Leviste is new Mirant Phils head

US-based Mirant Corp. announced yesterday the appointment of Jose P. Leviste Jr. as chairman, president and chief executive officer of its Philippine unit and as a senior vice president at the parent company.

"Mr. Leviste brings tremendous experience and expertise to Mirant which will be invaluable in our Philippine business," Mirant chairman and chief executive officer Edward R. Muller said.

Mirant Philippines is the largest private producer of electricity in the country. It owns and operates over 2,500 megawatts of generating capacity.

Leviste is an internationally known and respected leader in the Philippines. He currently serves as chairman of the board of Climax Arimco Mining Corp. (CAMC); chairman of the board and chief executive officer, Politstrat International Inc.; chairman of the board, Pacific Rim Innovation and Management Exponents (Primex) and chairman of the board of the Philippine Business Leaders Forum (PBLF), the country associate of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Corporate Network.

In accepting the top post at Mirant Philippines, Leviste said he will resign from Polistrat immediately and will do the same in Primex, the PBLF and CAMC over the next year.

However, he will remain a key Philippine investor in CAMC, a publicly-traded company in Australia.

During his career in business, he served as vice chairman and treasurer of the Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp. (Pasar) and president and chief executive officer of the Philippine National Oil Co.’s Filoil Development and Management Corp.

He also had a distinguished, 13-year public sector career with the government when he served as secretary general of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, deputy minister of Trade and Industry, assistant secretary of Agriculture, and executive director of the Energy Development Board. He began his professional career with Caltex Philippines, Inc. and Procter & Gamble Philippines, working in budgeting and accounting functions

Leviste also served numerous Philippine and international civic and business associations in senior positions. These include Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa), the Philippine-Australia Business Council (PABC), the Philippine Pacific Economic Cooperation Committee (PPECC) and the Instituto Libertad y Democracia (ILD) headed by Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto.

While in the private sector, he continues to assist the Philippine government in various capacities. He was recently appointed a member of the consultative commission to review the 1987 Constitution and also served as member of the Department of Energy’s independent committee reviewing the oil deregulation law.