What began as a festive affair — with party leaders and supporters in attendance, replete with fireworks — soon turned grisly. At 9:30 p.m., two grenades were hurled near the stage, causing pandemonium, mayhem, and leaving casualties and injuries: eight dead and 70 wounded.
Liberal Party president Sen. Gerardo Manuel de Leon Roxas, popularly known as Gerry, was at the front row and was seriously injured; and so were Sen. Sergio Osmeña Jr. and Sen. Jovito Salonga, the latter suffering the most injuries.
In the fifth row sat Gerry’s wife, Judith “Judy” Araneta Roxas — who died on Aug. 26, 2025 at the age of 91 and was fondly known as JAR. She, too, was injured, losing her kneecap. Recuperating separately, the couple would only reunite much later in the hospital in a tearful reunion.
“She was the last of the line of old-time political matriarchs who often proved to be more resilient than the men posturing for power,” wrote Manolo Quezon, “
A sugar clan
Judy was born on July 31, 1934, to J. Amado Araneta and Ester Bustamante Araneta, the eldest of three children that include Jorge Leon, the chair and CEO of the Araneta Group of Companies, and Maria Lourdes “Baby” Araneta Fores, the youngest, who passed away in 2023.
Hailing from Bago, Negros Occidental, J. Amado Araneta or Don Amading was a sugar planter who later controlled major sugar centrals — the Bacolod-Murcia Milling Co. and the Talisay-Silay Milling Co.
To advocate for his own business interests and those of the sugar industry at large, he ventured into media via the D-M-H-M Newspapers — Debate, Mabuhay, Herald, and Mail — and into radio with KZRM and KZEG, both under Far Eastern Broadcasting Corp.
Don Amading would be best known for the 36-hectare Araneta Center in Cubao, the crown jewel of the Araneta empire, which he acquired from Radio Corporation of America in 1952.
Business and politics
Inevitably, as business and politics often intersect in our country, Don Amading would serve as treasurer of the Liberal Party, thus becoming, in the words of author Lewis E. Gleeck, its “financial godfather.”
Judy would marry Gerry, the son of the founder of the Liberal Party, President Manuel Roxas, at the Immaculate Conception Church on Feb. 26, 1955. Among those present were Mrs. Trinidad de Leon Roxas and Jose Yulo. The marriage was blessed with three children: Maria Lourdes (Ria), Manuel II (Mar) and Gerardo Jr. (Dinggoy).
The imposition of Martial Law in 1972 would see the closure of the Philippine Senate, where Gerry, a staunch anti-Marcos critic, was an incumbent senator. Around this time, Don Amading and his wife Ester would go into self-imposed exile in the U.S., with their children and their respective families soon joining them.
Overcoming family tragedies
On April 19, 1982, Gerry Roxas succumbed to a liver tumor in New York at 58. The death of Don Amading three years later prompted the Aranetas to return to the Philippines.
On April 4, 1993, their youngest son, Dinggoy—who in 1987, at 26, became the youngest elected representative of Capiz’s 1st district—died of colon cancer.
Despite these personal tragedies, Judy would bravely carry on as family matriarch and quiet political leader, humbly describing her influence as “tumutulong lang.”
In 2000, after Mar—who had succeeded his late brother as Capiz 1st district representative in 1993—was appointed Trade and Industry secretary by President Joseph Estrada, speculation grew that Judy would run for his vacated seat, but she ultimately declined.
Said a close political ally at that time: “So far, she is not convinced that her running will enhance Mar’s political career, particularly (Mar Roxas’) plan (to run for a senatorial seat) in 2001”.
(When her daughter Ria’s name was being floated, Judy said she would support her daughter should she decide to run for public office. When Fidel Ramos announced that Judy—chair of LP’s national steering committee—had deflected to Lakas-NUCD, she quickly denied this and remained loyal to the LP until the end)
Mar served as a senator from 2004 to 2010. In 2016, endorsed by President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, he ran for president as the LP’s standard-bearer but lost to Rodrigo Duterte. According to his campaign’s Statement of Contributions and Expenditures, Judy contributed ₱110 million to his bid.
Philanthropist and organizational leader
In 1982, Judy assumed the leadership of the Gerry Roxas Foundation (GRF), one of the oldest foundations in the country and a premier social development institution with programs in leadership development, community outreach, and special projects.
Beginning life as the Roxas Educational Advancement Committee, GRF, founded in 1958, initially provided educational assistance to the poor but deserving youth in Capiz. It subsequently expanded with the launch of the Gerry Roxas Leadership Awards, an honor given to outstanding high school students upon graduation.
“JAR was more than a benefactor and inspiration,” wrote Luchie Aclan Arguelles, a Gerry Roxas Leadership Awardee, in a Facebook tribute. "She was a guide, a confidante, a matriarch, a mentor…To each of us, she gave more than just encouragement, motivation, and opportunity, JAR gave us her heart.”
Judy was also vice-chair and senior executive vice president of the Araneta Group, with oversight over leasing activities across the Araneta Center, and president of the J. Amado Araneta Foundation. She was also the benefactor of the Araneta Archives, a repository and knowledge center.
In 2005, alongside the appointment of Manuel V. Pangilinan as independent director, Judy became a member of the board of the Makati Medical Center, which at that time was facing liquidity problems while saddled with P1.2 billion in debt.
As an art patron, Judy was a generous supporter of the Saturday Group of Artists. In her capacity as president of the Assumption College Alumnae Association, a post she held in the early 2000s, she was instrumental in the rebuilding of the Mother Rose Hall. In 1987 she was a Papal Awardee.
“Her legacy isn’t written in headlines,” said independent health advocate Dr. Tony Leachon. “It’s written in the lives she touched, the leaders she believed in, and the quiet strength she carried through decades of change.”
Features Reporter
