# Gil Puyat

Gil Juco Puyat Sr. (September 1, 1907 – March 22, 1981) was a Filipino politician and businessman who served as a Senator of the Philippines from 1951 until 1972, when President Ferdinand Marcos shut Congress down and declared Martial Law, and as Senate President from 1967 to 1972, usurping the seat of Arturo Tolentino.

## Education

Having been exposed to the world of business, Puyat was inevitably drawn to a course in commerce for his higher education. This he pursued at the University of the Philippines where he topped his class. Even as a student, he was already immersed in intricate operations of finance and expense, of capital and production, and of management labor handling. Despite his success, he was said to have been a part of a racist and controversial student movement group. He was a member of the college-based Pan Xenia Fraternity and Upsilon Sigma Phi.

## Early career

He became a member of the Rotary Club of Manila at about the same time that he was also a young professor of economics at the University of the Philippines. Puyat's skill in managing the family business caught the eye of the late President Manuel L. Quezon. At the time, the country was predominantly agricultural in activity and the President was advocating industrialization. Quezon named the young Puyat as dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of the Philippines when he was 33. An active member of international trades bodies, he acquired international stature in business. The Business Writers’ Association of the Philippines voted him "Business Leader of the Year" in 1948 and the Association of Red Feather Agencies voted him "Civic Leader of the Year" in 1949.
In 1953, he received a plaque from the Community Chest of Greater Manila for “outstanding services as one of the founders, first president and first campaign fund chairman“ of the body. The Philippine Institute of Public Opinion (PIPO) awarded him a certificate of honor for demonstrating national leadership in business, economics, the civic and political fields and for his distinguished service to the youth.

## Political career

In the Philippine midterm elections of 1951, he was elected Senator and he served in the Philippine Senate until its closure by Martial Law in 1972. From 1967, he was the Senate President.
As a legislator, Puyat created a few reforms and other things involving the dispensation of public works funds.

## Business activities

He is founder of Manila Banking Corporation (now Chinabank Savings), Manila Bankers Life Insurance Corporation and the Loyola Group of Companies. The Loyola Group of Companies is composed of Loyola Plans Consolidated Inc., Group Developers Inc. and Loyola Memorial Chapels and Crematorium Inc.
He founded Loyola Plans Consolidated Inc. in 1968 and today it is the oldest Pre-need Company in continuous operation. Group Developers pioneered the concept of memorial parks in the Philippines with its two signature memorial parks in Marikina and Sucat. Loyola Memorial Chapels was the first to use modern cremation technology in the Philippines. Loyola Memorial Chapels has six branches, all in Luzon.

## Family background

Puyat is the third child of Philippine Pioneer Industrialist Gonzalo Puyat and Nicasia Juco, both from Guagua, Pampanga. He was trained early in life by his father, Don Gonzalo, in the trade of manufacturing billiard tables and bowling alleys. Eventually, he assisted in managing the family business of Gonzalo Puyat & Sons, the brand holder of AMF-Puyat, Puyat Steel, and Puyat Vinyl.
Puyat was married to Eugenia Guidote, an accountant and pioneer member of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA), and a trained opera singer (soprano). They had seven children – Gil Jr. (deceased), Vicente (deceased), Antonio (deceased), Victor, Jesusa (deceased), Alfonso and Eugenia.

## Death

In 1978, he was invested as a member of the Order of St. Gregory the Great. He died, 2 years later, on March 22, 1981, due to cardiac arrest, one of the complications of an asthma attack. He was buried on March 28, 1981, at their family mausoleum in Loyola Memorial Park, Marikina.

## Legacy

Buendia Avenue, originally named after Nicolas Buendia, was renamed in honor of Gil Puyat through Batas Pambansa Blg. 312, which was passed by the Interim Batasang Pambansa on November 14, 1982. Despite the name change, the original name remains widely used. The Gil Puyat station on the LRT Line 1, located along the avenue, is also named after him.