end of their lives. Lilia Lopez-Jison taught her two daughters Lourdes [ Lourdes Lopez Jison-Ledesma ] and Elena [ Elena "Elen" Lopez Jison-Golez ] to address her first cousins with the special endearments “Tatay Ening” and “Tatay Nanding.”
After the passing of Vicente LOPEZ y Villanueva [ married Elena Hofilena y Javelona; after Elena's passing, married Rosario Umelin ] — one of the richest in the Lopez de Iloilo clan at the prime of his fortunes — his four children Nelly [ married Salvador Zamora ], Benito [ married Leonor de la Rama ], Lilia [ married Francisco Lopez Jison ], and Vicente [ married Maria Rita Molina Zamora ] encountered difficulties and disagreements in partitioning the large estate which included several sugar haciendas, sugar centrals, Manila real estate like the Elena Apartments in Ermita and the Lopez Court in Paranaque, as well as the famous Nelly Gardens mansion in Jaro. It reached the point that they were no longer on speaking terms. It took many years for the Lopez-Hofilena siblings to reconcile, just before they all passed.
COJUANGCO. “Politics has always divided our family ever since I can remember.” sighed a senior Cojuangco daughter.
There has been a series of family divisions in the uberrich and politically powerful Cojuangco clan of Paniqui, Tarlac. One of the first incidents was when the young Eduardo Cojuangco Sr. fell gravely ill and needed to be brought to the United States for immediate treatment. Citing US dollar restrictions at the time, a family member, who controlled the funds, could not release the required amounts. The young Eduardo passed away of kidney failure soon afterwards in 1952. That tragic episode created the rift between the Cojuangco-Murphy and the Cojuangco-Sumulong branches of the clan.
Another episode was the struggle for the control of the family bank.
ARANETA. Simmering since the last years of the patriarch Salvador Araneta y Zaragoza before 1982 and coming to a boil since the passing of the matriarch Victoria Lopez y Ledesma in 1988, the four remaining of five willful sisters [ the second, + Ana Marie "Ana" { married Antonino Santos-Ocampo }, passed years ago ], split into two camps [ the eldest Maria del Carmen "Carminia" { married Jose Montelibano Segovia } and the youngest Maria Regina "Regi" { married Enrique J. de la Fuente Teodoro } versus the two middle ones Maria Victoria "Marivic" { married Jose S. Concepcion Jr. } and Maria Lina "Lina" { married Daniel H. Santiago } ], have been battling, sometimes quietly and sometimes loudly, for control over family corporations and family matters.
There was also a war of inheritance in the affluent and famously propertied PADILLA family of Manila. Narciso A. Bibby Padilla passed away on 12 February 1934, leaving his childless widow, Concepcion PATERNO viuda de Padilla. However, in his last will and testament, he named not his wife but his mother, Ysabel Bibby viuda de Padilla, as heiress. When, as due course, the childless Concepcion Paterno wanted to retrieve / separate her paraphernal properties from those of her husband’s, Narciso Padilla’s, his surviving mother Ysabel contested. Concepcion Paterno’s paraphernal properties included land and buildings on Calle Arquiza, Calle Juan Luna, Calle Camba, part of the Calle Martin Ocampo property, Callejon de la Fe, part of the Calle Regidor property, and 9/29 of the Calle R. Hidalgo property. The case was finally settled by the Supreme Court decades later on 26 December 1961, years after the appellant Ysabel Bibby viuda de Padilla and the appellee Concepcion Paterno viuda de Padilla [ + 1943 ] had both passed.
http://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri1961/dec1961/gr_l-8748_1961.html
DE LEON. Jose “Peping” de Leon y Joven of Bacolor, Pampanga and Natividad “Naty” Lichauco y Fernandez of San Miguel, Manila had eleven children: Maria Luisa [ married Ernesto Ocampo Escaler ], Juan “Johnny” [ married Macaria Paterno Madrigal ], Jorge “George” [ married Raquel Valdes Gonzalez ], Regina [ married Venicio Ledesma Jalandoni ], Salvador “Badodeng” [ married Margarita Lacson Gemperle ], Oscar [ married Virginia Lichauco ], Benjamin “Benny” [ married Beatriz "Bettina" Roces Prieto ], Trinidad “Trining” [ married Alessandro Panicucci ], Jose III “Joe” [ married Sylvia Younge Montemayor ], Lydia [ married Victor Sison ], Bernardita “Bernadette” [ married Vicente Perez ].
Natividad “Naty” Lichauco de Leon passed away of hypertension in Baguio City in 1960.
When Jose “Peping” de Leon y Joven passed away, his favorite son Jorge Jose Leoncio “George” de Leon y Lichauco and his youngest son Jose “Joe” III de Leon y Lichauco wanted out from the family corporations.
VILLALON. When the very long-lived and very rich matriarch, Genoveva “Bebing” Singson-Chiong Veloso de Villalon [ a niece of Estefania Chiong Veloso de Osmena, first wife of Sergio Osmena Sr. { whose second wife was Esperanza Limjap y Escolar of San Miguel, Manila } ; a first cousin of Sergio "Serging" Osmena Jr. ] passed away, she left behind vast properties which included mountains overlooking Cebu City, long stretches of the Mandaue coastline, and commercial Manila real estate. Since her only son, Dr. Augusto Singson Villalon, had predeceased her, the estate was inherited directly by her grandchildren. Contentious relations between the six Villalon-Fabella siblings ensued which led to protracted courtroom battles and eventual settlements. But there was so much for everybody anyway.
TAMBUNTING. The Tambunting family has been plagued by intrafamily arguments from the first day of the establishment of its lending operations which subsequently expanded to a veritable microlending and banking empire. Felisa Concepcion Tambunting [ who became Mrs. { Dr. } Jose Salcedo Delgado ] started the formal lending operations of the family but was bitterly opposed by other family members, among them Mrs. Tantungco [ mother of Rev. Fr. Augusto Antonio, O.P. ]. The ensuing bitter arguments led to fractious family relations, resulting in Felisa’s total and irrevocable pullout from the family business and her permanent dropping of the surname Tambunting [ she was henceforth known as Felisa Concepcion-Delgado ]. However, the family’s lending business grew steadily in the succeeding years.
Those first intrafamily arguments have been followed by several more through the years. Currently, there is yet another financial imbroglio in the Tambunting clan.
TANTOCO [ RUSTAN'S ]. Zenaida “Nedy” Rustia Tantoco ex-Huang of the long-established “Rustan’s” department store versus her sister Merle Rustia Tantoco-Pineda of the new and uberchic “Adora” department store at the Greenbelt V mall. However, the patriarch Ambassador Bienvenido Tantoco, known in the family as “Papa Benny,” perhaps realizing that daughter Merle’s “Adora” is in reality only an extension of the Tantoco-Rustia family’s luxury retail empire, has pressed for reconciliation. As of Christmas 2009, the erstwhile warring siblings Nedy and Merle have sat down at the same table and have been civil for the Tantoco family’s Christmas dinner.
YULO.
When the big brouhaha over the estate of Potenciano ILUSORIO erupted between his widow Erlinda Lopez-Tejico Kalaw and his children years ago, it made for interesting dinner conversations, but it was nothing new. Intrafamily wars of inheritance have been happening in the Philippines for ages and they will continue to happen in the future.
I fearlessly predict that when the taipans and the tycoons will pass away, and they will despite their USD $$$ billions, there will be the expected power struggles between surviving family members — rules of succession, stipulations, and deathbed last wishes notwithstanding. Those who are alive will always get their way over those who are dead.
It’s just the way it is: Where there is money, there will be arguments.
In short, it’s nothing unusual.
That’s Life!!!
*Personally, I don’t care about the arguments as long as there’s plenty of money to go around.
*unfinished*
