THE Ortigases decamped to Manila from Porac town in Pampanga in the latter half of the past century because the Basque family had the prescience and saw the writing on the wall. Sugar, which the family traded from their Porac base and was still a flourishing industry when they moved to what is now Metro Manila, might not be the industry of the future. So they moved a little bit south — Porac to Ortigas Avenue is just over 100 kilometers — to shift to a different business altogether, developing residential and commercial areas.

Porac's loss was a plus for the real estate development sector of Metro Manila. Up to now, though, Porac's main square still has a major street named for the Ortigases.