Eugenio Lopez Sr.

Eugenio Hofileña López Sr. (July 20, 1901 – July 5, 1975), also known as Eñing López and Don Eugenio, was leading figure in the Philippines. Dubbed as the Father of Philippine Television, 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

He was born as Eugenio Hofileña López on July 20, 1901 in Jaro, Iloilo City. His parents were Benito López, a former governor of Iloilo, and Presentación Hofileña. He was the elder brother of former Philippine Vice President Fernando Lopez. He received his education at the Ateneo de Manila where he graduated in 1919, and later the University of the Philippines where he took up law and graduated in 1923.^[1] He earned his master of laws degree from Harvard University.^[2]

He was the first president, or "charter president", of the Rotary Club of Iloilo, the third oldest Rotary Club in the Philippines.^[3]

Career

López began as a provincial bus operator, and eventually became chairman of the Philippine's largest media conglomerate (ABS-CBN) and president of the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO). 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.^[4] In September 1972, President Marcos declared martial law in the Philippines, which began a period of dictatorship that lasted in the 1986 People Power Revolution and that was characterized by crony capitalism.

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 Ening, 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 an 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 Ening 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.

See also

• Eugenio López Jr.
• Eugenio López III
• Fernando López

References

Further reading

• McCoy, Alfred W. (2009). "Rent-seeking Families and the Philippine State: A History of the Lopez Family". In McCoy, Alfred W. An Anarchy of Families: State and Family in the Philippines. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-22984-9.