Biz Buzz: Closer to dad
John Paul Ang, the eldest son of billionaire Ramon S. Ang, has risen a few steps higher in the succession ladder of San Miguel Corp.
San Miguel announced earlier this week that John Paul had been appointed vice chair, president and chief operating officer of the conglomerate, after serving as a board member since 2021.
He is concurrently the president and CEO of Eagle Cement Corp., which San Miguel took over at the end of 2022.
His father will stay as CEO and chair of the conglomerate.
The move, however, forces the company to amend its by-laws to separate the functions and duties of the chair and CEO, as well as those of the president and COO.
This is still subject to the approval of San Miguel’s stockholders at their Aug. 8 meeting. It likewise needs to secure the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Prior to John Paul’s appointment, the 70-year-old RSA served as vice chair, president, and COO of San Miguel from 2002 until 2021. He later became the president and CEO.
RSA has said that the next few years “will be about investing and getting things done,” and it seems that he started by giving more responsibilities to his eldest. —Meg J. Adonis
Mica Tan to take case to SC
The Court of Appeals (CA) recently extended the freeze order on the bank accounts of Mica Tan and the MFT group in connection with the criminal case filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the groups’ alleged illegal solicitation of investments from the public.
Tan is understandably upset about the CA decision but, funnily enough, so are the alleged “investors” on whose behalf the SEC case was filed.
READ: MFT appeal denied; accounts to stay frozen
They are crying foul because their accounts were included in the freeze, apparently because of previous payments made to their account. Thus the “investors” whom the SEC is supposed to be protecting had been adversely affected by what Tan’s group labels as regulatory abuse.
Biz Buzz sources say that even the bank accounts of some of the borrowers’ minor children containing amounts no bigger than a few thousand pesos had been frozen. Worse, the bank account of a charity MFT had made a token donation to years back had likewise been frozen.
It’s like a shotgun that’s misfiring in all directions, sources say.
This is why the MFT group will soon be filing another appeal, this time to the Supreme Court. —Tina Arceo-Dumlao
PLDT enters prepaid fiber market
Acknowledging the increasing prices of basic commodities, PLDT Inc. is set to offer prepaid fiber broadband services to provide affordable internet access to the public at a time of heightened digitalization.
Jeremiah de la Cruz, PLDT senior vice president and head of consumer business, said they were targeting customers who only need connectivity at certain times, such as those with holiday homes or are short-term renters.
Competitors Globe Telecom Inc., Converge ICT Solutions Inc., and DITO Telecommunity had already launched similar products but PLDT is unfazed and looks at this as an added service to the public. —Tyrone Jasper C. Piad
