By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
First one is the group of companies passed on by the late Henry Sy, of SM fame, to his heirs.
The first big SM is at SM North EDSA in Quezon City near Quezon City Hall and UP Diliman. Strategically located in the corner of North Ave. and EDSA, it is an ideal location for a big mall. Opposite of North Ave. across EDSA is West Ave.
That land where that mall’s buildings stand were rice fields. I used to pass by there on my way to the nearby public college of law where I was enrolled in the early 1980s. I used to wonder, “Who owns this sprawling vacant lot?” Consisting of several hectares being used as rice fields, I thought it would not take long before it became a commercial center
Indeed, after about a year, a construction was going on there. Some parts on the sides were left vacant. These were later built on over the years and the whole complex has become the biggest mall in this country, even beating SM’s Mall of Asia (MOA).
After several years, right after the EDSA Revolution, I became a lawyer and went to work to a nearby PCGG sequestered bus company, the biggest one in the country then. So we would always hear rumors as to the companies next to be sequestered. One of these was the rumor that the SM group might be sequestered. Those companies with evidence that these were owned by then Pres. Marcos and his cronies were immediately sequestered.
With that rumor, I then put together what I have heard or read regarding that North-EDSA lot. One was that it was owned by the GSIS before the SM building was started there. And, if memory serves, it was Imelda who was the most important guest during its inauguration. For me, it served to answer the question why it was SM that got that lot. Was it given by the gov’t to SM or bought for a song? Whatever. Just by bagging that nice and big property was an unprecedented business coup.
After a few years, SM Megamall was put up also along EDSA in Pasig. It was one of the biggest malls in the world then.
Not much was heard later about SM building new malls until after the members of the Marcos family came back from exile.
Rumors were circulating then that the late Danding Cojuanco did not honor any of their agreements as to their partnership with Marcos in various companies including San Miguel. That must have been what prompted Imelda to run for president against Danding. That frustrated the latter’s presidential ambitions.
As to the SM group, it was rumored that Henry Sy honored whatever he promised. And it was very evident for anybody with an observant eye that a lot of SM malls sprouted like mushrooms all over the country. Also in China. BDO also became big, became a universal bank and now the biggest back hereabouts.
A member of the Sy family now runs Chinabank and NGCP. They have a lot of other companies like a real estate firm and a university (NU). You will see a lot more now with the election of BBM.
On the other hand, another Taipan, Lucio Tan denied that his companies were party owned by then President Marcos. BBM ever went to court to try to prove this but failed. I don’t think BBM will just take this sitting down. So it will be interesting to watch how things will turn out. Lucio Tan, however, is a survivor and we have to wait with bated breath how he will wiggle his way out of his situation.
His prominent local companies include PAL, PNB, Asia Brewery, etc. Since time immemorial, nobody ever dared to put up a competition to San Miguel even when it was still controlled by the Soarianos and then Danding Cojuanco.
It was only Lucio Tan who ever dared in the early 1980s by putting up Asia Brewery. Did you ever think he could have done it without the blessings of the powers-that-be?
The guest speaker during the inauguration of the company’s first plant in a Southern Tagalog area was Imelda.
Watch the future of Lucio Tan’s companies.
As to those of the heirs of Henry Sy, they will certainly prosper.
If BBM has any sense of social justice he should prioritize solving the glaring economic inequities in this country.**
