Before he turned 30 years of age, with the early demise of his father, Paquito took over the responsibility of turning the family’s landholdings into a paradigm of success in the real estate business. Previous to this, he had excelled in sport, and like his father, in oratory, and in the sterling conduct of the legal profession. He also served as a professor of law. Like his father, who had acquired a broad philosophical and cultural background, Paquito entrusted much of his advanced learning to the world of letters. He read philosophers and poets, and himself rigorously engaged in the craft of the word, habitually putting down his thoughts on paper. While steadily steering the family enterprise of land development into enviable success, he followed his father’s footsteps when it came to participating in patriotic efforts at nation-building.