Manolo Lopez says his father was forced to sell Meralco shares to Marcos

MANILA, Philippines - The late Eugenio Lopez Sr was left with no choice when he offered former President Ferdinand Marcos his family’s shares in the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) during the Martial Law years. This was according to his son, Manuel “Manolo" Lopez, current chairman and chief executive officer of Meralco, in an exclusive interview with Tina Panganiban-Perez aired on GMA’s 24 Oras Thursday. “We didn’t have any choice. We didn’t have that many options that time," Lopez said. Lopez noted that during that time, his brother, Eugenio “Genny" Lopez Jr, was languishing in jail, and that his father was hoping that offering Meralco’s share to the Marcoses would somehow lead to his son’s freedom. “My father was hoping that by that offer it would cause the release of my brother from prison," Lopez said. He also admitted that Meralco was having serious financial troubles during the time of the offer, which his father could not properly attend to since he was in exile in the United States. The offer of Meralco’s share to the Marcoses was reportedly contained in three letters written by the elder Lopez that were included in the book “Let the Marcos Truth Prevail," which the Marcoses published. The letters would reportedly belie claims that the Marcoses sequestered the power firm from the Lopezes. - GMANews.TV