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Fernando Lopez

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Fernando Lopez
3rd and 7th Vice President of the Philippines
In office
December 30, 1965 – September 23, 1972
PresidentFerdinand Marcos
Preceded byEmmanuel Pelaez
Succeeded byPosition abolished (Next held by Salvador Laurel)
In office
December 30, 1949 – December 30, 1953
PresidentElpidio Quirino
Preceded byElpidio Quirino
Succeeded byCarlos P. Garcia
Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources
In office
December 30, 1965 – 1971
PresidentFerdinand Marcos
Preceded byJose Feliciano
Succeeded byArturo Tanco Jr.
In office
December 14, 1950 – 1953
PresidentElpidio Quirino
Preceded byPlácido Mapa
Succeeded byPlácido Mapa
President pro tempore of the Senate of the Philippines
In office
January 27, 1958 – December 30, 1965
Preceded byManuel Briones
Succeeded byLorenzo Sumulong
Senator of the Philippines
In office
December 30, 1953 – December 30, 1965
In office
December 30, 1947 – December 30, 1949
Mayor of Iloilo City
Acting
In office
September 26, 1945 – December 30, 1947
Appointed bySergio Osmeña
Preceded byMariano Benedicto
Succeeded byVicente Ybiernas
Chairman of ABS-CBN Corporation
In office
February 28, 1986 – May 26, 1993
Preceded byEugenio López Sr.
Succeeded byEugenio Lopez Jr.
Personal details
Born
Fernando Hofileña Lopez

(1904-04-13)April 13, 1904
Jaro, Iloilo, Philippines[a]
DiedMay 26, 1993(1993-05-26) (aged 89)
Iloilo City, Philippines
Political partyNacionalista (1945–1946; 1957–1993)
Other political
affiliations
Democratic (1953–1957)
Liberal (1946–1953)
SpouseMaria Salvacion Javellana
Children6
Alma materUniversity of Santo Tomas (LL.B)
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionLawyer

Fernando Hofileña Lopez Sr. KGCR (April 13, 1904 – May 26, 1993) was a Filipino statesman. A member of the influential Lopez family of Iloilo, he served as vice president of the Philippines under Presidents Elpidio Quirino from 1949 to 1953 under the Liberal Party and Ferdinand Marcos from 1965 to 1972, under the Nacionalista Party. He was also the chairman of ABS-CBN Corporation from 1986 to his death in 1993.

Early life and career

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Lopez was born on April 13, 1904, in Jaro, Iloilo City to Benito Villanueva Lopez and Presentacion Javelona Hofileña. He was the younger brother and only sibling of Eugenio Lopez Sr. The Lopez family was the richest and most influential family in the province.

Lopez studied high school at Colegio de San Juan de Letran, finishing in 1921. He studied law in the University of Santo Tomas, earning his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1925. After passing the bar examinations, he did not go into private practice, but helped his older brother manage the family business.

In 1945, with no prior political experience, Lopez was chosen by President Sergio Osmeña to be mayor of Iloilo City.[1] In 1947, he ran for senator and won.

Lopez was one of the founders of University of Iloilo and the FEATI University in Manila.

The brothers Eugenio and Fernando owned the Iloilo-Negros Air Express Company (the first Filipino owned air service), the Iloilo Times (El Tiempo), the Manila Chronicle and ABS-CBN Corporation, LSC (Lopez Sugar Corporation), Bayantel (including Bayan DSL), SkyCable (including SkyBroadband), Meralco, RLC (Rockwell Land Corporation), Rockwell Center, First Balfour, Inc., Philippine Electric Corporation (Philec), First Electro Dynamics Corporation (Fedcor), First Sumiden Circuits, Inc. (FSCI), Securities Transfer Services, Inc. (STSI), The Medical City (TMC), BayanTrade DotCom, First Gas Holdings Corporation (Santa Rita), FGP. Corp. (San Lorenzo), FG Hydro Power Corporation (Pantabangan-Masiway), FG Bukidnon (Agusan mini-hydro), Bauang Private Power Corporation (Bauang), Panay Electric Company (PECO), First Philippine Industrial Corporation (the major fuel distributor of Shell and Chevron Caltex in the country), First Philippine Realty Corp, First Philippine Electric Corp. (First Philec), First Philec Solar Corporation, First Sumiden Circuits, Inc. (FSCI), First Sumiden Realty, Inc, First Philippine Industrial Park.

Vice-presidency

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First term (1949–1953)

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In 1949, Lopez became vice-president under President Elpidio Quirino and concurrently worked as secretary of agriculture, serving until 1953. He was then elected once again as senator, and re-elected in 1959.

Second and third term (1965–1972)

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Vice President Fernando Lopez with President Ferdinand Marcos at the Presidential study.

In 1965, Lopez ran with Ferdinand Marcos and won as vice-president. He was re-elected in 1969, making him, to date the only vice-president to serve two non-consecutive terms, two different presidents and from different parties. By the time martial law was declared in 1972, the Lopez family fell out of Marcos' favor and was targeted by the regime because of their denunciations of Marcos. The position of vice-president was abolished, and the Lopez family was stripped of most of its political and economic assets.

Later life and death

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After the removal of Marcos from power as a result of the People Power Revolution of 1986, Lopez became chairman of FHL Investment Corporation and vice-chairman of First Philippine Holdings Corporation.

He died on May 26, 1993, a month after his 89th birthday leaving his wife Mariquit Javellana with whom he had six children: Yolanda, Fernando, Jr. (Junjie), Alberto (Albertito), Emmanuele, Benito and Mita. He was also the longest living vice president until he was surpassed by Teofisto Guingona Jr. in 2017.

Honors and awards

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Notes

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  1. ^ The Philippines was a unincorporated territory of the United States known as the Philippine Islands at the time of Lopez's birth.

References

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  1. ^ "Appointments and Designations: October, 1945 | GOVPH". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. October 1, 1945. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  2. ^ "Our Story". Knights of Rizal. Archived from the original on June 15, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
Business positions
Preceded by ABS-CBN Chairman
1986 – 1993
Succeeded by
Political offices
Vacant
Title last held by
Elpidio Quirino
Vice President of the Philippines
1949–1953
Succeeded by
Preceded by Vice President of the Philippines
1965–1973
Vacant
Office abolished; due to martial law
Title next held by
Salvador Laurel