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<img src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-11/ysidra-cojuanco-sm.webp" alt="Ysidra Cojuangco" loading="lazy"/>
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(Ysidra Cojuangco)
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<p>
Ysidra had a brother, Melecio and a sister Trinidad, who was a spinster like her although there were rumors that Ysidra had a love child with General <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1322/today-in-philippine-history-october-29-1866-antonio-luna-was-born-in-binondo-manila" class="news_link">Antonio Luna</a>.  Ysidra is said to have put her child for "adoption" and raised by her brother Melecio.
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<p>
Melecio pursued Education at Letran and UST, became a representative in the first Philippine Assembly. He married Tekla Chichioco and raised four sons before finally succumbing to a heart attack at a very young age.  
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<p>
Melecio's sons were Jose Sr., father of future Philippine president <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/897/today-in-philippine-history-january-25-1933-cory-aquino-was-born-in-manila" class="news_link">Cory Aquino</a>; Eduardo Sr., who sired the future Tarlac governor and chairman of San Miguel Corporation, Danding Cojuangco. The other two were Juan and Antonio. Antonio is rumored to be the love child of General Antonio Luna and Ysidra. Antonio had a son named Ramon, father of Tony Boy Cojuangco the partner of Gretchen Barreto.
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<p>
After their father's death, the four boys took care of the family businesses under the supervision of Ysidra, who inculcated to the Cojuangco kids the value of hard work and waking up early every day. Thanks to Ysidra who took the role of their father, the Cojuangco boys turned out to be competent politicians and businessmen. With the support of their aunt Ysidra, they were able to establish the Philippine Bank of Commerce, considered to be the first Filipino-owned private bank in the country.
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<p>
Cory's father, Jose, also managed the family sugar mill and later bought the 6,453-hectare Hacienda Luisita from a Spanish company.
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<p>
Ysidra Cojuangco died July 13, 1960 of acute pulmonary edema, was burried in Paniqui, Tarlac.
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<h3>
The Cojuangco's Fortune
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<p>
Ysidra and General 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.
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<p>
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.
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<p>
It is said that Ysidra in her 30's must have been pregnant or had given birth before General <a href="https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1669/today-in-philippine-history-june-5-1899-general-antonio-luna-was-killed-by-aguinaldos-men-in-cabanatuan" class="news-link">Antonio Luna was assassinated</a> on June 5, 1899. Days before he died, Ysidra received another batch of treasure for safe keeping.
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<p>
When Antonio Luna died, the First Republic was on the run, the revolutionary army was defeated by the Americans and disbanded. The Americans then were inquiring about the gold, which Ysidra and her family hid. The contemporaries of Antonio Luna also suspected that the wealth was with Ysidra.
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<p>
Encarnacion Saulo-Padilla, who was a friend and neighbor of Ysidra Cojuangco and who died in 1960, said that Ysidra confided to her that she and Luna were "very good friends" and that the general left her many valuables "not once but regularly" and on many occasions.
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<p>
Encarnacion is the daughter of Eulalio Saulo who confirmed the story because he was one of the military escorts of the gold shipment to Ysidra. Her testimony is the first direct evidence from Ysidra admitting what many Luna contemporaries long suspected, that the source of the Cojuangco fortune was the gold and silver commandeered by Luna to finance his guerrilla war from up north and regularly turned over to Ysidra.
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May 15, 1867: Ysidra Cojuangco was born in Malolos, Bulacan