PLDT undertakes management shakeup

MANILA, Philippines - Dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Co. (PLDT) announced yesterday major changes in management as it restructured its authorized capital stock to comply with the requirement of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In a statement, PLDT chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan announced the appointment of Ray C. Espinosa as associate director of First Pacific Corp. (FPC) of Hong Kong and his new assignment as the PLDT Group’s head of Government and Regulatory Affairs and head of the Communications Bureau.

Pangilinan said Espinosa would also assist the First Pacific Group in new investments in the Philippines and in the region.

Espinosa would retire as president and chief executive officer of PLDT’s media arm MediaQuest Holdings Inc and its related subsidiaries and affiliates, including TV5. 

MediaQuest serves as the investment vehicle in certain media assets-investments deemed to be key to PLDT’s transformation process, and which need to be harnessed and optimized in order to build on the group’s competitive advantages.

Espinosa would remain director of PLDT, Manila Electric Co (Meralco), Mediaquest, and infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC).

He also announced the appointment of PLDT head of individual business Noel Lorenzana as president and CEO of Mediaquest replacing Espinosa.

He pointed out that Lorenzana faces a tough job as he takes on the challenge of turning around TV5, while maintaining the growth momentum at Cignal TV towards leadership in the Pay-TV industry.

In conjunction with his Mediaquest role, Lorenza would also head the newly-created Multimedia Office (MMO) of the PLDT Group tasked to lay down a multimedia or multiscreen strategy for the dominant carrier.

“This will require identifying the points of synergy as well as potential overlaps so as to maximize resources and grow revenues. All content, whether self-produced, acquired or user-generated, will rest with the MMO for customization and sharing across the Group’s various platforms,” Pangilinan said.

He also announced the appointment of Charles Lim as head of PLDT’s Individual Business. He was chief operating officer of Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc. that was acquired from taipan John L. Gokongwei Jr. for P69.2 billion.

“Since the acquisition of Digitel, he has been instrumental in the ongoing efforts to integrate our telco operations. He takes on the reins at a time when the mobile industry is maturing and looking for growth opportunities. But as an industry veteran and one who is already familiar with, and to, Smart, we expect him to continue the work that Lorenzana has started while bringing with him some of his successful disruptor mentality,” he said.

Pangilinan said the changes described above will take effect on June 1.

The strategic goal of PLDT has been to transform itself into a communications and multimedia services group-one genuinely at home in an environment where telco, media and internet worlds coalesce symbiotically.

As part of this process, we are constantly assessing and re-assessing our Management Team so as to find the best fit for individual management and executive talents with PLDT’s overall and specific needs.

“The movements in MediaQuest and in PLDT ensure that our operations proceed smoothly and seamlessly. A good Management bench affords you that opportunity and, with this development, we look forward to even more dynamic days ahead for First Pacific, PLDT, and MediaQuest. Changes of this magnitude require our complete support in order to be effective,” Pangilinan said.

Meanwhile, PLDT informed the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) about a capital restructuring wherein the company’s authorized capital would be reduced to P5.195 billion from P9.395 billion with the reduction of the non-voting serial preferred stock to 387.5 million with a par value of P10 from 807.5 million with a par value of P10.

“This is a consequence of the redemption of SIP preferred shares. The SEC asked us to reduce share capital correspondingly,” PLDT spokesman Ramon Isberto said.

The company’s board also elected retired chief justice Artemio Panganiban as independent director replacing Rev. Fr. Bienvenido Nebres and the appointment of Ateneo de Manila president Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin as a member of the company’s advisory board.