Eugenio López Sr. Explained

Eugenio H. López Sr.
Office:Chairman, Chronicle Broadcasting Network (now ABS-CBN Corporation)
Term Start:September 24, 1956
Term End:September 22, 1972
Predecessor:Antonio Quirino (1952–1957; as Chairman of Alto Broadcasting System, later merged with Chronicle Broadcasting Network)
James Lindenberg (Bolinao Electronics Corporation)
Successor:Fernando López (reopened ABS-CBN)
Birth Name:Eugenio Hofileña López
Birth Date:20 July 1901
Birth Place:Jaro, Iloilo City, Philippine Islands
Death Place:San Francisco, California, U.S.
Known For:Father of Philippine TV
Occupation:Journalist, broadcaster
Nationality:Filipino
Spouse:Pacita de Santos Moreno
Children:Eugenio López Jr.
Oscar M. López
Presentación M. López-Psinakis
Manuel M. López
Roberto M. López

Eugenio "Eñing" Hofileña López Sr. (pronounced as /tl/; July 20, 1901 – July 5, 1975) was a leading business figure in the Philippines. He was the founder of López 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.[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] His family residence in Iloilo City known as the Lopez Boat House, built in 1935, was declared a National Heritage House by the National Historical Commission in 2002.[4]

Career

López began as a provincial bus operator, and eventually became chairman of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, the Philippine's largest media conglomerate, 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.[5]

Death

López died of cancer on July 5, 1975.

In popular culture

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

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Lopez Museum: Nostalgia. Lopez Link. March 10, 2009. August 2, 2012.
  2. Web site: Eugenio H. Lopez Sr., pioneer and nationalist. Lopez Link. July 3, 2012. August 2, 2012.
  3. News: TDG consultant inducted 66th RC Iloilo president. October 4, 2014. The Daily Guardian. July 15, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20141006090925/http://www.thedailyguardian.net/index.php/local-news/31018-tdg-consultant-inducted-66th-rc-iloilo-president. October 6, 2014. dead.
  4. Web site: The past is alive! . 2024-08-01 . Art+ Magazine . en-US.
  5. McCoy, Alfred W. An Anarchy of Families: State and Family in the Philippines, 429