TABACALERA YEARS

During the Spanish regime in the Philippines, a group of Spaniards operating under the corporate name of Compania General de Tabacos de Filipinas (more popularly called Tabacalera) was awarded under the royal grant of the Spanish throne vast tracts of lands in the country.

When the tobacco monopoly was abolished in 1881, Tabacalera was concerned about continuing operations of their cigar factories in Manila. The company's governing body, the Consejo de Administracion, decided to send Señor Lope Gisbert to scout for fertile areas of development. Learning that the railroad would be extended from Manila to Dagupan, Señor Gisbert recommended the acquisition of some 12,000 hectares surrounding the railroad. Tabacalera was able to acquire the said property in 1907 after a long and tedious process, and was registered under the name of Hacienda Luisita after Doña Luisa the wife of the first Marques de Comillas, also the founder and first president of Tabacalera.

The sugar mill, Central Azucarera de Tarlac was erected within the estate in 1927, and started its milling operations in Crop Year 1928-29, and every year thereafter except during the War years of 1943-46.

UNDER JOSE COJUANGCO & SONS ORGANIZATIONS

In 1957, Don Jose (Pepe) Cojuangco, Sr. (1896-1976) led a group of Filipino investors in negotiating the purchase of Hacienda Luisita and Central Azucarera de Tarlac from their Spanish owners. CAT and Hacienda Luisita formally changed ownership on April 9, 1958. Tarlac Development Corporation (TDC) initially charged in managing both the mill and sugarcane plantation, signaled the beginning of Jose Cojuangco & Sons Organizations (JCSO).

Under a continuing program of agro-industrial expansion and modernization, Don Pepe's most significant addition was the Refinery in 1964. Some corporate changes were also effected in the same year to cope with the company's diversified operations from manufacturing sugar by-products like molasses, liquid carbon dioxide and yeast, to venturing into actual selling of sugar to the domestic and international markets.

With Don Jose Cojuangco, Sr. at the helm, CAT and other entities under JCSO implemented innovative paths to progress.