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Philanthr py
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OMEONE ONCE SAID THAT “ACTS OF KINDNESS can be done in a day, community building is the work of a lifetime.” The Lopez Family legacy of philanthropy involves not just a collection of acts of charity through time, which responds to an immediate need, but more significantly, it is “intentional and extends over a long period of time.” This is in fact the very definition of philanthropy, derived from the Greek word “philanthropos,” coined 2,500 years ago by the playwright Aeschylus (“Prometheus Bound”) and literally translated as “humanity loving character.” It was then adopted by the Greeks as an educational ideal, whose goal was excellence. In the recently launched book entitled “Undaunted, The Lopez Legacy 1800-2010” by Raul Rodrigo, one gets a very clear sense of the role that the Lopez Family has taken on in the greater, daunting task of nation (and community) building in the Philippines. The book is an engaging read as it is a visual chronicle of not just outstanding members of their family and the many Lopez businesses, but of Philippine political and social history as well. For the Lopez clan, it all started with Basilio, “a successful Jaro merchant of mixed Filipino and Chinese blood...in the 1800s,” who would then become gobernadorcillo or mayor of Jaro, Iloilo, at that time the most prosperous province in the Philippines. Basilio’s son, the first Eugenio, would follow in his father’s footsteps as mayor and he also pioneered sugar planting in the Philippines.
Today, the thoughtful legacy of service is continued on in the Lopez Group by family patriarch and family historian, the great grandson of the first Eugenio, Oscar Moreno Lopez. Until his retirement in mid-2010, he was Chairman of the Lopez Group of Companies and First Holdings. His Executive Profile in Bloomberg reads, “he is associated with 46 boards across nine organizations in 10 different countries.” He was also included in Forbes Asia’s list of “48 Altruists/Heroes of Philanthropy” from 12 Asian countries. To the corporate and business world, he is known as “OML,” to his family and friends, “Oskie.” I had the honor and distinct pleasure to have an afternoon interview with “OML” and his youngest son, Benjamin “Jay”
Lopez (AIM EMBA 2000), in the midst of an otherwise busy day when family members and officers from the Lopez Group were at the ACCM for a Lopez-led conference on human resource management. I was invited to join them initially as they had brought in dynamic, young, next-generation leaders of Filipino family corporations to share their insights and experiences. Included in this group is OML’s second son, Federico “Piki” Lopez, to whom OML has turned over recently, the active management of the Lopez Group, together with OML’s younger brother, Manolo (who was also recently appointed as Philippine Ambassador to Japan). It is regular forums of this kind within the Lopez Family and Group that keep them intentional about their work and goals.