[3] His younger brother Jaime served as the Minister of Finance of the Philippines under Marcos's successor, President Corazon Aquino.
[4] In the 2018 ranking by Forbes of the world's richest, Ongpin was named as the Philippines' twelfth wealthiest Filipino (up from sixteenth in 2017),[5] with a net worth US$3.72 billion.
[8] He was a great-grandson of Román T. Ongpin, a businessman and philanthropist who aided Filipino revolutionaries against the Spanish and American colonial administrations in the Philippines.
[12] During his seven years as minister, Ongpin grappled with the deteriorating economy as political instability made funding from international agencies and banks difficult for the government.
This triggered Enrile's hasty break from the government, eventually leading to the People Power Revolution that installed Corazon C. Aquino as the new Philippine President.
As chief executive officer of Belle Corporation, Ongpin was involved in the creation of its flagship development, Tagaytay Highlands.
"[25][26][27] The company also owns and operates Alphaland Aviation, Inc., which as of 2016, provided charter services to Balesin Island Club located in Lamon Bay, Quezon province.
The stockholders would further change the company's name to PhilWeb Corporation in 2002, a move that was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) later that year.
"[24] Ongpin's decision to sell his shares in PhilWeb to former president Marcos' son-in-law, Gregorio Araneta III, lessened the political pressure on himself and the company, and allowed him to focus on his other business interests.
[45] He was also a deputy chairman of the South China Morning Post,[53][54] a vice-chairman of AIA Capital Corporation (Hong Kong),[53] and a non-executive director at E2-Capital Holdings Ltd (now known as CIAM Group Ltd),[53] Forum Energy Plc UK,[53][54] and Shangri-La Asia Ltd.[53][58][59] Ongpin died in his sleep on Balesin Island, Polillo, Quezon, on February 4, 2023, at age 86.