Doña Bea, the Ayala family matriarch, passes away at 88

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 5:23 p.m.) — Beatriz Zobel de Ayala, the matriarch of the Ayala family, has passed away. She was 88 years old.

Ayala Corp. made the announcement on Tuesday, September 24.

"The news was shared among Ayala employees earlier today," Ayala Corp said in its announcement.

The firm did not disclose the cause of death of the family matriarch. They also requested for privacy.

Zobel, also known as Doña Bea, is the wife of Ayala Corp. chairman emeritus Jaime Zobel de Ayala.

Born in Madrid, Spain, on Feb. 29, 1936, the late Beatriz Miranda Barcon is survived by her husband, Jaime, and their children: Jaime Augusto, Fernando, Bea Jr., Patsy, Cristina, Monica, and Sofia, along with their spouses and grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held for Doña Bea on Friday morning, September 27, at the Santuario de San Antonio Parish at Forbes Park in Makati City.

A devoted philanthropist

Being the wife of the head of one of the oldest and most important conglomerates in the Philippines, Doña Bea was known to be an advocate and a philanthropist while being an active member of the Catholic Women's League.

The Zobel de Ayala matriarch supported various institutions and charities. Even after her death, her family requested to donate to Doña Bea's "favorite charities."

"In lieu of flowers, donations to her favorite charities, Friends of Elsie Gaches and Tuloy Foundation would be kindly appreciated," Ayala Corp.'s statement read.

Elsie Gaches Village is a residential care facility in Muntinlupa for individuals with intellectual impairments who were abandoned and neglected by either their families or their communities.

Tuloy Foundation, meanwhile, is a charitable organization affiliated with the Salesians of Don Bosco who attend to marginalized youth.

Doña Bea was also involved in the upliftment of inmates in the New Billibid Prison and patients from Tala Leprosarium.

Support for the Mangyans

In a 2011 Mother's Day column by Bea Zobel Jr., Doña Bea's daughter, the matriarch's love for the Mangyans was described as something that "changed her mother's life."

She said the matriarch kept buying the indigenous people's produce to help them survive.

"I always remember being cold one night, going to the sheets and blanket closet which was outside my room and being showered with Mangyan baskets. That basically was my introduction to my mother's love for the Mangyans," Bea's Column read.

According to Bea, when her parents built their rest house in Mindoro, they frequently encountered the Iraya Mangyans walking along the beach.
 
Eager to learn more about them, the matriarch approached them without hesitation, but the Mangyan's would just run away.

Doña Bea then remembered that someone suggested she offer them sardines.

"She finally got through to them but not without great effort and sweat. She decided to visit them up in the mountain and, believe me, it was a hard climb. My mother did it many times over until trust was finally established. The rest is history. The Iraya Mangyan have land they call home where a school and clinic have been built for them run by the Sisters of Charity of St. Anne. This community, as with many others, has changed my mother's life as she has changed theirs," Bea's column read.