About E. Zobel Foundation

Enrique O. Zobel, also known as EZ, was born on January 7 1927, the only child of Col. Jacobo Roxas Zobel and Angela Olgado and the eldest of the 7th generation of the Zobel de Ayala family. He led an active and successful life.

He recognized his greater responsibility to help others without expectation or repayment. He believed that if those who have been blessed financially, intellectually, or socially would embrace the responsibility to help those who are less fortunate then we would have a more caring society, more cooperation and a sense of oneness or community.

EZ established a foundation under his name on April 24 1990 for the purpose of advancing the opportunities for education of the youth of Calatagan, Batangas. He believed that through education there is hope for a better life.

It was almost as if he had a premonition of things to come. One year after he set up the E. Zobel Foundation Inc. he suffered a near fatal accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down.

With EZ’s son Iñigo taking over the day to day business concerns, EZ focused more on the Foundation deciding to concentrate his efforts in Calatagan, Batangas in particular.

Over the years EZ supported many causes — such as land reform, cattle dispersal, micro-finance, support for the disabled sector, medical center renovations, medical missions and scholarships.

When he died on May 17 2004 local and international papers published a sheaf of obituaries, hailing him as a visionary, a mogul, the taipan of all taipans, an accomplished pilot, the quintessential businessman, a philanthropist, feisty, controversial, a maverick, a restless Filipino, a champion for social change and a deeply spiritual person.

The composite painted the portrait of a man larger than life.