Nominee for Meralco independent director withdraws

MANILA, Philippines – The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said yesterday one of the three nominees for the two slots reserved for independent directors has backed out, virtually assuring the election of the two other candidates.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Meralco said Pedro Roxas has withdrawn his nomination “due to pressing requirements which would require personal attention.”

“These requirements will take much of my personal time in the short term and will prevent me from attending to the duties of an independent director during that period,” Roxas said in his letter to the 15-man Meralco board.

Roxas, a sugar baron, also sits as director of telecommunications giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT).

Observers said the withdrawal of Roxas would pave the way for the election of former SC Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban and banker Vicente L. Panlilio in the annual stockholders’ meeting of Meralco scheduled on May 26.

Under the Securities Regulation Code, listed companies are required to have two independent directors.

There have been persistent speculations a battle for control of the country’s power retailing giant is in the offing given the entry of two other shareholder groups – PLDT and food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp.

Industry observers expect this year’s annual meeting to be as heated as last year especially with the alliance struck by the PLDT Group and the Lopez family, who has controlled Meralco for decades.

The PLDT Group owns around 43.5 percent of Meralco, including the 13.4-percent held by the Lopez family, one of the country’s most powerful clans.

But San Miguel and its allies also claim to hold 43.5 percent of the country’s power retailing firm.

The decision of the Lopez family to sell 20 percent of its 34-percent shareholdings in Meralco is a strategic move aimed at ensuring the family business’s growth trajectory.

Nominees from the PLDT-Lopez alliance include Meralco chairman and chief executive officer Manuel M. Lopez and Meralco president and chief operating officer Jose P. de Jesus, PLDT president Napoleon L. Nazareno, PLDT director Ray C. Espinosa, and PLDT chairman and First Pacific managing director Manuel V. Pangilinan.

Representatives of the San Miguel group, on the other hand, include Meralco vice-chairman and San Miguel president Ramon S. Ang and San Miguel’s corporate secretary Estelito P. Mendoza.

The Government Service Insurance System, which is reportedly allied with San Miguel, has nominated Alan T. Ortiz and Mario K. Surio.