PLDT GROUP
Over the past two decades, Manuel V. Pangilinan has been a stalwart in today’s local business scene, leading game-changing milestones for some of the country’s biggest companies, and directing corporate foundations for various causes, according to an article posted on the PLDT website.
“He chairs some of the country’s most valuable publicly-listed companies in the country like PLDT, Metro Pacific, Philex Mining, and Meralco and vital infrastructure companies such as water concessionaire Maynilad and the tollway companies – Manila North Tollways Corp. and Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., and Tollways Management Corp. He also leads some of the country’s largest communications and media companies like Smart Communications, Sun Cellular, TV5, CignalTV as well as the Philippines’ largest network of hospitals.
“As managing director and CEO of First Pacific, MVP is also responsible for the rapid expansion of the company in the region.
“The MVP Group has helped build the nation through major investments in power distribution and energy innovations, urban water concession, network of road tollways, upgrading hospitals and health services.
“Through his different companies, he led programs and initiatives that have not only helped the businesses and lives of their customers but have also benefited the livelihood and lives of the communities they serve,” the article also said. PLDT chairman MANUEL V. PANGILINAN: Nation-building must be considered with reference to the basic purpose of men and institutions – the growth of welfare. The test of their efficiency will ultimately rest on some standard by which each performs its respective tasks in improving the lives of our people.
But there’s poverty standing in the way of nation-building, and to prosperity. Poverty is the enemy – addressing it must be the business of business. The optimum solution, in our view, is more jobs – not just the quantum of jobs created, but jobs capable of inducing a trickle-down effect on the poor.
This fundamental ideology defines who we are, and what we do, at First Pacific.
Thus viewed, inclusive and sustainable growth provides the premise on how we conduct our businesses at First Pacific – selecting the investments, which can achieve the twin goals of a decent return on investment, and abating poverty and sharing prosperity.
This is why we’ve invested in public infrastructure like tollways to open up new economic corridors, power and water to supply basic utilities, and hospitals to provide social safety nets.
In addition, we think we should all consider these opportunities to help alleviate poverty:
First, businesses unique to their geographic and resource advantages, such as tourism and mining. Most of these are located in the rural areas where poverty exists.
Second, businesses that are by-products of our labor migration, like medical tourism and retirement homes.
Third, agriculture. Seventy-two percent of our people belong to the D and E clusters. And 70 percent of our poor live in rural areas. A stagnant agricultural sector exacerbates rural poverty, and incubates an enclave of urban poor economy by forcing massive migration into our cities.
Our laws on agricultural development are simply not investor-friendly. We need to encourage large-scale commercial farming by re-considering our agrarian reform law. Witness the success of large-scale agriculture in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, where hectares are made available in the hundreds of thousands. Our overarching goal must be to feed our people first.
Build The Nation
India’s first Prime Minister Nehru captured the essence of what we all should strive to achieve as we build this nation. Nehru said, in August 1947, on the eve of Indian independence and soon after the assassination of his mentor, Mahatma Gandhi:
“The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer.
“It means ending poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering, our work will not be over.”