The Duavit Family

The Duavits are a political family from Rizal with business interests not only in media, but real estate as well.

Gilberto Duavit, Sr. born 1934 is the founding chairman of GMA Network, Inc. He was a lawyer who graduated from the University of the East, and one of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s presidential assistants who helped draft the Philippines’ 1973 Constitution as a delegate to the 1971 Constitutional Convention.

The same Constitution prohibited foreign ownership and management of media networks. This prohibition (and loss of money) forced GMA Network founder, Robert La Rue Stewart, to sell 30 percent ownership of the station to his lawyer, Felipe L. Gozon, who in turn offered 20 percent to his brother-in-law, Menardo Jimenez.

In 1975, Duavit Sr., together with his friends, Gozon and Jimenez, took control of the management of Stewart’s RBS and renamed it to GMA for Greater Manila Area, the initial coverage area of the station, which was later changed into Global Media Arts. Under the triumvirate’s wings, the station consistently made money and started its steady rise to the top of the Philippine media market.

Duavit, Sr. also headed the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development during the Marcos, Sr. administration.

He would eventually venture into politics first as an assemblyman from 1978 to 1984 under the Batasan Pambansa, the parliamentary created by Marcos, Sr.

In 1992, Duavit Sr. began serving in the legislature as Rizal congressman and got reelected until his third term from 1998 to 2001. Another Duavit, his son Michael John “Jack” R. Duavit (1970), ran as a district representative in 2001 to replace his father, and won, serving three terms until 2010. Jack’s brother, Joel Duavit (1965) took the helm in 2010 to run as congressman serving two terms until 2016. Jack then returned to politics in 2016, after a year in GMA Network, Inc. as a Board Director. He is an incumbent congressman of Rizal and has held the position since the 17th Congress.

Meanwhile, in 2000, Duavit Sr. and Gozon engineered a coup among the network’s board. It deposed Jimenez and installed Gozon as chairman, president, and chief executive officer while Duavit Sr.’s son and namesake Gilberto Duavit Jr. (1963) was elected executive vice president and chief operating officer.

In July 2007, in a bid to stop GMA’s public offering, Sen. Imee R. Marcos, the daughter of former President Marcos, claimed ownership of the Duavits’ then 28.35 percent of GMA Network, Inc. She claimed that Marcos had just entrusted his ownership of GMA to Duavit Sr. in 1983.

GMA Network, in a statement, said members of the Duavit family are the "real and actual owners" of the shares, and the same have "concrete proof" of ownership, while Marcos was unable to show any. There has been no news about this issue since then.

In 2010, Duavit Jr. was elected by the board as the network’s president. In 2024, he was appointed as CEO to replace Gozon, who remained as chairman.

Duavit, Jr. is among the country’s 50 richest according to Forbes, with a net worth of $ 350 million.

Duavit Sr. passed away in 2018.