José "Pepe" Chichioco Cojuangco Sr. (July 3, 1896 – August 21, 1976) was a Filipino politician who served as Representative of the 1st District of Tarlac in the Philippines from 1934 to 1946. Cojuangco is one of the patriarchs of the Cojuangco clan. He was the father and grandfather of future Philippine presidents Corazon Aquino and Benigno Aquino III, respectively. His other grandchildren include actresses Kris Aquino and Mikee Cojuangco.
Family
Parents
His grandfather Khó͘ Gio̍k-khoân () was the first José Cojuangco ("El Chino" José), the progenitor of the Cojuangco clan, from Hongjian, in Jiaomei Township, Zhangzhou in Fujian province.
His father was Melecio Cojuangco y Estrella, who was a skilled carpenter. Melecio helped build churches in Binondo, Bulacan and in Gapan, Nueva Ecija. Melecio's mother was Antera Estrella of Gapan, Nueva Ecija, a daughter of Felipe Estrella, a Spaniard and Martina Calub Cruz, a local woman. With the Estrella connection, the Cojuangcos gained their initial foothold in Nueva Ecija.
Melecio's wife was a Chinese mestiza, Tecla Chichioco y Jumaquio of Malolos and Hagonoy, Bulacan. She was a scion from the Spanish Valenzuela clan of Malolos, the Chinese Chichioco clan of Malolos, and the Japanese descendant hacienderos (plantation owners) Jumaquio clan of Kapitangan, Paombong, Bulacan. Tecla was the great-grandniece of Don Tiburcio Jumaquio and Doña Urzula Gutierrez, hacienderos and merchants of Kapitangan, Paombong, Bulacan. One of her blood relatives was Don Catalino Gutierrez Jumaquio, of Calizon, Paombong, Bulacan, in the late 1800s and one of the sons of Don Tiburcio and Doña Urzula. Melecio's siblings include elder sister Ysidra, who massively enlarged the already considerable Cojuangco fortune by buying land and dabbling in sugar mills and real estate; and younger sister, Trinidad, who died a spinster.
Siblings
Cojuangco was the oldest of four siblings:
Juan "Itoy" Chichioco Cojuangco (2nd sibling / 2nd older brother / 1st marriage to Elena Garcia / 2nd marriage to Lualhati Aldaba). His first wife, Doña Elena García Cojuangco, was a daughter of Spanish mestizo Gregorio García, who owned a rival sugar mill in Paniqui, Tarlac. His second wife, Lualhati "Hatì" Aldaba was a sister of Opera Guild of the Philippines founder Dalisay Aldaba and also the sister of the Philippine Government's first Social Secretary, Estefania Aldaba Lim. Juan Cojuangco died without legitimate heirs, although he sired a daughter through his sister-in-law, Imelda García. Antonio Cojuangco, Sr., who married Victoria Uychuico, a Chinese mestiza from Tarlac. Antonio was a doctor in Manila. He was massacred at De La Salle College by the Japanese in the final days of the Second World War, together with his wife, adopted son Ricardo ("Carding"), daughter Trinidad, household staff and neighbors. His daughter Trinidad was married to Servillano "Billy" Aquino Jr. (a half brother of Benigno Aquino Jr.). His son, Ramón ("Monching"), was the owner of the PLDT and the father of Antonio, Jr. ("Tony Boy"), former chairman of TV5. Eduardo "Endeng" Chichioco Cojuangco Sr. was José's youngest brother. He married Josephine Murphy, a Miss Baguio beauty queen and only daughter of Alhambra Theater owner John J. Murphy. Murphy, who later made Baguio his home, was a former United States Army soldier and paymaster to Colonel Lyman Kennon (for whom Kennon Road was named). Murphy and his battalion initially pursued Emilio Aguinaldo up to the Sierra Madre. Endeng is the father of Eduardo Cojuangco Jr.
Among the four male heirs of the Cojuangcos, Don Pepe (as José was remembered) was the only one born in Malolos, Bulacan, where his father Melecio built the secret stairway in Barasoain Church used by the Spanish friars to smuggle women into their private quarters. The old Cojuangco-Chichioco mansion still stands a few meters from the Barasoain Church on land inherited by Tecla from her father. It is maintained for the Cojuangcos by their Chichioco-Jumaquio relatives. The physical address used to be 540 Paseo del Congreso but the locals called it Calle de las Mestizas (Street of the Mestizas) on account of the numerous women who lived there, offspring of the friars nearby. After World War II, the name was changed to Santo Niño Street, Mestizohin District.