Who We Are

People

The Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) is the family foundation of the family line of Don Ramon Aboitiz. Established in 1966, RAFI continues to elevate lives of people in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Ramon Aboitiz y Yrastorza

16 Nov 1887 - 4 May 1974

Ramon Aboitiz y Yrastorza is a preeminent figure in the business history of the southern Philippines.

Descended from a family with roots in the Basque province of Vizcaya in Spain, Ramon was born in Ormoc, Leyte, on 16 November 1887, to Paulino Aboitiz and Emilia Yrastorza. The fourth child in a family of ten, he studied in Spain and England but returned to the Philippines to help his father in the family trade of buying and selling abaca. Venturing on his own, his first job was that of clerk and commission agent for Aldecoa & Company in Cebu City, with a monthly salary of fifty pesos. In 1910, he was tasked to head the Cebu office of Muertegui y Aboitiz, a partnership between his father and Jose Muertegui that dealt in abaca and general merchandise. After his father died in 1912, Ramon and his brothers formed a partnership called Viuda y Hijos de P. Aboitiz. This was incorporated in January 1920 as Aboitiz & Company, Inc. Thus began a remarkable story that saw the rise of the Aboitiz Group of Companies that, today, includes interests in power, engineering and construction, banking and financial services, food, land development, shipbuilding, and infrastructure.

Praised by his contemporaries as “a gentleman of a businessman,” Ramon Aboitiz was admired for his ability, industry, and honesty. He died on 4 May 1974.

Eduardo J Aboitiz

Eduardo J. Aboitiz was born on 13 December 1917. After he earned a B.S. in Agriculture from the University of California in Davis, he started working for Aboitiz & Company. Eddie was elected to a seat in the ACO board of directors in 1951 and, as assistant to his father, was the company’s de facto executive vicepresident. In 1967, when Don Ramon was elevated to the position of Chairman Emeritus of ACO, Eddie became President and General Manager.

Outside his many corporate responsibilities, he was interested in antiques and golf and active in community welfare programs. A man with a finely cultivated social conscience, he appreciated how service to the community was not just the performance of a duty but a morally constitutive experience as well. It is told that at one time he reminded his associates in the foundation: “We must not only ask whether we are doing good but, are we becoming good ourselves?”

His numerous honors include an honorary degree of Doctor in Humanities & Letters from the University of San Carlos.

Married to Francisca “Paqui” Melendez, with whom he had three sons - Jon, Roberto, and Mikel - and a daughter, Diana. Eddie Aboitiz died on 14 December 1985.

Roberto E. Aboitiz

Roberto E. Aboitiz was born in Cebu City on 3 September 1949.
After finishing his secondary education at Sacred Heart School in Cebu City, he went to Ateneo de Manila University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in behavioral science in 1971. He started out as an apprentice in the corporate staff of Aboitiz & Company (ACO) and then worked in other ACO departments and subsidiaries. Among other responsibilities, he has held the position of President, CEO, or Chairman of the Board of such companies as Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc.; Aboitiz Construction Group, Inc.; AboitizLand, Inc, and Cebu Industrial Park Developers, Inc.

He served as trustee of Aboitiz Foundation, Inc.; Philippine Business for Social Progress; Sacred HeartSchool of the Society of Jesus, Inc.; Cebu International School; Cebu Chamber of Commerce & Industry; and Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE). He is active in Habitat for Humanity. Since 1980, he has served as Honorary Consul of The Netherlands for Visayas and Mindanao. For his socio-civic work and service as honorary consul of the Netherlands over three decades, the Dutch government conferred on him the Knighthood in the Order of Orange-Nassau.

He is married to Ma. Cristina Cabarrus, with whom he has four children: Ana Maria, Amaya Cristina, Tristan Roberto and Carlos Ramon. Bobby Aboitiz died on April 13, 2017.

Jon Ramon Aboitiz

Jon Ramon Aboitiz was Chairman of Aboitiz & Co., Inc. and Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc., a Cebu-based investment and management enterprise, engaged in numerous and diverse business concerns ranging from power generation and distribution, banking and financial services, real estate development, construction, marketing food, ship building, international shipping and manning and ship management that are closely linked to nation building and progress.

Jon Ramon Aboitiz began his career with the Aboitiz Group in 1970 as a fresh graduate. From a manager of the Aboitiz Shipping Corporation, Jon Ramon was promoted to President of the company in 1976 and became President of Aboitiz & Company in 1991 until 2008. He was President and CEO of Aboitiz Equity Ventures from 1993-2008. He was also the Chairman of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. until his death in 2018.