<div class="image-550">
<img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-6/danding-with-mrs-marcos.webp" alt="Danding with Mrs. Marcos" />
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(Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr. with Former First Lady <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/2454/today-in-philippine-history-july-2-1929-imelda-romualdez-was-born-in-san-miguel-manila" class="news_link">Imelda Marcos</a> on June 19, 2011)
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<p>
Cojuangco had a net worth of $1.1 billion, according to Forbes' list of the world's billionaires, with interests in cement-manufacturing, orchards, a stud farm and Australian wineries, aside from SMC. SMC, one of Southeast Asia's largest conglomerates, with a workforce of more than 28,000 people, has ventured into fuel and oil, power and infrastructure.
</p>
<p>
Aside from business, Cojuangco delved into politics and sports, and owned three teams in the Philippine Basketball Association namely: San Miguel Beermen, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, and Magnolia Hotshots.
</p>


<p>
But Cojuangco had also been mired in controversy.
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<p>
He fled from the Philippines when President <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/595/today-in-philippine-history-september-11-1917-ferdinand-e-marcos-was-born-in-sarrat-ilocos-norte" class="news_link">Ferdinand Marcos</a> was overthrown by an army-backed "<a href="" class="news_link">People Power</a>" revolt in 1986. During his years in exile, he was known to have traveled to the United States and Australia, where he bred thoroughbred racehorses.
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<p>
Cojuangco had been linked to the <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/516/today-in-philippine-history-august-21-1983-ninoy-aquino-was-assassinated" class="news_link">1983 assassination</a> of former Sen. <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/516/today-in-philippine-history-august-21-1983-ninoy-aquino-was-assassinated"  class="news_link">Benigno Aquino Jr</a>., but the allegation has never been proven and Aquino's family later said he was not involved. The killing of Aquino while in military custody at Manila's international airport sparked street protests that culminated in a failed coup and the 1986 uprising that toppled Marcos.
</p>
<p>
Cojuangco had also been accused of involvement in the misuse of large amounts of coconut levy funds during the Marcos years that were intended to develop the country's coconut industry. He has denied any wrongdoing and has never been convicted amid allegations of illegally amassing wealth during the Marcos era.
</p>
<p>
In the 1960s, Cojuangco served as governor of Tarlac, the base of the Cojuangco clan, which has interests in sugarcane plantations. After returning to the Philippines following Marcos's downfall, he ran for president in 1992 under the Nationalist People's Coalition but lost, although the political party he founded has remained an influential political bloc.
</p>
<p>
Cojuangco backed the successful presidential bid of <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1078/today-in-philippine-history-april-19-1937-erap-estrada-was-born-in-tondo-manila" class="news_link">Joseph Estrada</a> in 1998, the year he regained the chairmanship of San Miguel.
</p>
<p>
Cojuanco was born on June 10, 1935 in Paniqui, Tarlac. He was the eldest child of Eduardo C. Cojuangco Sr. and Josephine B. Murphy. His mother, the daughter of an Irish-Canadian U.S. Army volunteer who married a Filipina woman, was born and raised in Baguio. His father Eduardo Sr., the son of Melecio Cojuangco, was of Chinese descent.
</p>
<p>
Cojuangco was educated at Lafayette College in Pennsylvaia. Besides English and standard Tagalog, he also spoke the Filipino regional dialects of Ilocano and Kapampangan, which are the native languages of Tarlac province.
</p>
<p>
He was married to Soledad "Gretchen" Oppen-Cojuangco of Negros Occidental. They had four children: Margarita "Tina" Cojuangco Barrera, Luisa "Lisa" Cojuangco-Cruz, Carlos "Charlie" Cojuangco and Marcos "Mark" Cojuangco.
</p>
<p>
Charlie is the current Representative of Tarlac's 1st District, while Mark once served as Pangasinan Congressman.
</p>
<p>
As of 2018, he lived with his partner, 1996 Binibining Pilipinas Universe winner Aileen "Leng" Damiles. They had two daughters.
</p>
<h4>
Source: 
</h4>
<ol class="article-sources">
<li>
Philippine beer tycoon allied with late dictator dies at 85, June 17, 2020, <a href="https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200617/p2g/00m/0in/119000c" class="news_link" target="_blank" title="Source">Mainichi Japan</a>
</li>
<li> 
Wikipedia
</li>
</ol>

June 16, 2020: Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco Jr, died of heart failure and pneumonia