Life,
At present, Mr. Pangilinan is still at the helm of First Pacific as its managing director and chief executive officer. The company’s portfolio has a balance of more mature assets in various corporations from different countries, including MPIC, which Mr. Pangilinan chairs.
MPIC is a leading infrastructure holding company in the Philippines, with investments in the country’s largest electricity distributor, hospital group, toll road operator and water distributor. It also holds significant investments in logistics and light rail operations, and in the largest electricity generator in the Visayas region. MPIC is committed to investing through acquisitions and strategic partnerships in prime infrastructure assets with the potential to provide synergies with its existing operations.
Through the years, Mr. Pangilinan received various accolades and recognition for his outstanding accomplishments in business and in philanthropy. Among of these are the Presidential Pamana ng Pilipino Award by the Office of the President of the Philippines in 1996; Best CEO in the Philippines by Institutional Investor in 2004; CEO of the Year ( Philippines) by Biz News Asia in 2004; People of the Year by People Asia Magazine in 2004; Distinguished World Class Businessman Award by the Association of Makati Industries, Inc. in 2005; Management Man of the Year by the Management Association of the Philippines in 2005; Order of Lakandula ( Rank of a Komandante) by the Office of the President of the Philippines in 2006; one of the Heroes of Philanthropy by Forbes in 2009; and Global Filipino Executive of the Year by Asia CEO Awards in 2010.
According to Mr. Pangilinan, there is no magic, mystery or secret recipe to success; it arises from old-fashioned values as basic as being honest and truthful, values as essential as working hard, playing fair, having goals and the discipline and determination to pursue them.
“Success is about passion. Passion to succeed, passion for excellence. Passion to compete. My Hong Kong experience taught me to believe that depth of commitment can overcome lack of resources. That a spirit of purpose can give impetus to human energy. That the power of ambition can set heroic goals and achieve them,” Mr. Pangilinan said.
“Two things will be inevitable in your lives — you will have successes and you will have failures. You must seize both for your constant betterment. Successes tell you that you can attain more successes in the future. Your failures tell you that you can survive, and move on. In the end, it is your character which counts.”