Genealogy

Francisco "Paco" Ortigas y Barcinas, Sr.

He was a prominent Filipino lawyer during the American colonial period and patriarch of the influential Ortigas family. Born on September 11, 1875, in Porac, Pampanga, he moved to Manila with his mother after his father, a Spanish infantry captain, passed away. He studied at Colegio de San Juan de Letran and the University of Santo Tomas, where he earned his law degree.

Ortigas began his legal career working with noted lawyers like Jose Juan Ycazas and Rafael del Pan. His law practice was disrupted by the Philippine Revolution, but he later held various government roles, including registrar of deeds for Manila. In 1910, he joined the Code Commission to revise the Civil Code of the Philippines and taught law at both UST and the University of the Philippines.

In 1920, Ortigas co-founded Ortigas, Madrigal y Cia, S. en C., which purchased the Hacienda de Mandaloyon, a vast estate that later became the Ortigas Center, a major urban development. Ortigas married Julia Vargas, and their son Francisco Ortigas Jr. expanded the family’s real estate business. Ortigas Sr. passed away in 1935 from lung cancer.