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The Love Story of Heneral Antonio Luna and
Ysidra Cojuangco: Why the Filipinos Should Know.
by: Pinay Thinks
by: Pinay Thinks
This is a REBLOG. You can view the original blog by clicking the link here: Pinay Thinks.
I watched Heneral Luna the movie alone and while I was
very impressed and deeply moved by the unfolding of the story, I was left
with one question in mind.
Who is Ysabel, in the
movie, played by Mylene Dizon?
A decade ago, reading
through my collection of Ambeth Ocampo’s history books, I
learned that General Antonio Luna had a love affair with Ysidra Cojuangco.
Their love story in fact, has a deep repercussion in the current Philippine
politics and economy which is why it interests me. But since the book is not
with me now, I turned to google.
I learned that Ysabel as
depicted in the movie, was just a fictional lover of Heneral Antonio Luna. She
was an amalgamation of the women that Antonio, a ladies’ man and loverboy, had.
This brings me again to
google on the background of the legendary love story of the real Ysidra
Cojuangco and General Antonio Luna which, if true, provides us a good
understanding of the Philippines as it is today.
Family Background
Antonio Luna comes from
a wealthy and intelligent family originally from the Ilocos Region. His
brothers are the famed Juan Luna who painted the Spolarium and Jose Luna, a
medical doctor. He finished pharmacy and got a doctorate in Europe specialising
in medical chemistry. He also had expertise in military tactics which brought
him to his position as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines. He was feared by the Americans because of his military genius
but he also earned the ire of a lot of his revolutionary comrades because of
his very bad temperament.
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| This is the shrine of Juan Luna, brother of Antonio Luna in Badoc, Ilocos Norte |
Ysidra also known
as Ysila (slightly sounding similar to Ysabel in the movie) is the
daughter of a Chinese carpenter and artisan from China named, Co Yu Huan, who
was later baptized as Jose “Ingkong” Cojuangco through Roman Catholic
rites. She is the eldest of three. She is followed by Melecio and Chanita.
Melecio got married but Chanita became a spinster like her.
The Love Story and the Treasure
Trove
Ysidra’s father built
staircases for the priests in Malolos. He also built a house there which they
retained even as the whole family moved to Paniqui, Tarlac in 1896. The house
of Ysidra’s family was used by the Malolos Congress which opened in September
15, 1898. Antonio Luna was a member of the congress and used to sleep there.
Ysidra and Antonio Luna
must have met in Paniqui, Tarlac during one of Luna’s trips as he controlled
the railways during the revolution. They must have trysted in both Tarlac and
Malolos ( in Ysidra’s family’s house).
Luna as the Chief of
Staff, collected gold and silver from Pampanga and Ilocos as salary for his
men. On several occasions, Luna brought caskets of these treasures to
Ysidra in Tarlac for safe keeping and because he also planned to establish
the revolutionary capital there.
It is said that Ysidra
in her 30’s must have been pregnant or had given birth before General
Antonio Luna was assassinated in June 5, 1899. Three days before he died,
Ysidra received another batch of treasure for safe keeping. The treasure was an
assurance and insurance that he was going to marry her.
When Antonio Luna died,
the First Republic was on the run, the revolutionary army was defeated by
the Americans and disbanded. The Americans was then inquiring about the gold which
Ysidra and her family hid. The contemporaries of Antonio Luna also
suspected that the wealth was with Ysidra as well.
To dispel the rumors
circulating in the region and protect them from the threat of the Americans and
former revolutionaries who are pursuing the treasure, the Cojuangco family
creatively stirred a dummy story to confuse the public. The family said that
Ysidra gave birth to a love child with a Chinese mestizo who died before he can
marry her. According to them, the love child died in infancy.
Who is the real love child of
Antonio Luna and Ysidra Cojuangco
Ysidra put her son
on “adoption” and raised by her brother Melecio who married
Tekla Chichioco. They had four children Jose, Juan, Antonio and
Eduardo. Antonio Cojuangco is the name of the love child (obviously).
Juan and Eduardo
were born and conceived at the time when Luna was not present in the
Philippines to impregnate her, so it could not be them. Only Jose and
Antonio will coincide with Antonio Luna’s presence in the Philippines. But we
are left focusing on Antonio instead of Jose because of the following
circumstances.
All proof wiped from the face
of the earth
Luna’s contemporaries
alleged that the source of the Cojuangco fortune is the revolutionary treasure
trove. But it could not be proven as all proof are already
obliterated, but we are left now with more raging suspicions.
Among the four
sons of Melecio Cojuangco, it is only Antonio’s exact date of birth that
is unknown. The records of Antonio’s birth was erased in all
registry. In Ateneo where Antonio Cojuangco studied, the entire 1918 Annual graduates
listed only the year of births of graduates. Antonio was listed as born
in 1899. The years before and after this, they listed the complete birthday –
year, month and date for all the graduates. Similarly, the church’s registry
was missing, specifically for the year 1877 to 1902. In the tombstone of
Antonio Cojuangco in the family’s mausoleum, his birthdate is not indicated so
with his descendants while the rest of his brothers had.
Uncanny Resemblance
Antonio Luna comes from
a highly intelligent and academically achieving family, whereas, the Cojuangcos
are indifferent to academics.
But among all children
of Melecio Cojuangco, Antonio was different. He finished a doctor of
medicine, an interest he shared with his father General Antonio Luna and his
uncle Jose Luna. The rest of the Antonio Cojuangco descendants were also
different from the Cojuangco clan as they were scholastic achievers. Ramon, son
of Antonio Cojuangco graduated cum laude at Fordham University, his son Tonyboy
(grandson of Antonio Cojuangco and partner of Gretchen Barreto) graduated summa
cum laude with a degree of economics in Ateneo.
General Antonio Luna and
Antonio Cojuangco also shared common features such as the lower pout on the
lower lip, bushy eyebrows on the right side and less pronounced pencil-thin
eyebrows on the left, their right eyes are also round and almond shaped and
their left eyes are small, slant and located lower than those on the right.
Ramon and his son Tonyboy shared the same temperament with General Antonio Luna.
Please see google images
to compare their images as I have reservations grabbing photos due to copyright
restrictions.
Where is the body
of General Antonio Luna
His body disappeared and
can neither be found in Batac where his family originated or in Cabanatuan
where he was assassinated.
When his alleged son
Antonio Cojuangco died during a massacre in 1945. He was buried in
Laloma Quezon City. His remains was transferred later to the Cojuangco
family’s mausoleum. But Antonio Cojuangco shared his tomb with another –
the remains of his Chinese amah or the yaya. But is it really the amah or the
yaya or could it be somebody else?
Could it be possible
that Ysidra Cojuangco collected the remains of her lover General Antonio Luna
to be interred with the remains of their son Antonio Cojuangco?
The Cojuangco Fortune
With the death of
Ysidra’s father Jose “Ingkong” and her brother Melecio who died in an
altercation with the Americans. Ysidra became the head of the family. She
bought thousands of hectares of land, controlled the trade of the region and
lent money to planters who cannot pay her back thus she gained more lands from
their collateral.
Their
neighbors cannot imagine how Ysidra can come up with such
wealth because not only that the Cojuangco Clan, were just doing rice trading,
milling and lending but at that time the economy was down and there was
drought.
The Cojuangcos also
established the Paniqui Sugar Mills, a stock brokering firm and the first bank
in the country, the Philippine Bank of Commerce, wholly owned by Filipinos.
It is estimated that the
combined assets of Ysidra Cojuangco Clan now totals to 200 billion pesos.
Controlling Philippine Politics
and Economy
Ysidra now took care of
the four sons of Melecio Cojuangco.
Antonio Cojuangco, her real son died early and is only
survived by Ramon Cojuangco and later had a son named Tonyboy Cojuangco who
owned PLDT.
Juan Cojuangco was married but had no legitimate
children.
Jose Cojuangco, begat, Ceferino (stillbirth), Pedro,
Josephine, Teresita, Carmen (died at infancy), Corazon, Jose and Maria Paz. Of
historical note is Teresita who married Ricardo Lopa (who owns the Pulse Asia Survey*), Jose or Peping (who
owns the political party UNA supportingJejomar Binay and Gregorio Honasan ) and
Corazon Cojuangco whose son Benigno Aquino III now current president of the
Republic of the Philippines, owns the Liberal Party supporting
the candidacy of Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo). When
Cory took over the country after the EDSA revolution, she sold the companies
she sequestered from Marcos and cronies to the family of her sister Teresita
Lopa on a bargain. She further gave extra favors to her relatives and nephews
with the Philippine Airlines and PLDT shares of stocks. She also gave ABS-CBN
back to the Lopezes without a single cent. ABS-CBN was salvaged by the Marcos
government because they were mired in debt.
Eduardo Cojuangco begat Eduardo also called “Danding”
Cojuangco and Merceditas. Merceditas is the mother of Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro
who ran in the 2010 presidential elections but was not supported by his
uncle Danding. Danding Cojuangco now owns shares of San Miguel Corporation
using the coco levy fund. He also owns the National Peoples Coalition
(NPC), who is also supporting the candidacy of Grace Poe and Chiz Escudero. Danding supported his
nephew, Benigno “Noynoy Aquino in the 2010 presidential election. He now owns
Liberty Company that monopolizes the internet frequency of the country of
which Grace Poe’s husband is working for.
The big corporations of
the country and the government is virtually controlled and owned by the
Cojuangco family. The list above is just the tip of the iceberg. The capital of
the Cojuangcos can be traced back to the alleged revolutionary treasure trove
of the KKK which was supposed to be the salary of the men fighting for the
freedom of the Philippines.
This is my summary of
the Antonio Luna and Ysidra Cojuangco’s love story and interpretation of the
accounts made from the following sources. Please click on the link below for
details.
The Heneral and Ysidra
love story. FROM A DISTANCE By Carmen N. Pedrosa (The Philippine Star) | Updated October 17, 2015. http://www.philstar.com/opinion/2015/10/17/1511519/heneral-and-ysidra-love-story
Inside Antonio’s Secret
Love Affair with Ysidra Cojuangco by Filipiknow. http://www.filipiknow.net/antonio-luna-affair-with-ysidra-cojuangco/
Library of the Most
Controversial Files. https://www.facebook.com/ControversialFiles/posts/356283854461645
Philippine Defense
Forum. The Love Story of General Antonio Luna and Ysidra Cojuangco. http://www.timawa.net/forum/index.php?topic=21844.0 Asia’s
Finest Discussion
Asia’s Finest Discussion
FOrum. KKK Treasures Source of Wealth of the Cojuangco Family. http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=2
Untold Story. Scandals
during the Corazon Aquino Administration. http://www.thedailytrends.net/2013/09/untold-story-scandals-during-corazon.html
*Note:
§
I wrote SWS Survey in my original post. I kind
of interchange one from the other because they have interlocking directorates
anyway. For further details read link below.
§
Some of the information in this post I got from
Cecilio Arillo’s Greed and Betrayal.
The AuthorPinay Thinks
The AuthorPinay Thinks
