FPH names Francis Giles Puno new prexy

LOPEZ family-led First Philippine Holdings Corp. has named Francis Giles Puno as its new president and chief operating officer (COO) effective Oct. 1 this year, taking over the post to be vacated by retiring chief Elpidio Ibañez.

The 50-year-old Puno is currently FPH’s executive vice president, treasurer and chief finance officer (CFO). He has been a director of FPH since 2011. He joined the corporation in 1997 and became the CFO and treasurer in 2007.

Puno is also the current president and COO of First Gen Corp., a position he has held since 2010. He likewise sits on the board of Rockwell Land Corp., Energy Development Corp., First Balfour Inc., First Philippine Electric Corp. and First Philippine Industrial Park Inc.

Before joining FPH, Puno had worked with The Chase Manhattan Bank as vice president for its global power and environmental group based in Singapore.

Puno has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the Ateneo de Manila University (class of 1985) and a Master in Business Administration degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management in Chicago, Illinois (class of 1990).

Emmanuel Antonio Singson, the treasurer and CFO of First Gen, has been appointed senior vice president, treasurer and CFO of FPH effective Oct. 1. This is to take the place of Puno.

The retiring president Ibañez, 64, has been a director of FPH since 1988 and the president and COO since May 1994. He graduated with an AB Economics Degree from Ateneo de Manila University in 1972 and obtained his MBA from the University of the Philippines in 1975.