DYnasty in Isabela
For the past 40 years, reactionary politics in the province of Isabela has been under the strict and brutal control of the warlord Dy dynasty. The dynasty maintained and expanded its control by utilizing bureaucratic and police-military power and keeping a private army, through political maneuvers, the use of outright violence against its enemies and brazenly violating the people�s human rights.
The Dy clan began its dominance in the 1960s when the late Faustino Dy Sr. became mayor of Cauayan. Later, as governor, Faustino Sr. ruled with an iron fist to suppress the people and annihilate his political rivals. Faustino Sr. used bureaucratic power and his connivance with the military to expand his family business from a small rice mill to real estate, agribusiness, logging and gambling.
To maintain his position, Faustino Sr. supported all candidates for the presidency and quickly sided with whoever emerged the winner. He cooperated with Benigno Aquino Jr. in the latter part of the 1960s in the belief that the latter would succeed Marcos. When martial law was declared in 1972 and Aquino was incarcerated, Dy quickly became a crony of the dictator.
When Marcos was ousted in 1986, Dy once more became a turncoat and in 1988 clinched the governorship of Isabela. Since then, Faustino Sr. made sure that the various positions within the province were held by his children and grandchildren.
At present, Faustino Sr.�s son Junior Dy is Isabela governor. One other son, Faustino III, is congressman of the second district; while Caesar Dy is mayor of Cauayan.
The Dy family�s brutal record
The Dy family of Isabela has a bloody record. To protect his power, Faustino transformed the police, military and criminals in the province into his private army in 1970. From 1970-72, Isabela was second to Tarlac in the number of elements of the Barrio Self-Defense Unit. In 1988, Dy established, in connivance with the 5th ID based in Isabela, 15 CAFGU companies and armed them with 600 M14s supplied by then PC-INP chief Gen. Ramon Monta�o.
Since Faustino Sr.�s time, anyone who opposed their political monopoly or exposed their involvement in anomalies and illegal activities were ordered killed. In February, Cauayan mayor Caesar Dy ordered the closure of Bombo Radyo-Cauayan for its acerbic criticisms of the Dys.
The Dy politicians also rabidly opposed the revolutionary movement. The elder Dy�s order in 1971 to forcibly evacuate 50,000 people from their homes in the Forest Region of eastern Isabela can never be forgotten. Dy himself beat up persons who were captured and suspected of supporting the revolutionary movement. For this, he was dubbed "Governor Dos por Dos".
The Dy empire
The Dy family owns, has seized or otherwise controls, huge logging companies. Its P900 million net income comes from the family�s declared ownership of some 99,000 hectares of logging areas. The Dys earn much more from illegal logging and the smuggling of logs to Taiwan.
The Dy monopoly extends even to various forms of gambling. They control jueteng, tong-its, the Small Town Lottery (or Lotto) and casinos in Isabela. In 1988-89, the Dys, in connivance with Rep. "Jackie" Enrile and other military officials, masterminded a "pyramid scheme" racket that victimized thousands of people.
The Dys also accumulate wealth by controlling public works contracts. The biggest among this were the P900 million Ilagan-Palanan Road (1980-1985), the Magat Multi-purpose Dam Project (MMDP), the Maharlika Highway (1972-76) and NIA irrigation projects.
In 1980-82, the Dy family conspired with Danding Cojuangco to grab lands in two haciendas in Isabela, Hacienda Sta. Isabel and Hacienda San Antonio. His sons are also involved in ejecting farmers to give way to Cojuangco�s cassava plantation, a coffee growing project by Nestl�, Bt corn testing and many others. The Dys also maintain their control over rice trading in connivance with the Binondo Cartel.
The Dys have also turned to real estate. Among their properties are the Tierra Pura Subdivision, Do�a Faustina, Sta. Maria Agribusiness and the Isabela Hotel. They also have condominiums in Greenhills, San Juan and Quezon City.
They likewise own Northeast Publishing and Printing Corp. and control local newspapers in the province. They also have businesses in transportation, construction, vehicle repairs, the movies and even pornography.
With the Dy family�s control of provincial politics for the past 40 years, they have established an empire worth billions of pesos by scheming and employing violence. They are now using this as a stepping stone to project Isabela, particularly their home city of Cauayan, as a "growth area".
Logging companies and sawmills owned by the Dys
- Isabela Wood Construction Development Corp.Twin Peaks Inc.
- Sierra Madre Lumber and Logging Mills, Inc. (SMLI)
- Consolidated Lumber and Logging Mills, Inc. (CLLMI)
- Jones Logging Corporation (JLC)
- Woodland Inc.
- RCC Lumber
- Pacific Timber Exporters Corp. (PATECO)
- Mejore Furnitures
- Isabela Sierra Lumber and Milling Corporation (ISLAMCO)�in Quirino province
- Mayantoc Sawmill
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