Eugenio Lopez Sr.


Eugenio Hofileña López Sr., also known as Eñing López and Don Eugenio, was a leading figure in the Philippines. He was founder of the Lopez Group of Companies. He belonged to the prominent López family of Iloilo, one of the leading political families in the Philippines.

Personal life

López was born on July 20, 1901 in Jaro, Iloilo City. His parents were Benito Villanueva López, a former governor of Iloilo, and Presentación Javelona Hofileña. He was the older brother and only sibling of former Philippine Vice President Fernando López. He received his education at the Ateneo de Manila where he graduated in 1919, and later the original campus of the University of the Philippines in Manila, where he took up law and graduated in 1923. He earned his master of laws degree from Harvard University.
He was the first president, or "charter president", of the Rotary Club of Iloilo, the third oldest Rotary Club in the Philippines.

Career

López began as a provincial bus operator, and eventually became chairman of the Philippine's largest media conglomerate and president of the Manila Electric Company. In 1972 he accepted a Distinguished Service Award from the Harvard Business School, but several months later was compelled by President Ferdinand Marcos to sign over his shares in MERALCO, was stripped of his holdings and forced into exile.

Death

His eldest child and heir apparent, Eugenio Lopez Jr., or Geny, was jailed on charges of conspiring to assassinate Ferdinand Marcos. This was carried out by Marcos in order for Don Eñing, who was at that time was in exile in United States to sell his businesses to him, his family and relatives and to his cronies. At one time, Marcos would send the then-Philippine Ambassador to the US, Benjamin Romualdez, a brother of then-First Lady Imelda Marcos, to San Francisco, California, where the elder Lopez was living along with his daughter, Precy and her Greek husband Steve Psinakis, to convince him to relinquish ownership of his businesses in his home country in order for it to sell to his entourage with a promise that his eldest child, Geny, would be released from jail. Don Eñing agreed, but his firstborn would remain in detention. As a result, he was double-crossed by the Marcos regime and his businesses were then completely in their hands. He was later diagnosed with cancer and died on July 5, 1975.

In popular culture

López was portrayed by Armando Goyena in the 1995 film Eskapo.