MANILA, Philippines – The younger scion of the late Filipino industrialist and long-time CEO of San Miguel Corporation (SMC) Andres Soriano Jr. died on Monday, February 17, Monday.
A. Soriano Corporation (Anscor), the Soriano family’s holding company behind the high-end Amanpulo Resort in Palawan as well as wire manufacturer Phelps Dodge, announced on Tuesday that its vice chairman, Eduardo J. Soriano, had passed on. He was 69. The cause of his death was not disclosed.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Mr. Eduardo J. Soriano, our vice-chairman and director, today, February 17, 2025. He served as director of A. Soriano Corporation (‘Anscor’) since 1980 and became vice-chairman in 1990. He was Anscor’s treasurer prior to his retirement in 2018,” the company said.
Eduardo or “Ed” is a younger brother of Anscor chairman Andres Soriano III, a former chair and CEO of Philippine conglomerate San Miguel Corporation (SMC) before the late Ambassador Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr. took over the food-and-beverage firm in 1998. It is now a diversified conglomerate with interests in a wider field of businesses such as infrastructure with tycoon Ramon Ang at the helm.
“Our Chairman, Mr. Andres Soriano III, the Board of Directors, and the entire Anscor group of companies extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Mr. Eduardo J. Soriano. We are profoundly grateful for his invaluable contributions and service to Anscor,” the publicly-listed company said.
One of Anscor’s subsidiaries is Seven Seas Resorts and Leisure Incorporated, owner of the world-renowned Amanpulo Resort, a 90-hectare island in Pamalican, Palawan province. The premium resort with 40 casitas and 9 luxury villas, has been patronized by some of the Philippines’ rich and famous as well as Hollywood stars and other foreign VIPs. One night in the secluded and private resort costs around P100,000. Amanpulo is operated by Amanresorts Management, a firm based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Dairy farmer
Ed Soriano was also a philanthropist since he was president of the Soriano’s corporate social responsibility arm, Andres Soriano Foundation, with his brother serving as chair. The foundation has projects in Palawan in fields such as sustainable development, health (cancer care), and disaster relief and rehabilitation.
Since the mid-1990s, however, his main business interest was in dairy farming.
Ed Soriano founded Hacienda Macalauan Incorporated (HMI) in 1995 when his brother was at the helm of SMC and Magnolia Dairy.
HMI operates in the town of Calauan, Laguna province south of the capital. It started with just a handful of dairy cows on its pasture land but quickly expanded into small-scale dairy farming after importing 100 cows from Australia.
In the late 1990s, HMI began processing liquid milk and cheese products, including kesong puti (white chese), ricotta, and cottage cheese.
“These were delivered by reefer vans daily to Manila’s exclusive subdivisions and villages thus earning its moniker ‘The Milkman’,” the company website says.
It then expanded to supplying fresh cow’s milk to hotels, restaurants, and the catering industry. In 2012, it began distributing milk — the Pure & Best Fresh Milk — to major supermarkets.
HMI has an automated milking parlor and a technologically advanced dairy processing plant.
HMI has been cited as being one of the local firms that has raised the standards of the Philippine dairy industry.
“The brand philosophy is to make as good a product as we can, without sacrificing the quality. All our products are kept as natural as possible,” Soriano, president and chief operating officer of HMI, was once quoted in an interview when the company was in its infancy. For instance, it adopted sterile packaging and filling to ensure the highest food safety standards and longer-lasting milk.
Soriano graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
The Soriano brothers’ father, Andres Soriano Jr., was chair and CEO of San Miguel Corporation from the sixties until his death in 1984. Danding Cojuangco would end up owning the company but lost it after he left the Philippines with the Marcos family during the EDSA People Power Revolt in February 1986. Andres Soriano III then took the helm of SMC during the Cory Aquino and Fidel Ramos years, but Cojuangco got it back in 1998. – Rappler.com
