Fernando López (politician)

Fernando López

Fernando Hofilena López (born April 13, 1904 in Iloilo City , † May 26, 1993 ) was a Filipino politician and businessman .

biography

López came from a wealthy and influential family from the province of Iloilo and, after completing school at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in 1921, began studying law at the University of Santo Tomas , which he obtained in 1925 with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) completed.

After his admission to the bar, he worked as a lawyer, but at the same time, with his brother, he managed family companies such as the Iloilo- Negros Express Company (the country's first airline owned by locals), the newspapers "Iloilo Times-El Tiempo" and “Manila Chronicle” and broadcast company ABS-CBN Broadcasting. He was also a co-founder of Iloilo College and Far Eastern Air Transport Incorporated University (FEATI University).

His political career began in 1945 when President Sergio Osmeña appointed him mayor of Iloilo City without prior political experience . In 1947 he ran as a representative of the Liberal Party for a seat in the Senate (Senado ng Pilipinas) and was a member of it until 1949.

In the elections of 1949 he was the vice-presidential candidate of Elpidio Quirino and after the election victory became vice-president and at the same time Minister of Agriculture (Secretary of Agriculture) in his government, which was in office until 1953.

In 1953 he was again elected Senator and was a member of the Senate after his re-election from 1959 to 1965. At that time he joined the Nacionalista Party (NP) and was elected vice-president of Ferdinand Marcos in the 1965 elections. Together with Marcos, he was re-elected in 1969 and held the office of Vice-President until President Marcos proclaimed martial law in 1972. In the following years, he and his family lost Marcos' trust because he accused the dictator of corruption . However, López and his family were also exposed to criticism for belonging to the oligarchy , so that they later lost much of their political and economic influence.

After the end of Marcos' reign, from 1986 until his death in 1993, he was chairman of the board of directors of the family group of companies , First Philippine Holdings Corporation, which included the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO), First Gen Corporation, First Philippine Electric Corporation, First Philippine Industrial Park and the Rockwell Land Corporation. He was also Honorary Chairman of the Board of ABS-CBN.

Web links

• List of Senators of the Philippines in the English language Wikipedia