Kapamilya vs. kapamilya: The Lopez saga continues

A conglomerate sequestered and won back. A tense rivalry among siblings. Differences on whether or not to sell Manila Electric Co., the family’s crown jewel at the time. A son shedding tears of frustration at his father’s grave. Disagreements over the acquisition of a government company. A signed multibillion-peso contract torn to pieces. 

These scenes seem straight out of an edge-of-your-seat series on Netflix or perhaps a variation of HBO’s thrilling billionaire family drama, Succession. 

In the Philippines, however, these are some of the stories told in whispers about the Lopez empire over the past decades; of how the children of Don Eugenio Lopez Sr., the founder of the Lopez Group of Companies, have, at some point, been embroiled in intense disagreements over critical business decisions. One was whether or not to acquire a government-owned corporation and the other was whether or not to sell Meralco and who to sell it to. 

In the end, what was acquired was acquired and what was sold was sold, all in the hope of securing the empire’s future. Like most traditional Filipino families of the earlier generations, seniority prevailed and the differences were set aside, in the name of family unity. After all, it’s kapamilya, as we say.

These second generation siblings, Eugenio “Geny” Lopez Jr., Oscar Lopez, Presentacion Lopez-Psinakis, Manuel “Manolo” Lopez and Roberto Lopez, have all died, leaving behind their respective contributions and marks in Philippine society. Of the five, it was Geny who was credited with rebuilding the family’s businesses after they were seized during the Martial Law era. 

Season 3: The third generation

Today, however, a new season of the Lopez teleserye has started. This time, a legal battle among the third generation Lopezes has erupted. 

It was tycoon Federico “Piki” Lopez (son of Oscar) who sued his cousins, led by Gabby (son of Geny) after they ousted Piki as president of Lopez Inc., the ultimate holding company of the Lopez clan that owns a wide range of businesses.

Piki was ousted during a Feb. 27, 2026 board meeting, prompting him to seek reprieve from a Mandaluyong City Regional Trial Court, which issued a three-day temporary restraining order stopping Gabby and his cousins from ousting Piki as president of Lopez Inc. The Mandaluyong RTC extended the TRO for another 20 days or until April 1, 2026. 

The cousins put Gabby’s younger brother Rafael or Raffy, in Piki’s place.

‘Revenge’

This happened out of revenge, Piki claimed, after he refused to infuse P2 billion in reserve funds from Lopez Inc. as fresh capital for ABS-CBN, the Lopez-owned media giant which has been facing financial woes since losing its franchise in 2020. 

According to records submitted by Piki to the court, he and his brother Jay, as members of Lopez Inc.’s board, earlier voted against the use of the reserve funds.

The two claimed that there were “unresolved audit findings” at ABS-CBN and that the requested infusion would be used for payouts to certain executives and not to reverse ABS-CBN’s mounting losses.

ABS-CBN breaks silence

A statement signed by ABS-CBN’s board of directors (minus Piki), however, vehemently denied such claims. The board is led by its chairman Mark Lopez (son of Manolo).

Below is a portion of the statement:

“We wish to state that ABS-CBN is not a party to this case. We, however, wish to address two claims attributed to court records. 

“First, on the claim of ‘unresolved audit findings.’ There were no audit findings. There is nothing to resolve. This claim is unfounded.

“Second, on the claim that the proposed capital infusion could go to ‘payouts for certain executives.’ No such payouts have been made. No such payouts are planned. This claim is equally baseless.”

Aside from siblings Gabby and Raffy, the respondents in the case filed by Piki also include Mark’s brother Mike and another cousin Maria Eugenia Brown (daughter of Presentacion).

The respondents are members of Lopez Inc.’s seven-man board who voted to remove Piki. Lopez Inc. is the parent company of all the Lopez Group companies, including Lopez Holdings Corp., First Philippine Holdings Corp., First Gen Corp. and Energy Development Corp.

Brewing tensions

Observers of the Lopez empire say this rift among the cousins did not happen overnight. 

It was a silent war of sorts that was already brewing when their parents were still alive, according to a source.

Tensions worsened when Piki recently made major business decisions involving his side of the empire, including deals with tycoon Enrique Razon, allegedly without letting his cousins know.

Another source said that when ABS-CBN lost its franchise in 2020, it became a source of financial stress for the Lopez empire, which in turn led to disagreements between Piki and his cousins.

Against this backdrop, it seems that history is repeating itself as the cousins fight for survival. 

This time, however, you know it’s bad because the rift has reached the courts, for the first time in this family’s saga.

“It’s so sad. It violated the family credo whose first tenet is family unity. It crashes the kapamilya spirit. This would not have happened in the old order,” said a former Lopez Group insider. 

What happens next is still up in the air. 

But one thing is sure – what once felt like kapamilya now feels strained. 

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