Mourners pay their last respects during the wake of former ABS-CBN vice chairman Augusto “Jake” Almeda Lopez at the ABS-CBN Chapel in Quezon City on February 5, 2024, Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — A fighter till the end, decorated war veteran Augusto “Jake” Almeda Lopez came out to battle one last time for his beloved ABS-CBN, coming out of his retirement in 2020 to testify in the House of Representatives and appeal for ABS-CBN’s franchise.

Almeda Lopez recounted the contributions of not just Channel 2 and its DZMM AM radio station but of Knowledge Channel and various ABS-CBN Foundation programs such as Bantay Bata.

“ABS-CBN is fighting for its life. I think it is my responsibility as a senior member of this company to explain to the members of this Congress that really, I think, we deserve the renewal of our franchise, and that if you don’t renew our franchise you’re going to deprive the public of so much entertainment, news, and more or less the building of culture,” Almeda Lopez told lawmakers then. 

Almeda Lopez had fought in the trenches with ABS-CBN founder “Kapitan” Geny Lopez, who described him as the “soul” of the organization, a brother-in-arms, and a partner in building ABS-CBN. 

After graduating from the University of the Philippines in 1952 with a law degree and placing 4th in the Bar exams, he worked as a lawyer and was later offered by his Ateneo classmate Geny to become one of ABS-CBN’s lawyers in 1961. 

He then headed the personnel division of ABS-CBN and worked on its provincial operations, before becoming the TV station’s general manager in 1966, helping run its first “Golden Age.”

Almeda Lopez was known for his people skills, kindness, and loyalty not only to the owners but to the employees as well. Geny credited his friend for teaching him the importance of malasakit, a core ABS-CBN value, especially for the station’s employees.

“Jake’s got a good heart, a lot of malasakit, and so people trust him,” Geny was quoted as saying in his biography “Kapitan.” 

Photo from the book “Kapitan: Geny Lopez and the Making of ABS-CBN” 

“He was par excellence when it came to interpersonal relationships. I learned to trust him completely. He brought a heart into ABS-CBN.”

Geny credited Almeda Lopez for cultivating the loyalty of ABS-CBN employees.

“I learned so much about people from him, about the importance of treating employees well—listening to them, dealing with them, giving them what they truly deserve. [In the early days of ABS-CBN] I was all efficiency- and profit-oriented. Jake would balance me beautifully… I am very grateful for that, because looking back now, if a lot of our employees remained loyal to us, it was mainly because of him.”

In December 1973 during Martial Law, Almeda Lopez was arrested and imprisoned for a year for leading protest actions against the Marcos dictatorship after Geny was imprisoned. 

In 1977, he played a crucial role in planning and helping Geny and Serge Osmeña escape from prison.

During the EDSA Revolution in 1986, Almeda Lopez, the fighter, climbed over the fence of the Broadcast Center, assembled and led a makeshift crew of network veterans in putting ABS-CBN back on the air “after 14 years of silence,” according to the book “Kapitan.”

“We just said: ‘Let’s get on the air.’ So this station became the communications center [of the revolution] because it was broadcasting live,” Almeda Lopez said.

“We were really thrilled. Imagine, for 14 years, we were kept outside [the Broadcast Center], and then the revolution happened. I am glad that we had a chance to participate.”

He went on to serve in the board of various ABS-CBN companies and was Vice Chairman of ABS-CBN.

In 2023, Almeda Lopez was one of the war veterans who was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by the United States government, a prestigious distinction given to civilians who exhibited valor and loyalty during World War II. 

He served as staff sergeant and rifleman in Anderson's Guerrillas in Tayabas, Quezon from September 1944 to August 1945.