Yangco, Teodoro Rafael, 1861-1939

Teodoro Rafael Yangco (November 9, 1861 – April 20, 1939) was a Filipino businessman who served in a variety of public and civic offices, and was considered to be the foremost Filipino philanthropist of his time. He was the longest serving president of the YMCA in the Philippines and served as Resident Commissioner of the Philippines to the U.S. Congress from 1917 to 1920.

Born in San Antonio, Zambales in the Spanish Philippines, he was educated by private tutors there before traveling to Manila to live with his industrialist father and attend Ateneo de Manila University, graduating there with a B.A. before enrolling in the law program at the University of Santo Tomas for one year and studying business in Madrid, Spain and London, England. Upon returning to the Philippines, Yangco worked for his father to learn the family business from the ground up. A salaried employee, Yangco clerked and slowly worked his way up to manager after a 10-year apprenticeship, eventually being given 13 ships to start his own shipping company.

After breaking ties with his father, Yangco formed a transportation firm that managed shipyards and shuttled commercial merchandise. Additionally, Yangco was the proprietor of the Twentieth Century Bazaar store, started a dry dock and slipway operation, and expanded his real estate holdings. As a director of the Philippine National Bank and president of the Philippines Chamber of Commerce, Yangco worked with numerous government and business officials throughout the Philippines. Philanthropy became a central aspect of Yangco’s life, he sponsored projects such as the building of schools and playgrounds around the country. Yangco also sponsored a number of Filipino students who studied in Europe and the United States. In late 1916, Manuel Quezon approached Yangco and offered him the Resident Commissioner post. Though initially rejecting the offer, Yangco acquiesced and on January 10, 1917, the Philippine assembly elected him by a nearly unanimous 68 votes.

In a legislative sense, Yangco’s service was remarkably threadbare. Part of this lack of production derived from the institutional roadblocks that greeted every Resident Commissioner. House Rules circumscribed their powers. He authored no bills or resolutions, nor did he follow the example of other Resident Commissioners by offering testimony to the various congressional committees considering legislation that might affect the Philippines. While Resident Commissioners generally straddled a line between being legislators and diplomats, Yangco especially appears to have been more focused on representing Filipino institutions and business interests far outside the hall of the House.

In February 1920, Yangco announced that he would resign as Resident Commissioner, noting that he was eager to return home to attend to his large business empire. He did not, however, give up his role of being an ambassador of Filipino business, representing the Philippine Chamber of Commerce at the Pan-Pacific Commercial Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii. Yangco continued to advocate for Filipino independence as he traveled the world and raised his children. He provided scholarships for students and gave to numerous charities and civic organizations on the islands, including the Young Men’s Christian Association, for which he was dubbed the “father of the YMCA in the Philippines.” On April 20, 1939, Teodoro Yangco died in Manila at age 77 after a series of complications from pneumonia. His remains were interred in the Manila North Cemetery.