Business Circuit

“There is enough in the world for everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed.” - Frank Buckman, US evangelist

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Before she died less than a month ago, Chito Madrigal Collantes was known to have at least $200 million in cash assets deposited in foreign banks including the United States, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Not a cent of it is mentioned in her last week and testament read on April 7.

Tongues are wagging on who inherited the money or what it was supposed to be used for. My own guess is that the huge cash might have been transferred to the Consuelo "Chito" Madrigal Foundation.

She obviously did not want a repetition of disputes among the children of her father and mother after they died. So, she stated in the will, "I do not wish any conflict between my beneficiaries involving my estate after my death.

"Thus should any beneficiary under this will file any action or proceeding against another or against my executor (Perry Pe) or trustee, or should anyone of them object to, disregard, or in any manner question the validity in any suit or proceeding, judicial or otherwise, with or without legal basis, the dispositions which I have made .. or during my lifetime including any written instructions I have made, or any provisions of this last will, I hereby order that such beneficiaries who so files suit, objects, disregards, or question .. be completely removed and excluded as beneficiaries under this will.

Now arises the question of the right of those who are not in the will but may think they have a legal right to file a suit against the estate. One of the nieces is rumored to have engaged a lawyer precisely to contest the will.

The will also states "to maintain harmony and to enable my executor/trustee to effectuate my wishes, it is my desire that my husband and all the beneficiaries strictly comply with all the decisions of my executor trustee. Anyone of the beneficiaries who should contest the acts or decisions of my executor/trustee in any proceedings, whether judicial or otherwise, shall be disqualified to be beneficiary of my residuary estate.

Again, the question: Can the nieces and nephews who are not beneficiaries contest the will in court?

I suppose lawyer Perry Pe, husband of Robina Gokongwei, saw to it that that possibility will not get anywhere.

I have always thought that Sen. Jamby Madrigal, daughter of her brother Antonio, would be one of the biggest heirs. Chito donated large sums of money to finance Jamby’s senatorial campaign. That is what she told me, anyway.

Incidentally, in the two nights when I stayed late during her wake at No. 77 Cambridge Circle, Forbes Park, I never saw the French husband of Jamby.

Or maybe he came late. Or maybe I missed him although I was all over the place talking to friends like Gigi Montinola, husband of Ging who inherited 20 percent of the residuary estate, and Cesar Virtusio and Dr. Daniel Vasquez, married to Luisa "Ising" Madrigal.

Chito Madrigal valued her real properties at a rather low level, slightly more than P29 million. The present market value could very well be in the hundreds of millions of pesos.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue will feast on these undervalued assets. The heirs, in some situations, may be required to pay as much as 60 percent of the value of the land in inheritance tax.

The heirs, as stated in the will, may have very little left after taxes.

However, there is the question of where the cash, denominated in US dollars and probably in other hard currencies, will go. That is, if my guess that the money has been donated to a foundation is wrong.

Having been a friend, I and my wife, together with Dr. Ramon Batungbakal, had a few dinners in her apartment on Park ave. in Manhattan. Chito told me that she had sold the expensive apartment when she became weak to travel.

She and her husband, Manuel Collantes, also had a home in Chicago. They saw it only on infrequent visits. The house was sold for a profit long before the couple stopped foreign travels.

Siony P. Pacardo, her long-time nurse, inherited a fortune from the estate. The last will and testament states that she was giving "the parcel of land with improvements thereon located thereon at No. 513 Batulao st., Ayala Alabang … in the name of Fuerte Holdings and the sum of P50,000.

Gloria P. Cahulugan, a member of Chito’s household staff, was also given "the parcel of land with improvements thereon at No. 511 Batulao, Ayala Alabang .. and the sum of P50,000,

Agnes B. Acoyong, also a staff member in the house or office, was given "the condominium unit 323 of Susana Condominium Project located at San Juan del Monte.

Each of her domestic helpers was given P50,000.

The only other relative apart from adopted son Gustav, nieces Susana Madrigal and Gisela M. Gonzales Montinola, who was given inheritance was Juan Vicente de Leon Rufino and Vicente de Leon Rufino from the family of the late Macaria Madrigal de Leon. The will gives to the two "the parcel of land with improvements thereon at No. 17, Balete, South Forbes in the name of Rama Realty."

Chito Madrigal’s last will and testament was approved on Sept. 20, 2006, by Judge Oscar B. Pimentel of Makati RTC.

Good business mind

Without casting aspersions on her brothers and sisters who all inherited a fortune from Don Vicente and his wife Susana Paterno, I might say that Chito had the best business mind in the family.

On her own, she became one of the largest stockholders of Solid Bank. She also had a large stake in Rizal Cement.

In one of our lazy conversations before the property boom went bust, she told me she was selling her shares in Solid Bank and in Rizal Cement. She said the timing was good.

Since she was getting too old to have a direct and participation in the bank and in the cement company, she should sell while the selling was good. She did.

After that, the cement industry began to have troubles. She sold her shares in Rizal Cement to a Mexican group and made a pile.

She also made huge profits selling her stake in Solid Bank.

After things went bad much later she told me she could have missed at least 30 percent of the profits she made if she had not sold earlier.

Chito learned, maybe from her father, the art of anticipating events. She was always ahead of the rest. Among businesswomen, anyway.