Leadership changes loom at MPIC

MANILA, Philippines — Leadership changes may loom at Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), the tollways and infrastructure conglomerate chaired by tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan, as early as next year as the company navigates into a post-pandemic future.

MPIC president and CEO Jose Ma. K. Lim is contemplating “semi-retirement” to spend more time with his family, and could be succeeded by Pangilinan himself, industry sources said.

Sought for comment, Lim told The STAR: “I have committed to stay on as long as MVP needs me.”

If Lim decides to step down, he may continue helping the group in an advisory role, like MPIC’s newly retired chief financial officer David Nicol, industry sources also said.

A multi-awarded CEO, Lim joined the MPIC Group, then Metro Pacific Corp. (MPC) in 1995 as Treasury vice president of the Fort Bonifacio Development Corp., at the time a subsidiary of MPIC.

He was appointed as its CFO in 2000. In 2001, he assumed more responsibility in the company as he concurrently served as vice president and CFO of MPC.

Last month, MPIC also announced the retirement of Nicol, its longtime CFO.

“His retirement was accepted by the board of directors of MPIC during its special meeting on Nov 26, 2020. Nicol does not have any disagreement with the board of directors of MPIC, and there are no matters relating to his retirement that need to be brought to the attention of the shareholders of MPIC,” MPIC said in a disclosure last month.

Nicol, who has been with MPIC for over a decade, is likewise a multi-awarded CFO, and has regularly been featured as a top CFO in polls by international publications and entities.

He was credited with engineering the high profile $1.6 billion transaction for MPIC’s hospitals business last year which brought in new investors.

Nicol agreed to be an advisor to the board for the next 12 months to ensure a smooth transition of management.

He was succeeded by June Cheryl A. Cabal-Revilla as the company’s new chief financial officer, chief sustainability officer and member of the board of directors.

Cabal-Revilla held senior management roles in the PLDT Group, including as PLDT Group’s senior vice-president and group controller, chief sustainability officer and Smart Communication Inc.’s CFO.

These leadership changes come at a time when MPIC is navigating through a COVID-19 environment.

The conglomerate has put off plans to participate in the tourism and hospitality sector given the impact of the pandemic on the tourism industry.

However, it has recently placed its bet in the petroleum storage and import business amid changes in the local oil industry where oil firms have now been shutting down their respective refineries.

MPIC and partner Keppel Infrastructure Trust ( signed an agreement with infrastructure fund Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure to acquire the Philippine Coastal Storage & Pipeline Corp., the largest petroleum products import terminal in the Philippines.

PCSPC is the largest independent storage company in the Philippines with a 150-hectare facility inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. It will have a storage capacity of approximately six million barrels when it completes an expansion in early 2021.