As The Bamboos Sway: The Cojuangco’s wealth

6 MIN READ

By RUDY D. LIPORADA
www.nordis.net

How could the daughter of a poor carpenter immigrant from China become the matriarch of a wealthy and powerful, if not the wealthiest and most powerful, clan in the Philippines? Although splashed theories abound and swirl in written records and in the social media, a dead man, Esteban Pasetes, may lend truth to how this came to be.

The poor Chinese carpenter is Co Giok Kuan who immigrated to the Philippines from Hongjian Village, Jiaomei Township, Zhangzhou, Fujian in 1861. He was commonly called Kuán Goō or Koǒ Kuán among Hoklo-Filipinos. He adopted ‘Jose’ to be his Christian first name in 1865 and his Chinese name was hispanized to Cojuangco. He would sire with his Spanish mestiza wife, Antera Estrella, the matriarch to be, Ysidra Cojuangco who was born in 1867. Ysidra had two siblings, Melicio and Trinidad who were born in 1871 and 1876 respectively.

The Chinese Cojuangco down lineage would include two past Philippine presidents, Maria Corazon “Cory” Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino and Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Cojuangco Aquino III. This would start, from Ysidra, with Melicio eventually becoming the patriarch of the clan, the known landowners in Tarlac. Melecio would become the first representative of the province’s first district from 1907 to 1909. In later years, the congressional seat for the first district in Tarlac would be transferred from one Cojuangco to another from 1961 to the present. The political influence of the clan would reach the citadel of the Malacanang Palace when “Cory” Aquino was proclaimed president after the ouster of Dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1986. In all these, “Cory’s” cousin, Danding is dubbed as a kingmaker, behind political figures who should be in power.

Intermarrying with the Aquino and the Araneta clans, the Cojuangcos further solidified their economic and political clout in the Islands. With the Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac as their bastion, the Cojuangcos, wielding their political power, dip their hands in all possible ventures, may it be industrial, banking, agricultural, or media control, and the like.

So, how could a daughter of a poor Chinese immigrant, a mere carpenter, become the wealth and power source of the Cojuangcos?

And who is Esteban Pasetes?

Though unfortunate that he is now dead, Esteban Pasetes could be a missing link that could further shed light on the swirling theory on how Ysidra and the Cojuangcos acquired their wealth. His story resonates from his grave through his grandson, Lou Pasetes, a fraternity brother of mine. And though since there was never a case filed and one can only invoke, loosely, ante litem motam, where a declarant could have no motive to distort the truth before a controversy, his story is worthwhile considering.

Not wanting to dilute Lou’s story, I thought it best just to quote him. On a Facebook page graveyard picture of his grandfather, Esteban Pasetes, Lou once posted: “Here lies one of the witnesses to the Antonio Luna – Ysidra Cojuangco affair and the first known incident of Philippine plunder towards the end of the 19th century, hidden amongst other tombs.” The tomb lies in a cemetery in Batac, Ilocos Norte.

Intrigued and having come across on the story of Antonio Luna and Ysidra Cojuangco, I asked how Esteban Pasetes could be connected to the story. Lou answered,” I can make neither comment nor conjecture on these but only to state a fact, though it might not pass the test of hearsay evidence, my grandfather relayed an information long before all this started to explode in the media.

“In gist, our late grandfather, Esteban Pasetes, relayed to our father, Vicente K. Pasetes, that he was one of the officers under Gen. Antonio Luna’s command, (I wonder if there is a list, roster or something in the National Archives about that command) that on several occasions, he was among those who, on orders of Gen. Luna, dumped caskets of treasures into a dormant well (patay na balon) within the estate of the Cojuangcos in Paniqui, Tarlac. He stated that a spinster Cojuangco was a lover of Gen. Luna. He never identified the woman. At the time, my father relayed the story to me, it was at that time of no significance to me, politically or otherwise. However, considering the state of conflusion regarding the claims about the source of the Cojuangco wealth, that sliver of information means a lot in the annals of Philippine history. This fact told by my grandfather to my father and later passed on to me and my brother must be considered as true under the principle of ante litem motam which simply means that the declarant, my grandfather, had no motive to distort the truth before the controversy on how the source of Aquino fortune arose. The controversy was first brought out nationally when Danding Cojuangco ran for president, almost 50 years AFTER my grandfather’s death, 27 years AFTER my father’s death.

“As a matter of fact, I related this historical tidbit, if I may call it that way, to a prominent law practitioner who is one of my mentors and now the dean of the school of law of the University of the Cordilleras, Rey Agranzamendez, who did not believe it as there was no authentication of its veracity other than the bare claim of knowledge of an event that was orally handed down from generation to generation. But when the controversy arose when Danding Cojuangco was running for president, he said that he believed me under the principle of ante litem motam. I do not know if he still recalls this but I vividly remember the discussion that we had.”

Whether Esteban’s story could be believed or not, we note these facts based on stories already established or still swirling as theories.

One. Antonio Luna’s family hailed from the Ilocos region. It would be logical to coop Esteban Pasetes, an Ilocano, to be one of his trusted men when the Filipino American war followed the fall of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines 1898. Esteban is presumed born in Bacnotan, La Union where there is a large concentration of Pasetes families. His wife, Liberata Karig, must also be from Bacnotan were Karig clans are found. Though there is no record of the date of his birth, Lou estimates that Esteban must have been in his early or middle 30s when he was with General Luna.

Two. Constrained by Chinese custom to marry within their own and growing to be a spinster at 32, Ysidra must have been attracted to the Antonio Luna who controlled the railway routes during the revolution at Tarlac and had been welcomed to sleep in their house. This is apart from the house of Ysidra’s family which was used by the Malolos Congress in Bulacan which opened in September 15, 1898. Antonio Luna was a member of the congress and used to sleep there. And, after all, like many leaders of the Philippine Revolution who had substantial Chinese ancestry to include Emilio Aguinaldo, Andrés Bonifacio, Marcelo del Pilar, José Rizal, and Manuel Tinio; it is reported that Antonio Luna also descended from Chinese ancestry.

Three. Luna had been entrusted with the funds of the revolution and, preparing to establish guerilla bases in Pampanga and the Cordilleras, he had to entrust the coffers to someone. Who else would one trust except his lover, Ysidra who was conveniently in Tarlac.

Four. For transporting these funds and hiding them, Luna had to have carriers. Esteban Pasetes could have been one of those helpers, lending credence to Esteban’s dormant well story.

Five. As the story is reported to have unfolded, after Antonio Luna was assassinated by Emilio Aguinaldo’s men, the funds of the revolution could not be found. Eventually, the Cojuangcos started lending money to farmers who not only used the loans in cultivating their lands but for expensive fiestas and other luxuries with their lands as collateral. Those who were not able to pay back had their lands possessed by the Cojuangcos. From that start, the Cojuangcos wealth flourished and the clan now has some undetermined hundreds of billions of pesos to their name.

Six. We can theorize that Esteban Pasetes, a loyal follower of Luna, would be among those disgruntled and demoralized with the assassination of his general. As payback to the assassins of his general, he would not have revealed to them where Luna hid the revolutionary funds. Per Lou, Esteban would eventually become a landowner in Gerona, Tarlac, which is predominantly an Ilocano enclave within largely Kapampangan speaking Tarlac. In his old age, Lou’s father who had become an Aglipayan bishop in Batac, Ilocos Norte, took Esteban under his care till Esteban died in May 1, 1949.

With all these said, whether Esteban’s story, as passed on to his future generations, is true or just tall tale, we cannot help but deduce that that’s how a lowly Chinese carpenter’s daughter really started to generate wealth that the Cojuangcos had amassed. Moreover, if true, would this be the first case of plunder on the Philippine Republic’s coffers whose significance and gravity could be graver than the plunder committed by the Marcoses? Furthermore, if true, would there be a way for the Filipinos to wrest back the plundered revolutionary funds with interests as has been generated through the stewardship of the Cojuangcos?

Yes? No? True? False? Well, the fact is there is an Esteban Pasetes buried in Batac, Ilocos Norte and history is still being written or rewritten down the years. # nordis.net