Women in the wealthiest list

This being Women’s Month, it’s only apropos to focus on seven women in Forbes magazine’s annual list of the 50 richest tycoons in the country, released last year. (Many thanks to Town & Country for posting the list on its website.)

Though most of the women either inherited their wealth and position from their fathers or husbands, there is no doubt that they played key roles in creating and consolidating the resources that have catapulted their families to the elite roster of the country’s wealthiest.

I have no doubt that the Forbes list overlooked some women entrepreneurs and business leaders. For the most part, accomplished Filipino women, especially married women, prefer to keep a low profile, assuming innocuous titles or positions in their companies and letting the men in the family—fathers, husbands, or sons—rule the limelight.

Thus, we see women founding corporations and building the business from the ground up, but when the enterprise reaches a certain level of success, taking a step back and allowing the men to take the limelight. So, while the husband, say, assumes the title of CEO and/or president, wifey will gladly go by the title of vice president, treasurer, or even adviser, eschewing a high profile.

Part of the explanation for this turn of affairs is “cultural.” Giving the men a title and emoluments feeds the sensitive male ego, even if much of the work has been and is carried out by the “better half.”

What do the women get from this deceptive, unequal arrangement? Maybe peace in the family, or support from father, husband and son, which is crucial for a woman battling social expectations and stereotypes while raising a family. I sincerely hope everyone in on this lopsided relationship comes out of it satisfied with the results.

Anyway, here are the seven women in the order listed by Forbes.

Susan Co is the vice chair of Puregold Price Club and wife of Puregold chair Lucio Co. They are the only husband and wife mentioned in the rankings, owing to their control of Puregold which operates a network of 290 stores. The company also acquired in 2011 the membership warehouse supermarket S&R. Puregold earned P87.2 billion last year, making it the largest among supermarket chain operators.

Second on the list is Mercedes Zobel, who with her brother Iñigo made it to the list by virtue of their majority share in Top Frontier Investment Holdings, with interests in San Miguel Corp. and Ayala Corp. formerly headed by her father Enrique Zobel. Mercedes is also well-known for her philanthropy.

Mercedes Gotianun is the cofounder, along with her husband Andrew, of Filinvest Development Corp., with interests in real estate, banking and agriculture. After her husband passed away in 2016, Mercedes assumed the title of chair emeritus.

Though she is the president of Monde Nissin, a food manufacturing firm behind such well-known brands as Lucky Me instant noodles, Nissin wafers and Skyflakes crackers, Betty Ang has kept a rather low profile in business circles. She and her Indonesian husband Hoediono Kweefanus own sizeable stakes in the company, but little else is known about her.

Together with her husband Jose Campos, Beatrice Campos founded United Laboratories (Unilab) in 1945 and slowly nurtured it into the largest pharmaceutical manufacturer in the country. The family also holds a stake in Del Monte Pacific where her son, Joselito Jr., sits as managing director and CEO.

Ubiquitous in most towns and cities, Mercury Drug is easily the largest drugstore chain by revenue here. The company chair is Vivian Que-Azcona. Her father Mariano Que founded the company in 1945, selling anti-TB drugs from door to door before setting up his network of drugstores.

Rounding out the seven women is Juliette Romualdez, whose family holds a minor stake in the mining concern Benguet Corp., which is now managed by her son Daniel Andrew. A large part of her assets can also be traced to the family’s sale of its minority stake in BDO Unibank, the largest in the country. Her late husband Benjamin was the younger brother of Imelda Romualdez Marcos.