Roberto Velayo Ongpin was a Filipino businessman who served as the Minister of Commerce and Industry during the Marcos administration.
18 Facts About Roberto Ongpin
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Roberto Ongpin was the second of seven children by Luis Roa Ongpin and Lourdes Morales Velayo.
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Roberto Ongpin grew up in the neighborhood of Pinaglabanan in San Juan, which was then a suburb of the City of Manila and a part of Rizal province.
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Roberto Ongpin was a great-grandson of Roman T Ongpin, a businessman and philanthropist who aided Filipino revolutionaries against the Spanish and American colonial administrations in the Philippines.
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Roberto Ongpin became a Certified Public Accountant in 1958, after which he briefly joined Philippine Manufacturing Company.
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In 1961, Roberto Ongpin earned his Masters of Business Administration from Harvard University.
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Roberto Ongpin has two other children from different mothers, Michelle Schroer Ongpin, and Julian Stone Ongpin.
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In 1979, Ongpin became the Philippines' youngest Commerce and Industry minister at the age of 42 when he accepted the invitation of then Philippine President, Ferdinand E Marcos, Sr.
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In 1984, with "the Philippines facing a debt and foreign exchange crisis, the black market exchange rate soared to Php 30 per US Dollar ", Roberto Ongpin was credited with stabilizing the Philippine peso by establishing the "Binondo Central Bank," a dual exchange rate system that allowed the government to narrow the rate gap by directly intervening in black market currency prices.
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Roberto Ongpin was the chairman of the investment holding company Atok-Big Wedge, Inc, involved in general investment, as well as mining, real estate, manufacturing, processing, lending and borrowing money.
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In September 2017, Roberto Ongpin launched Alphaland Baguio Mountain Lodges, a 300-home development in Baguio.
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In 1979, Roberto Ongpin acquired control of South Seas Oil and Mineral Exploration Co.
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Roberto Ongpin played a role in the construction of PIPAC's own building in 1984.
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Roberto Ongpin was the chairman of the Philippine Bank of Communications, Inc until 2012, Eastern Telecommunications Philippines, Inc.
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Roberto Ongpin served as the vice chairman of Philex Mining Corporation.
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Roberto Ongpin was affiliated with various foreign companies, including Acentic GmbH, Developing Countries Investment Corporation, and Dragon Oil plc.
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Roberto Ongpin was a deputy chairman of the South China Morning Post, a vice-chairman of AIA Capital Corporation, and a non-executive director at E2-Capital Holdings Ltd, Forum Energy Plc UK, and Shangri-La Asia Ltd.
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Roberto Ongpin died in his sleep on Balesin Island, Polillo, Quezon, on February 4,2023, at age 86.