January 30, 2019 | 12:30 am By Victor V. Saulon
MANILA ELECTRIC CO.
(Meralco), the country’s biggest power distributor, has named Ray C. Espinosa
as its incoming president and chief executive officer (CEO) when Oscar S. Reyes
retires in May.
In a disclosure to the
Philippine Stock Exchange, Meralco said the company’s board of directors,
during a regular meeting on Monday, Jan. 28, approved the appointment of Mr.
Espinosa as deputy chief executive officer effective on the same date.
“Mr. Espinosa will
assume the position of President and Chief Executive Officer after Mr. Reyes
leaves Meralco service on May 28, 2019,” the company said.
The deputy chief
executive officer is a new position as Mr. Espinosa did not replace anyone. He
reports directly to Mr. Reyes.
The company said Mr.
Espinosa has been with Meralco since May 26, 2009. He heads the finance
committee of the company’s board.
When Mr. Espinosa,
Meralco’s current general counsel, assumes the top post, the company will just
be days into its new 50-year corporate life from May 7, 2019. The listed
utility, which counts about 6.5 million customers within its franchise area,
secured a term extension from the Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 19
last year.
Mr. Reyes did not
immediately respond to a request for comment on Mr. Espinosa’s appointment as
well as his plans after retirement.
Sought for comment,
Meralco Senior Vice-President Alfredo S. Panlilio described Mr. Reyes’s
performance in the past nine years as “stellar.” Mr. Reyes has been president
and CEO since May 29, 2012. He was chief operating officer from July 1, 2010 to
May 28, 2012.
“The numbers will show
it. I guess there is always a time to move on and I guess this was the right
time for OSR,” he said in a text message, referring to Mr. Reyes’s initials.
“We welcome the entry
of Ray and look forward to working with him in bringing Meralco to the next
level,” said Mr. Panlilio, who also heads Meralco’s customer retail services
and corporate communications.
Based on Meralco’s
latest information statement which it filed with Philippine Stock Exchange in
April last year, Mr. Espinosa finished Bachelor of Science in General Studies
at the University of Sto. Tomas, Bachelor of Laws at the Ateneo de Manila
University and Master of Laws at the University of Michigan Law School.
Also at that time, he
was board member of the four listed companies, namely: PLDT, Inc.; Metro Pacific
Investments Corp.; Lepanto Consolidated Mining Corp.; and Roxas Holdings Inc.
In April last year, Mr.
Espinosa, who was 61 at that time, was chairman of Philstar Daily, Inc. and
BusinessWorld Publishing Corp.; president of Mediaquest Holdings, Inc.; chief
corporate services officer of PLDT; and head of PLDT’s regulatory affairs and
policy office.
He was also trustee of
the Beneficial Trust Fund of PLDT and head government and regulatory affairs
and head communications bureau for the Philippines of First Pacific Group.
His other board
memberships were Smart Communications, Inc.; Maybank Philippines, Inc.; First
Pacific Co., Ltd.; Mediaquest Holdings, Inc.; Cignal TV. Inc.; First Agri
Holdings, Inc.; First Coconut Manufacturing, Inc.; Philippine Telecommunications
Investment Corp.; Metro Pacific Resources, Inc.; Meralco PowerGen Corp.; and
TV5 Network, Inc.
A writeup about Mr.
Espinosa in Meralco’s corporate governance report says this about him: “He was
a partner of SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan from 1982 to 2000, a
foreign associate at Covington and Burling (Washington D.C., USA) from 1987 to
1988, and a law lecturer at the Ateneo de Manila School of Law from 1983 to
1985 and 1989. He ranked first in the 1982 Philippine Bar examination.”
Meralco has yet to file
its new information statement. The company will be holding its annual
stockholders meeting on May 28, the same day Mr. Espinosa assumes his new
position as president and CEO.
On Tuesday, shares in
Meralco traded lower by 0.37% to close at P373.60 each.
No comments:
Post a Comment