ONE hundred years ago, on February 6, 1923, Alfonso Yuchengco was born — the only boy to a household that had been waiting for his arrival. His father, Enrique Yuchengco, had established himself as one of the most successful Chinese- Filipino businessmen of his time, and in the tradition of their time, he had been hoping for a male heir that would take on the family enterprise. Whenever Enrique's wife Maria Hao Tay gave birth to a girl, the baby lived (the couple had three daughters). But when she gave birth to a boy, which she did three times, the baby died. When Alfonso was born, they dressed him as a girl and addressed him as a girl until he was six years old to "cheat" the fates.