Jaime Ongpin

Jaime Ongpin
Detail of the Wall of Remembrance at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, showing names from the 2001 batch of Bantayog Honorees, including that of Jaime Ongpin.
17th Secretary of Finance
In office March 26, 1986 – September 14, 1987
President	Corazon Aquino
Preceded by	Cesar Virata
Succeeded by	Vicente Jayme
Personal details
Born	Jaime Velayo Ongpin (1939-06-15)June 15, 1939 San Juan, Rizal, Commonwealth of the Philippines
Died	December 7, 1987(1987-12-07) (aged 48) Makati, Philippines
Political party	United Nationalist Democratic Organization
Relatives	Roberto Ongpin (brother)
Alma mater	Ateneo de Manila University (BS) Harvard Business School (MBA)
Profession	Businessman

Jaime "Jimmy" Velayo Ongpin (June 15, 1939 – December 7, 1987) was a Filipino businessman. He was the Minister of Finance of the Philippines under President Cory Aquino, appointed in 1986 after having played an instrumental role in her campaign. Ongpin was the younger brother of Roberto Ongpin who had been Minister of Trade and Industry under President Ferdinand Marcos.

Ongpin was a 1958 graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University and from Harvard Business School in 1962.^[1] He had been advertising manager of the Philippine subsidiary of Procter & Gamble. In 1962, he joined the Benguet Corporation, one of the country's leading gold mining companies. In 1974, he became company president.

He committed suicide on December 7, 1987, at age 48, just three months after having been dismissed from the government on September 14, in a cabinet reorganization that followed a military coup attempt.

His wife Isabel was quoted as saying: "He had been depressed about infighting in Aquino's cabinet and disappointed that the 'People Power' uprising which had toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos had not brought significant change".^[2][3]

He was portrayed by Noel Trinidad in the 1988 People Power Revolution movie A Dangerous Life.

For his contributions to the restoration of Philippine democracy and his opposition to the Marcos dictatorship, Ongpin's name was enshrined at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in 2001.

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