Cojuangco Wealth: Where did they get the money to buy Hacienda Luisita?

Watch the video at the bottom of the page.

If the documentary attached at the bottom of the page is to be believed, then the money the Cojuangco's used to buy the hacienda was stolen from the Republic of the Philippines.

The first Cojuangco to arrive in the Philippines was not rich when they arrived in the Philippines from China, but now the clan is among the most powerful and influential oligarchs in the Philippines.

The exercise economic control over several banks (such as Bank of Commerce) and trade houses, partly due to marriages with the Ayala and Roxas families and partly to their own business enterprises (notably the sugar trade).

The clan has at various time been highly involved in Philippine politics, with several members having entered public office in both local and national positions. \

The family descended from Co Yu Hwan who migrated from Hongjian Village, Jiaomei Township, Zhangzhou, Fujian to the Spanish East Indies in 1861.

He was commonly called Koǒ Kuán Goō  or "Brother Koo Kuan" among Hoklo-Filipinos, and the latter was hispanicised as Cojuangco. 

He adopted the Christian name José in 1865, when he moved to Bulacan. 

So the question is, how did they accumulate their wealth? Watch the video shown below to find out how they may have made their money.

Watch this video.