sentences:  Doña Mercedes was matriarch of the Zóbel de Ayala family after the deaths of her brothers, Jacobo and Alfonso.The couple took interest in his education and growth and groomed him, together with other clan members for the family businesses.Zóbel joined Ayala y Compañia in 1955 and worked closely with his uncle, Col. McMicking, who was credited for engineering the transformation of Makati from vast tracts of swamplands into the Philippines' premier financial and commercial district.