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By Arabella B.
Britanico, Contributor
Yesterday was
the 100th birthday of Doña Victoria Lopez de Araneta, a Filipina
who decades before the female gender would define “Women’s
Liberation” lived it.
She founded
the Feati Bank 30 years before any Filipina became president of a
bank. It did so well that Citibank found it good enough to buy. She
served as the first female president of a co-educational
institution, the FEATI University, which she co-founded with her
husband, Salvador.
Doña Victoria
founded the White Cross Society. She was president of the women’s
chapter of NEPA, the National Economic Protectionism Association.
Her friendship
was sought by Philippine presidents and other men of power, and she
hobnobbed as much with other women achievers, and also matrons who
led purposeful lives.
Father Fred
Julien, a La Salette priest and friend of the Aranetas, described Doña
Victoria as “a female of many facets—fashionable, formidable and
unforgettable.”
“She came
from money, married money and created additional affluence as a doer
and thinker, a reflective and perceptive observer of the world
around her. She was a shrewd and creative business woman, with
millions of pesos to prove it,” he said.
Yesterday, Doña
Victoria’s daughters, Carmen Araneta-Segovia and Regina
Araneta-Teodoro, hosted a grand luncheon at the Sunset Pavilion of
the Hotel Philippine Plaza at the CCP Complex in Pasay City.
Mass
concelebrated by ten priests, a live narration and slide show and a
photo exhibit chronicling the life of Doña Victoria were the
highlights of the event.
There were
concert artists who rendered Ilonggo music. Pianist Greg Zuniega,
flutist Tony Maigue, cellist Renato Lucas, guitarist Lester
Demetillo, soprano Nanette Moscardon-Maigue, and guitarist Ruben
Reyes all performed elegantly. The Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group gave
non-Ilonggos a lesson in the grace and the humor of Iloilo folk
culture.
At the FEATI
University’s Bridgepoint Building, the Doña Victoria Lopez de
Araneta historical marker, a testament to her great contributions to
Philippine development, was unveiled by its author, the National
Historical Institute.
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