MANILA, Philippines — Clean energy powerhouse Energy Development Corp. (EDC) of the Lopez group is making senior leadership changes as the company’s long-time president Richard Tantoco is set to step down next month.
First Gen, in a stock exchange filing, said Tantoco will be stepping down as executive vice president of the listed energy company effective July 1 due to medical reasons.
He will also be resigning as president of First Gen subsidiary EDC effective on the same date, but will remain a member of the company’s board of directors.
Tantoco served as president of EDC since 2009 and has been executive vice president of First Gen since 2008.
First Gen said Federico Lopez will transition from his role as EDC’s chairman and chief executive officer to being solely chairman of the board of directors.
Long-time Lopez Group official Jerome Cainglet, meanwhile, has been appointed to take on Tantoco’s position as EDC president and COO. He is the senior vice president, deputy chief operating officer, and head of enterprise commercial group of the company.
Cainglet, who has been with the Lopez Group since 1990, is also a director of various gas project companies of the Lopez Group.
He was also elected as director of EDC to serve as such from July 1 following the resignation of Joaquin Quintos IV.
First Gen said Quintos tendered his resignation as director of EDC in order to focus on his duties and responsibilities in the companies under the Lopez Group’s healthcare industry, in particular Asian Eye Institute Inc., PiHealth Inc., and therecently acquired The Medical Services of America (Philippines) Inc.
First Gen president and COO Francis Giles Puno, who is presently a member of the board of directors of EDC, has been appointed as vice chairman and chief executive officer.
EDC is responsible for putting the Philippines on the map as the world’s third largest geothermal producer and has been providing a reliable supply of clean power to the Luzon and Visayas regions for almost 40 years.
As a renewable energy producer which accounts for almost 20 percent of the country’s total installed renewable energy capacity, EDC also provides 61 percent of the country’s total installed geothermal power.
The company is committed to advancing sustainability by employing new technologies to reduce its environmental footprint while optimizing operations.
EDC is continuing with its expansion projects in the Philippines through four geothermal projects with about 90-megawatt (MW) of combined capacity and three battery projects totaling about 40 MW.