When Rajah Humabon and Ferdinand Magellan met and exchanged Filipino goods for Spanish goods, little did they realize that the relationship between the Philippine islands and Spain would experience a range of development that would be full and would come full-circle in the end.
The first phase of that development was, of course, the colonization of the “Las Islas Filipinas” (except Mindanao) by the Spanish conquistadores under Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. The Philippine islands’ status as a colony of Spain was lost, as everyone knows, until that fateful day in June 1896 when the war of independence from Spain was proclaimed by General (and later President) Emilio Aguinaldo. The war had virtually been won by the Philippine army when a defeated Spain sold the Philippines to the US, through the Treaty of Paris, for $20 million.
The economic aspect of the colonizer-colony relationship saw the establishment in the Philippine islands of business establishments owned by “Peninsular” and “Insular” Spaniards. The biggest of these were Tabacalera (Compania Fabrica de Tabacos de Filipinas) and the father of San Miguel Brewery Inc. (Fabrica de Cerveza de San Miguel). There were other, smaller establishments.
Thus, from a purely colonizer-colony relationship the ties between the Philippine Islands and Spain evolved into an investor-host country relationship. Purely political had become political/commercial.
I spoke earlier of Philippine-Spanish ties having come full-circle. I said that with real estate development giant Megaworld’s recent investment in a major Spanish in industry in mind.
Last year Emperador Inc., which, like Megaworld, is controlled by tycoon Andrew Tan, acquired Fundador Pedro Domecq, Spain’s oldest and leading branding producer, in a P13.8 billion (275 million euros) all-cash deal. The actual buyer was Grupo Emperador Spain S.A., a company owned by Emperador Inc. The acquisition included Fundador Pedro Domecq’s brandy and sherry business in Jerez de la Frontera and its brandy distillery in Tomelloso. Besides the world-renowned Pedro Domecq, Grupo Emperador acquired Terry Centenario brandy. Emperador Inc. claims that Emperador is now the leading brandy in the Philippines.
Prior to the entry of Megaworld/Emperador into the Spanish market, there have been other significant Philippine investments in Spain in times past. Chief among these have been San Miguel Brewery, which, under its previous name San Miguel Corporation, established two breweries in the Philippines’ longtime mother country.
A Filipino company is now the leading producer of brandy in Spain. Not bad for a nation formerly populated by Indios.
Truly, the relationship between this country and Spain has come full circle. Rajah Humabon, General Aguinaldo and all fighters for Philippine independence and progress must be smiling in their graves.
E-mail: romero.business.class@gmail.com
