Doy Casuela’s legacy and Edwin Bautista’s new chapter at PNB

On April 29, during Philippine National Bank’s (PNB) stockholders meeting, PNB President Florido “Doy” Casuela officially stepped down, passing the leadership to Edwin Bautista, former Union Bank of the Philippines, Inc. president.

A seasoned banking veteran, Doy Casuela served as president of Land Bank of the Philippines and Maybank Philippines. PNB was a big turnaround story in the banking industry after it suffered a P13-million loss in the year 2000 and was then placed under close supervision by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Doy was initially tapped as BSP consultant in the early 2000s to “look over” PNB’s operations and was later elected director and dhair of the bank’s Executive Committee until he assumed the presidency in 2022, succeeding Wick Veloso. In the challenging years amid the coronavirus pandemic, with Doy’s experience and in-depth knowledge of the bank’s operations, he was thrown like a duck to swim in the water. He knew what to do and did it with passion, earning him the nickname “BB,” short for Benjamin Button or the fictional character who aged in reverse.  Yes, Doy has grown stronger and younger while steering PNB through challenging times.

Where does PNB stand today? It reported a net income of P21 billion in 2024, up from P18 billion in 2023. For the first time since 2016, PNB declared cash dividends of P2.78 per share. Property dividends worth P23.9 billion were declared in 2021. PNB’s capital position is one of the strongest in the industry with a capital adequacy ratio of 20.1%, and return on equity strong at 10.39%. PNB is also a Four Golden Arrow awardee in the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard. PNB’s mobile banking app received the Excellence in Customer Service Innovation award at The Digital Banker’s Digital CX Awards. The bank’s “Every Step Together” campaign was recently recognized by the Catholic Mass Media Awards as Best Branded Digital Ad.

In the “last two minutes” of President Doy’s term, PNB earned Two Triple A awards from The Asset for the bank’s remarkable commitment to sustainable financing — the Best Sustainability Bond – Financial Institution award for issuing a $300-million sustainability bond, and for PNB Capital as a domestic underwriter for the Best IPO Award of Citicore Renewable Energy Corp.’s P5.3-billion initial public offering.

Meanwhile, Moody’s Investors Service recently raised PNB’s credit rating to “Baa2” from “Baa3” with a “stable” outlook.

The bank’s first-quarter net income also went up by 15% to P6.1 billion.

PNB’s stock price, which was at the P18-P20 level for some time, is now more than double at above P40 per share, closing at P48 each on April 30.

So, well done, President Doy, Mr. “BB”!

Edwin Bautista, who played a key role in UnionBank’s digital transformation, brings with him a different background and experience. A marketing professional from Procter & Gamble, he was recruited by Citibank in the 90s during the banking liberalization, which saw the entry of new foreign banks into the Philippines. Citibank, which did not have competition then, realized it had to learn marketing from the consumer experts. Edwin was one of those hired to instill the marketing culture at Citibank while he learned the basics of banking and risk management.

In the ’90s, dollar transfers within Manila took 45-60 days as they still had to be routed to the United States. Edwin was Citi’s cash management head back then who spearheaded the move towards the Philippine Domestic Dollar Transfer Service System (PDDTS), a revolutionary development that resulted in dollar transfers online and real time, meaning instantly, and is still managed by Citibank to this day.

Even with limited branches of just three, Citi was highly rated in cash management through the use of technology. How much more if it had many branches? Even at that time, Edwin already “eyed” PNB with its large branch network.  Edwin became Citi’s Transaction Banking Head, then later joined UnionBank and became its president, leading its digital transformation.

“It’s a great day. I love PNB!” said Edwin when asked about his first day at the bank

PNB’s diversified board of directors now includes six women (40%). Four are independent directors, and there are a total of five independent directors (30%). The members are Chairman Emeritus Kapitan Lucio Tan, Chairman Edgar Cua, Vice-Chairman Lucio Tan III, President Edwin R. Bautista, Judith V. Lopez (new), Chester Y. Luy, Geocel D. Olanday (new), Isabelita M. Papa (new, lead independent director), Sheila T. Pascual, Wilfrido E. Sanchez, Eusebio V. Tan, Michael G. Tan, Vivienne K. Tan, Maria Cyd N. Tuaño-Amador, Marcia Uy (new) and Cesar L. Villanueva (new).

PNB is in a strong financial position today. Headed by tech-savvy CEO Edwin as its new president, with Chair Ed and Vice Chair LT III, Doy in his new role as adviser, and PNB’s dedicated board and advisers, it is poised for an even stronger future! Congratulations, PNB!

The views expressed herein are the author’s own and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of her office as well as FINEX.

Flor G. Tarriela is a banker and an environmentalist/gardener.