1970s
When the 1970s set in, Don Pepe had already resigned from his Bank of Commerce position and sold all his shares to avoid a boardroom coup by the other branches of the Cojuangco family. This was particularly sentimental for Don Pepe, as he was the one who founded Bank of Commerce and nurtured it from bankruptcy. It was also the one company where he insisted that all four families of the Cojuangco co-own, not knowing that the same generosity will swallow him in his twilight years.
Meanwhile, his bus company was coerced to file for bankruptcy after the Marcos-led administration refused to allow rate hikes even when market forces deemed an increase in bus fares. The same happened to Mantrade. Unable to expand his businesses due to political pressures, in 1975, he sold his First United Bank. The buyer was the Marcos-led Philippine Government who incorporated it in what is now known as the United Coconut Planters Bank.
Read more about this topic: Jose Cojuangco