A family affair; MVP an exception
Businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan is in three of the country’s top media outfits: Philippine Star, TV5, and Philippine Daily Inquirer.
He is a rarity, those talked about as the power behind companies who help shape the future of the country because none of his family members is known to be involved in his business companies. A number of media companies in the country are family-owned. Which is not surprising.
A 2017 survey by Credit Suisse Research Institute showed family-owned businesses dominate the Philippine landscape, ranking 11th globally in the high number of family-run companies.
Oftentimes, it is intergenerational. The current managers of ABS-CBN are grandchildren of sugar and shipping magnate Eugenio Lopez, Sr.
At the Philippine Star, Miguel Belmonte is CEO, Kevin, who is managing the broadsheet’s online website, and Isaac, who used to head the editorial board, are sons of one of the founders, Betty Go-Belmonte.
The Manila Broadcasting Company, which runs DZRH, is being managed by grandchildren of the Elizalde brothers —Joaquin Miguel, Manuel, and Federico— all descendants of Spanish businessman Joaquin Marcelino Elizalde.
The mother-daughter team of Marixi Rufino-Prieto and Sandy Prieto-Romualdez are running the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI), which also counts three Prietos in its board: Bryan Christopher Prieto, Paolo Romeo R. Prieto, and Javier Vicente D. Rufino.
Among Filipinos, involving children, grandchildren and relatives in the family business is a common practice, and is actually a culture.
Photo Courtesies
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