Meralco may lose touch with workers as it explores new areas with partners

MANILA, Philippines - Arsenio Caiquep is worried. Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), the company he served for 40 years, has changed. Instead of being solely controlled by the Lopez family, the company now has a new set of owners, San Miguel Corp. (SMC) and the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT). The first is Southeast Asia’s largest food conglomerate while the second is the Philippines’ leading telecommunications firm whose American Depository Shares are also listed in the New York Stock Exchange. As a result, Meralco, Metro Manila’s lone electricity distributor, may lose its spirit of being a “closely-knit family." “It’s good that these big groups are investing in Meralco but we worry about the culture that they will be bringing into the company," Caiquep told GMANews.TV during the company’s stockholders’ meeting on Tuesday. The same sentiment was expressed by Jose Español, who retired from Meralco after 32 years of service. In the “Meralco family," employees find Manuel M. Lopez, Meralco chairman and chief executive officer, “approachable," Español told GMANews.TV in a separate interview. “Whenever we see Mr. Lopez, we approach him and we just call him ‘Sir MML.’ Can we do that to Mr. [San Miguel president Ramon] Ang or to Mr. [PLDT chairman Manuel] Pangilinan? If we see him in the hallway of Meralco, can we just call him ‘Sir MVP’?" Español asked. Español’s concerns were shelved, at least temporarily. During Tuesday’s stockholders’ meeting, Español saw a rare spectacle. The recently-retired Meralco employee saw Lopez, Ang, and Pangilinan hold hands together and raise them in the air after attending what appeared to be the company’s shortest ever stockholders’ meeting. The gesture was intended to show the groups’ unity and dissipate speculations of a rift between the PLDT-Lopez and the San Miguel groups. Although no boardroom battle erupted, Ang was elected Meralco’s vice-chairman and Pangilinan was designated chairman of the executive committee. For his part, Lopez retained his position as Meralco chairman and chief executive officer. “It would have looked bad" if the post was taken away from Lopez, Ang said. “It was like being invited in somebody else’s house for dinner and then suddenly the guest would try claim ownership of the property," Ang said. However, Lopez’s position as Meralco’s chairman and chief executive may be merely “symbolic," according to Francisco Liboro Jr., PCCI Securities president and who also attended the stockholders’ meeting and the briefing. “MML" would now have to “consult either of the two groups for whatever decision he would have to make," said Liboro. Nevertheless, the orderly meeting raised Meralco’s share prices, analysts said. Share prices of Meralco rose by nearly one percent to P107 apiece during Tuesday’s trading at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). Meralco, however, is more than just the prices of its shares. Next: Meralco to explore synergies with its partners Meralco to explore synergies with its partners PLDT’s Pangilinan and San Miguel’s Ang were all smiles during the briefing. But both knew what the other was up to, at least in broad strokes. Pangilinan sought to protect PLDT’s dominance in the fixed and wireless phone line business, a sector that San Miguel was preparing to invade. In turn, both parties have discovered that Meralco’s infrastructure and equipment – towers, posts, cables, etc. – could be used for purposes other than distributing electricity. Using technology called power line communication, broadband internet signals – which can carry text, sound, and video – could be transmitted over electric cables. The technology is available – the question is which company will be the first to sell and market it? No one knows for sure. But everyone is well aware that San Miguel partnered with Qatar Telecom with the intent of challenging the Philippines’ telecommunications giants, including PLDT and its mobile unit, Smart. As far as Meralco is concerned, it will aggressively pursue partnerships and synergies while exploring related businesses in support of its basic electric service, Lopez told stockholders in the jam-packed Meralco theater. Partnerships and synergies may include real-estate development and power lines communications, among others, he said. Although he recognized that it is a “little bit too early" to talk about these strategies “the corporate management team is excited about these new and exciting frontiers," Lopez said. “We expect operations to be even better with the synergies among three groups. We can expect it to be more efficient and more dynamic organization," Lopez said. “We will keep the lights on," he added. “Meralco will be here to serve you. It is an institution built and owned for more than 106 years. We will not destroy this company and what it stands for: quality service and excellence in our work. We love this company so much." Minority stockholders such as Caquiep would just have to take Lopez’s word for it. After all, the retired Meralco employee refused to sell his shares in the company. Despite everything, he chose to keep his Meralco shares because he believed in its prospects as a “light for the future." - with Robert JA Basilio Jr., GMANews.TV