MANILA, Philippines — Lucio “Hun Hun” Tan III will assume a powerful role in the empire of his grandfather, taipan Lucio Tan, after the sudden death of his father.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Wednesday, LT Group Inc. — the holding company of the Tan family — said its Board of Directors elected Lucio III as director, replacing his father, Lucio “Bong” Tan Jr., who passed away last month.
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The Board also picked the younger Tan as the director, president and COO of liquor maker Tanduay Distillers Inc. — a subsidiary of the LT Group.
In a separate regulatory filing, PAL Holdings Inc. — the publicly-listed parent of flag carrier Philippine Airlines — announced also on Wednesday that Lucio III will occupy the director post that was vacated by his late father. He will also serve as director of Philippine Airlines Inc. and Air Philippines Corp.
READ: Key PAL board members submit resignation papers
The grandson of the Tan patriarch earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 2015 and master’s degree in computer science from the same school in 2017.
Asia’s oldest airline has undergone a major leadership revamp after former PAL President Jaime Bautista retired last July “to spend more time with his family.”
The airline reported a total comprehensive loss of P3.01 billion in the first semester, a 355% jump from last year’s loss of P661.56 million.
Last year, London-based Skytrax certified PAL as a four-star carrier, making it the only four-star airline in the country.
PAL aims to be a certified five-star carrier by 2020. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral