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Enrique Jacobo Emilio Zóbel y Olgado (January 7, 1927 – May 17, 2004), better known as Enrique J. Zóbel and EZ, was a prominent Filipino businessman, pilot, and
polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small ha ...
player belonging to the prominent
Zóbel de Ayala family The Zóbel de Ayala clan is a prominent Filipino family of Spanish and German descent who were the founders of Ayala y Compañía (now Ayala Corporation) and patrons of the Premio Zóbel literary awards. The clan is directly descended from Jacob ...
who are of
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
descent.


Early life

The only child of Col. Jacobo Zóbel y Roxas and Ángela Olgado y Calvo, he was a grandson and namesake of
Enrique Zóbel de Ayala Enrique Jacobo Pedro Luis Plácido Zóbel de Ayala (October 9, 1877 – February 17, 1943) was a Spanish-born industrialist and philanthropist who became the first patriarch of the Zóbel de Ayala family. He was also one of the leaders in the Ph ...
. After the Japanese forces entered
Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...
in 1941, the 14-year-old Enrique displayed his resourcefulness and audacity, having to care for his mother while his father was with the USAFFE forces in
Bataan Bataan (), officially the Province of Bataan ( fil, Lalawigan ng Bataan ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the enti ...
. To generate income for their daily needs, he used his father's polo ponies to offer kalesa rides and even befriended General Ota, the head of the Kempeitai in the process. He became the favorite of his aunt, Mercedes Zobel McMicking, and her husband, Col. Joseph McMicking. Doña Mercedes was matriarch of the
Zóbel de Ayala family The Zóbel de Ayala clan is a prominent Filipino family of Spanish and German descent who were the founders of Ayala y Compañía (now Ayala Corporation) and patrons of the Premio Zóbel literary awards. The clan is directly descended from Jacob ...
after the deaths of her brothers, Jacobo and Alfonso. The couple took interest in his education and growth and groomed him, together with other clan members for the family businesses.


Career

Zóbel joined Ayala y Compañia in 1955 and worked closely with his uncle, Col. McMicking, who was credited for engineering the transformation of Makati from vast tracts of swamplands into the Philippines' premier financial and commercial district. When the Ayala y Compañia partnership became a
corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...
in 1967 (after the retirement of Col. McMicking), Zóbel became its first chief executive. Like McMicking, Zóbel showed great strength and business savvy in contributing to the growth of Ayala as one of the Philippines' biggest and most respected conglomerates. He sustained McMicking's vision for the Ayala group. He professionalized the Ayala group and was instrumental in fulfilling Ayala's goal to become a major player in the banking sector, as the company gained control of the
Bank of the Philippine Islands Bank of the Philippine Islands ( fil, Bangko ng Kapuluang Pilipinas, es, Banco de las Islas Filipinas, commonly known as BPI; ) is a universal bank in the Philippines. It is the first bank in both the Philippines and Southeast Asia. It is t ...
. Ayala also moved into new industries –
semiconductor A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistivity falls as its temperature rises; metals behave in the opposite way ...
( Integrated Micro-Electronics, Inc.),
food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing includes many forms of processing foods, from grinding grain to make raw flour to home cooking to complex in ...
(Pure Foods Corporation – now, San Miguel Pure Foods Company, Inc.),
agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit w ...
(Ayala Agricultural Development Corporation) and
telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...
(Globe-Mackay Cable & Radio Corporation – now,
Globe Telecom Globe Telecom, Inc., commonly shortened as Globe, is a major provider of telecommunications services in the Philippines. The company operates the largest mobile network in the Philippines and one of the largest fixed-line and broadband networks ...
). In 1973, Zóbel welcomed the
Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...
group as partners and took Ayala Corporation
public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...
in 1976. On November 8, 1976, Ayala Corporation was listed in the Makati Stock Exchange (now
Philippine Stock Exchange The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. ( fil, Pamilihang Sapi ng Pilipinas; ) is the national stock exchange of the Philippines. The exchange was created in 1992 from the merger of the Manila Stock Exchange and the Makati Stock Exchange. Includin ...
). In 1981, he founded the Makati Business Club (MBC) with
Jose V. Romero Jr. Jose Emeterio Villanueva Romero Jr. (4 May 1934 – 10 September 2018), also known as Joe Romero or Jose V. Romero Jr., was a Filipino statesman and diplomat. Early life and education Romero was born on May 4, 1934, to José E. Romero and Elisa ...
, Rogelio Pantaleon and Bernardo Villegas to support or oppose policies which affected national life. He felt that the business community needed to speak out as a single solid voice and not lobby for its own corporate or sectoral interest. From 1983 to 1986, MBC would be the prime advocate of political change. In 1983, he fought with his third cousin Andrés Soriano, Jr. for control of
San Miguel Corporation San Miguel Corporation, abbreviated as SMC, is a Philippine multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. The company is one of the largest and most diversified conglomerates in the Philippines. Originally founded ...
(SMC). After losing the battle for control, he sold the Zóbel de Ayala family's shares (equivalent to 19% of SMC) in SMC to
Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr. Eduardo "Danding" Murphy Cojuangco Jr. (June 10, 1935 – June 16, 2020) was a Filipino businessman and politician. He was the chairman and CEO of San Miguel Corporation, the largest food and beverage corporation in the Philippines and Sou ...
His controversial move was met with the displeasure of his aunt, Doña Mercedes, and cost him his position at Ayala. He was succeeded by his first cousin Jaime Zóbel de Ayala in 1984. On his own, he took on projects of unprecedented dimensions in 1984, building the
Istana Nurul Iman The Istana Nurul Iman ( Jawi: ايستان نور الإيمان; English: The Light of Faith Palace) is the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, and the seat of the Brunei government. The palace is located on a leafy ...
(official residence of the
Sultan of Brunei The sultan of Brunei is the monarchical head of state of Brunei and head of government in his capacity as prime minister of Brunei. Since independence from the British in 1984, only one sultan has reigned, though the royal institution dates ...
,
Hassanal Bolkiah Hassanal Bolkiah ibni Omar Ali Saifuddien III ( Jawi: ; born 15 July 1946) is the 29th and current Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan of Brunei since 1967 and the Prime Minister of Brunei since independence from the United Kingdom in 1984. He is on ...
) at a total cost of around US$1.4 billion under his company, Ayala International, Inc.


Philanthropy

The De La Salle-Santiago Zóbel School located in
Ayala Alabang Village Ayala Alabang, in terms of land area, is the third largest barangay in Muntinlupa, Metro Manila, Philippines. A large portion of it came from Barangay Alabang. Its land area of includes Alabang Town Center, Ayala Alabang Village, El Molito, ...
(an Ayala real estate development) was named in memory of son, Jacobo Santiago "Santi" (1954–1965), who died of
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...
at the age of 11. In 1990, he established the Enrique Zóbel Foundation, which focuses on social and economic development projects in Calatagan,
Batangas Batangas, officially the Province of Batangas ( tl, Lalawigan ng Batangas ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region on Luzon. Its capital is the city of Batangas, and is bordered by the provinces of Cavite and L ...
.


Military service

He was a pilot and reserve officer in the
Philippine Air Force The Philippine Air Force (PAF) ( tgl, Hukbong Himpapawid ng Pilipinas, , Army of the Air of the Philippines) ( es, Ejército Aérea del Filipinas, , Ejército de la Aérea de la Filipinas) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Armed Fo ...
with the rank of
colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...
.


Later life

On May 10, 1991, Zóbel suffered a spinal injury and was paralyzed from the waist down after an accident in
Sotogrande Sotogrande is the largest privately owned residential development in Andalusia, Spain. Originally a gated community, it is located in the municipality of San Roque and is composed of a 25-square-kilometre stretch from the Mediterranean Sea 25& ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
while playing
polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small ha ...
. He had to stop all physical activities and instead devoted his time to his foundation. He was a recipient of the
TOFIL Award The Outstanding Filipino or TOFIL Award is the honor given by the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Philippines to Filipino men and women, 41 years of age and over, whose exemplary achievements are worthy of emulation. The award was conceiv ...
in 2001. He was a consummate pilot and was equally at home with jets and propeller
airplane An airplane or aeroplane (informally plane) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations. The broad ...
s. Even just before his death, he was looking for a small jet that could fly the distance from Manila to Hawaii, where he had a vacation home.


Personal life

He was first married to Rocío Urquijo with whom he had three children – Jacobo Santiago "Santi" (1954–1965), Mercedes, and Iñigo. He later separated from Urquijo and married Dee Anne Hora, an American. After his death, Hora became the chairwoman of the Enrique Zobel Foundation and continued his philanthropic works. He was also known by his employees as a fluent Tagalog speaker with a twist of Batangueno accent given his sojourn in Batangas.


Death

Zóbel died on May 17, 2004, at the age of 77.


Posthumous

Zóbel was an avid
polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small ha ...
player and was the first Filipino president of Manila Polo Club (1963–1964). In honor of his memory, the East Polo Field of the club was renamed Enrique Zóbel Field on January 9, 2005. The Enrique Zóbel Memorial Polo Cup was launched on January 30, 2005, at the club and has been held annually since.


References


External links


Enrique Zobel Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zobel, Enrique 1927 births 2004 deaths 20th-century Filipino businesspeople Filipino people of German descent Filipino people of Basque descent
Enrique Enrique () is the Spanish variant of the given name Heinrich of Germanic origin. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Enric (Catalan), Enrico (Italian), Henrik (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian), Heinrich (German), Hendrik, Henk (D ...
Filipino people with disabilities People with paraplegia De La Salle University alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni San Miguel Corporation people