Panlilio to succeed MVP as PLDT president, CEO

MANILA, Philippines — Business titan Manuel V. Pangilinan is passing over the torch to Al Panlilio as president and chief executive officer of telco giant PLDT Inc.

“I will retire as president and CEO of PLDT and pass the baton over to Al (Panlilio). So I will stay on as chairman, of course subject to the shareholders’ consent to do that,” Pangilinan said in a briefing yesterday.

Panlilio is currently PLDT’s chief revenue officer and president and CEO of wireless unit Smart Communications Inc.

He served as Manila Electric Co. senior vice president for customer retail services group prior to returning to the PLDT Group in 2019.

Pangilinan said the appointment would be made during PLDT’s annual shareholders’ meeting scheduled next month.

Last March, he indicated that he might be relinquishing his post as PLDT president and CEO “soon.”

Pangilinan took over the reins of PLDT after the retirement of Napoleon Nazareno in late 2015.

In 2017, Pangilinan said PLDT had started a market scan of individuals who could serve as the company’s new CEO, and was targeting to name a new head of the telco giant by 2018.

“I simply wish my successor all the best. It is a great company but it needs a lot of care and feeding. It’s a hungry animal – hungry for capex, which means you have to generate a lot of cash to feed the requirements of the business, particularly on network build,” Pangilinan said.

“The future is looking great for a company like PLDT if we play it right,” he said.