By Joseph B.A. Marzan
Members of the Ledesma and Araneta clans on Saturday, April 30, 2022 held activities in three cities in support of the tandem of Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Kiko Pangilinan in the 2022 presidential elections.
Ilonggo clan members started their activities with a sponsored morning mass at the Jaro Cathedral, followed by a unity walk within the Jaro district.
A house-to-house campaigning activity was held afterwards, a strategy now closely identified with the Robredo-Pangilinan campaign nationwide.
In Bacolod, Ledesma and Araneta clan members also showed up for a unity walk and “palugaw” or distribution of porridge to public utility vehicle drivers and other passers-by.
A prominent member of the Ledesma clan, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, also joined their activities at the Capitol Lagoon.
Also in attendance was Betsy Ledesma-Coscolluela, wife of former governor Lito Coscolluela, a key figure in the Robredo campaign in Negros Island, and their son Andy.
Clan members outside the region also held a unity walk at the Jaime Velasquez Park in Salcedo Village, Makati City.
This was the clan members’ statement against one of their own, Louise Araneta-Marcos, wife of presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Louise is an eighth-generation descendant of Don Jose de Araneta of Spain who died in the country in 1746 in Mindanao. Her father is Manuel.
She is also part of the Ledesma clan through her paternal grandmother, Rosario Ledesma.
Marcos Jr. and his wife attended a Ledesma clan reunion back in May 2017.
Aside from these two clans, Louise also traces to another Ilonggo family through her mother Milagros Cacho.
Other Araneta clan members connected to the Marcoses are Gregorio Araneta, who is married to Irene Marcos, and Ilocos Norte Vice Governor Cecilia Araneta-Marcos, wife of the late Board Member Mariano Marcos II.
The Ledesma clan members said in a statement that they “stand up and speak up for those who are voiceless against tyranny, kleptocracy, rotten political dynasties, impunity, corruption, plunder, extra-judicial killings, and selfish political interests.”
“The family philosophy of the Ledesmas is Non Sibi Sed Cunctis—not for oneself, but for all. True to their creed, the Ledesma family has been known over the centuries, tracing their ancestors to Jaro in the late 1700s, to be leaders in socio-civic, political, religious, business, and philanthropic arenas,” they said in a statement.
“At what is considered the fight of this generation, the family remains firm and steadfast in upholding altruistic values for nation-building—something they share with Leni and Kiko—the desire to serve the people first above all else,” they added.
Organizer Felix Golez also told Daily Guardian that around 500 family members were estimated to have attended the three-city event.
