Photo from MPIC

It was early this year when the Philippine business titan Manuel V. Pangilinan made it known that he is considering retirement and is in search of his replacement for the companies he heads, including conglomerate First Pacific and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC).

Mr. Pangilinan, or “MVP” as he is more commonly known, has become famous as the driving force behind many of the most successful businesses in the Philippines. Many well-known Philippine companies have benefitted from his work in one way or another, including PLDT, Smart, Meralco, and Maynilad. From mining to media, food to healthcare, he is at the helm of a wide variety of businesses.

He said that as he turns 77, he is contemplating stepping down from such an influential position and focus more on his personal life.

“It is staring me in the face. I know I only have X years to go in my useful life. And I’m planning for that (retirement),” Mr. Pangilinan said in an interview.

This admission had been accompanied by the news that MPIC has started the process of delisting from the Philippine Stock Exchange as it attracts the attention of strategic investors such as the Japanese giant Mitsui & Co. Ltd., sending waves across the Philippine business community.

First Pacific’s investment portfolio is centered on core industries across Southeast Asia, such as PT Indofood Sukses Makmur Tbk (Indofood), PLDT, and MPIC.

While PLDT is the largest fixed broadband network, and the largest and most modern wireless network provider in the Philippines, Indofood is the largest vertically integrated food company in Indonesia and the producer of the global instant noodle brand Indomie.

Meanwhile, with stakes in the country’s largest electricity distributor, toll road operator, water distributor, and healthcare group, MPIC is a frontrunner among Philippine infrastructure investment and management companies. MPIC’s holdings extend beyond the oil industry to include real estate and the light rail system.

In addition, First Pacific is also an investor in companies PacificLight Power Pte. Ltd. (PLP), Philex Mining Corp. (Philex), PXP Energy Corp. (PXP), and Roxas Holdings, Inc. (RHI). PLP manages one of Singapore’s most advanced gas-fired generating facilities. Gold, copper, and silver are all mined by Philex, making it a major industry in the Philippines. Both RHI and PXP are Philippine-based businesses. RHI makes sugar and bioethanol, and PXP provides upstream oil and gas services.

The delisting of MPIC comes as First Pacific expressed that the intrinsic value of MPIC’s core investments in infrastructure in the Philippines has not been fully reflected in MPIC’s share price for some time.

Both MPIC and Mitsui committed $600 million worth of joint infrastructure investments to the country.

“We signed an agreement with Mitsui and several parties and management to commit to invest $600 million in the infrastructure,” Mr. Pangilinan said during a dinner with President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.

The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) told the media that Mitsui & Co. is also eyeing investments in priority sectors of the administration, particularly in agriculture, infrastructure and renewable energy.

The PCO reports that Mitsui has committed to “exploring the possibility of further collaboration with the Philippines in business areas of mutual interest,” such as food and agriculture, renewable energy, and digital transformation.

“We can point to so many of the developments that happened in the Philippines with the assistance of the different Japanese funding agencies and government-to-government arrangements, the commercial arrangements — and these have been for the benefit of both our countries,” the PCO quoted President Marcos as saying.

“And it is a particularly auspicious time that we come again now simply because we have to now restart our own economies; we have to transform our economies. And again the partnerships, I think, that we have developed with our friends here in Japan, with Mitsui in particular… [have to be revitalized] as they have been dormant, to a degree, during the lockdowns of the pandemic,” the President added.

President Marcos also said that he looks forward to the discussions these plans would initiate as he expressed “great hopes that this will be the driver of our economy.”

Clearly, even as he mulls retirement, Mr. Pangilinan is not yet done leaving his mark on Philippine business.

Mr. Pangilinan earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the Ateneo de Manila University with honors. The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School is where he earned his MBA. He worked for Philippine Investment Management Consultants Inc. (PHINMA) in Manila and for Bancom International Limited and American Express Bank, respectively, in Hong Kong. Following these roles, he established First Pacific in May 1981.

Since First Pacific’s foundation in 1981 until 1999, Mr. Pangilinan has held the role of managing director. He then transitioned to the position of executive chairman until 2003, when he was designated managing director and chief executive officer, the position he currently holds.

In Indonesia, Mr. Pangilinan is the President Commissioner of PT Indofood Sukses Makmur Tbk. Here in the Philippines, Mr. Pangilinan currently holds the positions of Chairman, President, and CEO of MPIC. He also serves as the Chairman of PLDT, Inc., Smart Communications, Inc., ePLDT, Inc., PLDT Communications and Energy Ventures, Inc., Manila Electric Company (Meralco), Maynilad Water Services, Inc., Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., NLEX Corp., Philex Mining Corp., PXP Energy Corp., and Landco Pacific Corp.

In a promotion list approved by the Philippine President in July 2021, the Philippine Air Force granted Mr. Pangilinan the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (Res) in appreciation of his achievements to the nation.

Mr. Pangilinan received the Order of Lakandula with the rank of Komandante from the Office of the President of the Philippines in 2006.

Many others recognized Mr. Pangilinan’s contributions to the country. The Management Association of the Philippines recognized him Management Man of the Year for 2005.

Mr. Pangilinan received honorary doctorates in management from the Asian Institute of Management in 2016; science from Far Eastern University in 2010; and humanities from Holy Angel University in 2008, Xavier University in 2007, and San Beda College in 2002.

He formerly served as the Ateneo de Manila University’s Board of Trustees Chairman and as a member of the Wharton School’s Board of Overseers.

Mr. Pangilinan now serves as chairman of the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), PLDT-Smart Foundation Inc., One Meralco Foundation, Inc., Makati Medical Foundation, Inc., and the San Beda College Board of Trustees, among other civic positions.

He also serves as co-chairman of the US-Philippine Society, the Board of Trustees of the Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute, and the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF). The Philippine Business for Education (PBED) also counts Mr. Pangilinan as a director.

Mr. Pangilinan also oversees three sports organizations, namely the MVP Sports Foundation, Inc.; the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP); and the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP). — Bjorn Biel M. Beltran

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