PAL parent faces crucial vote as Lucio Tan's daughter, son drop out of board
MANILA, Philippines — PAL Holdings Inc., the parent firm of Philippine Airlines (PAL), will elect Thursday the replacements for Vivienne Tan and John Tan to the company’s board, the outcome of which would determine the flag carrier’s recovery thrust from the pandemic.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Wednesday, PAL Holdings said the two Tan scions and independent director nominee Mark Chen refused to be nominated to the 2020-2021 Board due to “personal reasons." The company did not elaborate.
The moves triggered another revamp within the company of tycoon Lucio Tan Sr. less than a year since Vivienne was appointed PAL director.
Vivienne is Tan Sr.’s daughter with his first wife Carmen, while John is the taipan’s son from his second wife.
Nominees withdrew their names from consideration a day before PAL Holdings’ annual stockholders’ meeting on Thursday. In an amended disclosure to the bourse, also on Thursday, PAL Holdings said it has yet to select the replacements for Vivienne and John.
As of 3:30 p.m., PAL spokesperson Ma. Cielo Villaluna said the selection is ongoing. There has been no update so far as of this posting.
As it is, the current nominees for membership to PAL Holdings’ board are the Tan patriarch himself, his wife Carmen, his millennial grandson Lucio “Hun Hun” Tan III and his son-in-law Joseph Chua.
Also nominated are PAL President Gilbert Santa Maria and Ryuhei Maeda, representative of ANA Holdings Inc., the Japanese carrier which acquired 9.5% stake in PAL in March 2019.
Meanwhile, Johnip Cua and Gregorio Yu were nominated for independent director post.
In the first quarter, PAL’s listed parent said the airline's total comprehensive loss widened to P10.72 billion from only P60.81 million in the same period last year as the coronavirus pandemic battered the aviation industry.
So far however, PAL has managed to keep layoffs at the minimum. Only around 300 people were let go by the airline, and it has done so way before the coronavirus outbreak spiraled into a pandemic in March.
On Thursday, shares in PAL Holdings fell 3.02% to P6.11 each on the stock exchange.
- Latest
- Trending
