Aboitiz HQ will transfer to Manila soon

I find it quite odd that US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited the Philippines right after the Asia Pacific Economic Council (APEC) because it is the 60th anniversary of the RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT). Normally, the United States government sends a lower ranking functionary to attend these events. This gives us an idea how RP-US Relations have changed since our Senators in the 1990s threw out the US military from Subic and Clark Air Force base here.

I have no doubt that President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III has now become America’s staunchest ally in Asia. He has become an “Amboy”. I also suspect that Sec. Clinton has another agenda in her coming to Manila… to ensure that Congress signs, seals and delivers the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill to the satisfaction of US Pres. Barack Obama whose administration supports government funded abortion. Sec. Clinton should just give the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ships, planes and equipment. But she shouldn’t be exporting America’s Culture of Death to the country.

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Last Tuesday afternoon the Cebu media attended a presscon at the Aboitiz corporate headquarters in Banilad, Cebu that was led by Txabi Aboitiz, chief human resources and quality officer and Susan V. Valdez, chief reputation officer (CRO) who recently replaced Basti Lacson who will now focus on the Visayan Electric Company (VECO). Whenever an Aboitiz presscon is held inside their corporate headquarters, one immediately smells something big is in the offing.

Without much ado, Txabi gave the Cebu media the bottom line, a news that was totally unexpected… that the Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) and Aboitiz Power (AP), the two publicly listed Aboitiz companies would be moving its corporate headquarters from Cebu to Manila. That news was a bit of a shock, after all, the Aboitiz Group of Companies has been the darling of Cebu… that a Cebu-based company can make an impact in the national scene even if it is not based in Manila.

Txabi told us that the decision to move to Manila was met recently by the AEV/AP Board of Directors. Although he pointed out that every now and then this question crops up. But since Aboitiz Group sold their core shipping business, the Super Ferries and 2Go, that meant that their major business endeavor is now power and electricity. With their recent acquisition of the Tiwi-Makban Geothermal plant or the Ambuklao Dam, AEV/AP’s core business has now shifted to Luzon.

While the decision to move has already been made, the physical move is not expected to happen immediately because of the preparations needed to be done, like where the new Aboitiz headquarters would be located, whether in Makati, Ortigas or in the Fort. Another important consideration is the transfer of the Aboitiz top officials and their families from Cebu to Manila. Perhaps that is one of the most difficult moves to make. Few Cebuanos I know can stand the snarled traffic in Metro Manila and just the thought of moving to Manila is already abhorrent to many Cebuanos.

In a written statement coming from AEV president & CEO Erramon “Montxu” Aboitiz, he pointed out, “With the acquisition in the past few years, over 70% of our profits come from businesses in Luzon. We have transformed ourselves from a Regional Company to a National Enterprise, having to transact more with stakeholders based in the capital. Our main market and customers for electricity are in Luzon.”

One of the major reasons for the move from Cebu to Manila stems from the reality that we still live under this outdated centralized form of government, where the heads of national agencies are based in the national capital region. Although they have Regional Directors in all the regions of the country, these regional directors are nothing but glorified postmen, who cannot make important decisions for themselves.

Montxu admitted that while the transfer was a challenging and difficult decision to make, the relocation process is expected to be completed by June 2013. He also pointed out that the corporate office would continue to operate (especially that their new building is about to be finished) as the Aboitiz and Company, their holding company will still be in Cebu and this includes all the core teams that service other Aboitiz Group businesses based in Cebu and Mindanao.

Finally, Montxu said, “Cebu will always be our heritage and our original home. But as professionals, we sometimes have to make tough calls and do what is best for the business. It is our responsibility to our shareholders as well as to ourselves to do what is necessary for what is best for the Aboitiz Group.”

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