The Garcia Family

Several Garcia families are involved in SunStar Publishing, Incorporated, which manages Sun.Star Cebu and sunstar.com.ph. Combined, they own around 65 percent of SunStar Publishing. through individual and company shares.

One is lawyer Jesus B. Garcia’s family, through holding company Armson Corporation, which has 30 percent shares of SunStar Publishing. Armson Corporation is wholly owned by Garcia’s children, Marie Kalinaw, Michelle Himaya, Gahum Vincent, and Bayani Jess.

Jesus Garcia Jr., a former transportation and communication secretary, is the chairman of SunStar Publishing. He is also the co-founder of law firm J.P. Garcia & Associates.

Aside from these, he is the president of real estate companies Jesever and Madre Realty Corporation, and serves as an independent director of Vivant Corporation, which has interests in power generation.

His wife Armi is the honorary consul of Russia. She is also the chief executive officer of restaurant Tablea Chocolate Cafe, where her son Bayani is corporate secretary. Meanwhile, Gahum is the president of a jewelry export company.

The other Garcia family, with lawyer Julius Z. Neri as patriarch, has 10 percent shares. Julius and his wife Nelia has 1 percent each, while their four sons, Julius Jr., Jerome, Justin and Joven, have 2 percent each.

The younger Julius Neri is now SunStar Publishing’s president while his brothers Jerome and Joven are both lawyers. Justin, meanwhile, is the manager of a tourist inn in Cebu.

The other Garcias who have shares in the paper are siblings of Jesus and Nelia: Alvin, Gina and Zenda have 5 percent each, Dale has 2 percent and their brother-in-law, Francisco Dizon has 8 percent.

Alvin Garcia, former mayor of Cebu City, was charged with violation of the Fair Elections Act due to alleged excessive political advertisements in SunStar Cebu in 2004. He pleaded not guilty in February 2016, saying the advertisements were not solely for him but for the whole Kugi Uswag Sugbo-Koalisyong Nagkakaisang Pilipino party slate, as well as then presidential and vice presidential candidates Fernando Poe, Jr. and Loren Legarda.

Meanwhile, Gina is the president of SunStar Management and was awarded as one of the eight most influential Cebuanas by Filipina Women Network, a US-based non-profit professional association.

Zenda Garcia Lat is a doctor in New Jersey, USA while Dale serves as the treasurer of SunStar Publishing.

Francisco Dizon, meanwhile, is also involved in banking, finance, software development and human resource industries.

The political Garcia clan is the first cousin of Jesus Jr. and his siblings. The patriarch, Pablo Garcia, was former Cebu governor and congressman while his daughter Gwendolyn is currently a deputy speaker at the Congress. Her siblings Winston and Pablo John ran in the 2016 election as governor and congressman, respectively, but both lost.