Pedro José Lobo

Pedro José Lobo Order of the Colonial Empire, Order of Infante D. Henrique (Manatuto, Timor-Leste, January 12, 1892 – Hong Kong, October 1, 1965) was an important entrepreneur, politician, philanthropist, civil servant, musician, leader and cultural facilitator of Macau, a prominent member of the Macanese elite of the time.

As head of the Central Bureau of Economic Services, Pedro José Lobo distinguished himself during World War II, in the resolution of the 1952 Portas do Cerco Incident, and in the gold trade, which enriched him. He was also owner and manager of the Macau Water Supply Company and founder of the Macau Air Transport Company (MATCO), in 1948. He was also a patron and promoter of Macau's cultural, musical and artistic life. He founded Rádio Vila Verde and the Cultural Circle of Macau.

Lobo was president of the Municipal Council of Macau (1959–1964)

Biography

On January 12, 1892, Pedro José Lobo was born in Manatuto, in Timor-Leste. Of Portuguese nationality, he was a mestizo Portuguese-descendant or Macanese from Timor, with Malay, Chinese, Dutch and Portuguese ancestors. Lobo's adoptive father was the lawyer Belarmino Lobo, born in Goa on May 21, 1849 and died in Dili on November 9, 1914. On October 20, 1917, the government official in Timor, César Augusto Rocha de Abreu Castelo Branco released him, "upon request, from the position of member of the Dili Municipal Commission".

Lobo studied at the prestigious São José Seminary in Macau. On October 16, 1920, Pedro Lobo married in Hong Kong Branca Helena Hyndman,

Lobo had six children with Branca Hyndman: Marieta Hyndman Lobo, Olivia Maria Hyndman Lobo, Rogério Hyndman Lobo (or Sir Roger Lobo), Natércia Hyndman Lobo, Orlando dos Passos Hyndman Lobo and Pedro Hyndman Lobo. Officially, this monopoly company was managed by Pedro José Lobo, the delegate of the Government of Macau. But in fact it was controlled by the Japanese and served the Japanese political-military objectives of controlling the circulation of essential goods in Macau.

Gold trading

After the Second World War, the gold trade became one of the most important economic activities in Macau, because Macau was not currently covered by the 1944 Bretton Woods agreements. These international agreements fixed exchange rates and restricted world trade in gold, banning imports of gold for individual use and stipulating that each troy ounce of gold legally cost US$35.

At that time, the lucrative but obscure trade in gold was effectively controlled by a restricted group of businessmen from Macau and Hong Kong, among whom were Ho Sin Hang, Cheng Yu Tung, YC Liang, Ho Yin and Pedro José Lobo. Due to this fact, a Macau-Hong Kong trade axis was established, in which Hong Kong, British, French, Swiss, and American businessmen also participated, thus using Macau to "legalize [their] business". The resolution of the incident allowed the People's Republic of China to continue to use Macau as a gateway for necessary and strategic goods prohibited by the Western embargo. According to Portuguese historian Moisés Silva Fernandes, the increased status that Pedro José Lobo and Ho Yin came to enjoy after the incident allowed them to prevent, during the next ten years, any increase in taxes and fees on the gold monopoly previously granted to Pedro Lobo and Ho Yin by the Government of Macau.