Monday, July 15, 2013

The Old Cojuangco Fortune & the First Philippine Republic Funds

Notes on Aquino-Cojuanco fortune





ON the first anniversary of the installation of "President" A_NOY Cojuangco Aquino y HOCUS PCOS, let me talk of his family from the maternal side, the Cojuangcos. Let me talk of the controversial history of the where the Cojuangco wealth purportedly came from.


Why the Filipinos should run after the Cojuangco family, the famed family of the late President Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino and her only son, the "incumbent" Malacanang occupant, it is not only the land reform issue of Hacienda Luisita but more so, the first Philippine Republic REVOLUTIONARY FUNDS said to amount to several BILLION pesos.



During the Spanish period, Gen. Antonio Luna, then chief of staff of the revolutionary army, turned over revolutionary funds to his paramour Ysidra Cojuangco for safekeeping.

When Luna was assassinated [apparently upon orders of the fledgling Philippine Republic President Emilio F. Aguinaldo, the Cojuangcos kept the treasure all to themselves — a tradition of treason and greed that has been kept alive by today's Cojuangcos, as well as, their Aquino branch.
--Herman Tiu-Laurel

http://jesusabernardo.newsvine.com/_news /2010/03/04/3978321-the-history-of-the-cojuangcos-ownership-of-hacienda-luisita





Now, Ysidra Cojuangco y Estrella was the eldest child of the Chinese immigrant great grandfather of current Philippine "President" Noynoy Aquino. Jose Cojuangco (I), the lolo of the late ex-President Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino, was the son of a Chinese immigrant from Fujian. His Chinese name was Co Giok Kuan who received the Christian name "Jose." He worked as a carpenter before becoming a building contractor and marrying Spanish meztisa [Antera Estrella]... His children were Ysidra, born 1867; Melicio, born 1871; and Trinidad, born 1876 (Dobbin, pp. 150, 160-161)."


It's not only columnist Tiu-Laurel who is saying that the funds of the First Republic fell into the hands of the Cojuangcos. This has been discussed in the study of another columnist, Larry Henares. Devoting a series to reveal that Gen. Luna left a lovechild by Ysidra Cojuangco--who he concludes to be Antonio Cojuangco III of PLDT fame--Henares also bares how the Cojuangcos suddenly amassed a big fortune, affording their purchase of large tracts of sugar and rice lands.


Bed-ridden but sound of mind, she was irrepressible, regaling us with stories of Dona Ysidra, her neighbor in Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija, whom she met when she was 10 years old, and who was going to be her godmother, ninang sa casal, were it not for the distance and difficulty of travel. We recorded her saying that Ysidra admitted that Luna was indeed her very close friend, and that Luna left her valuables, not once but regularly on many occasions. When asked how much value was involved, Encarnacion replied that while she is not sure of the exact value, it was certainly in huge quantities since several huge caskets were involved. Manapat asked her if she knew that there were more than one shipment. She emphatically said yes, the shipments were a regular thing!! Not only was Encarnacion a friend and confidant of Dona Ysidra, she is also the daughter of Eulalio Saulo who confirmed to her the story as one of the military escorts of the gold shipment to Ysidra. As far as we know this is the first direct evidence of a Cojuangco (and Ysidra at that) admitting what many Luna contemporaries long alleged, that the source of the Cojuangco fortune was the gold commandeered by Luna and regularly turned over to Ysidra. The combined assets controlled by the Cojuangcos total about P200 BILLION." (bold supplied)
XXXX "There was an earlier account recounted by historian Carlos Quirino in an unpublished book commissioned by Danding Cojuangco, about a shipment of gold vessels commandeered by General Antonio Luna from churches in Pampanga, collected for him by Tiburcio Hilario, Pampanga governor, brought to Paniqui and entrusted to Ysidra for safekeeping before Luna left for Cabanatuan to meet Aguinaldo, only to be assassinated there. Aha, so gold was brought by Luna from both the Ilocos (through Saulo) and Central Luzon (through Hilario) to Ysidra! With the First Republic on the run and the Americans inquiring about the gold, Ysidra dumped the gold into a well, retrieved it later and used it to build the Cojuangco fortune."




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