Category: Manila’s Who’s Who

[2009] Lopez family: Sale of Meralco stake ‘a business decision’

This was among the few times the Lopez family members admitted publicly the pain and rift behind-the-scenes in the deals involving Meralco, the business power company in the country they once controlled. This was published in 2009 on the news sites of ABS-CBN and Newsbreak, both of which are now dead links. Reposting the story’s…
[2008] The inside story: How San Miguel worked its way into Meralco’s board

NOTE: This was a story I wrote piecing together the inner workings of a business deal announced to a shocked Manila business community in 2008. From various interviews, I learned how Ramon Ang’s weekend visit to Cebu to charm Winston Garcia of state pension fund GSIS resulted in last minute changes on who the Lopez…
Out-of-the-box style for a documentary film

We had the sun and surf on one side, and the verdant mountain on the other
OMG, I’m a ‘film producer!

I have crossed over — or dipped my foot — to a whole new way of storytelling that’s far from my text-based or article-heavy journalism usual.
How a documentary captured the humanity of John Gokongwei Jr.

My decades of business journalism have taught me how straightforward, risk-averse, fact-based business people are when they are in front of a camera. How did we make Gokongwei Jr’s humanity shine in a documentary?
John Gokongwei: A multimedia biography project | Documentary premiere

The documentary answered the question: What did the late tycoon John Gokongwei Jr, the subject of my biography project, leave behind?
Multimedia research assistant: Is this you?

JOB OPENING! I’m doing a biography project about an Asian tycoon. I need a research assistant who can handle and organize multimedia content.
JAZA on mentor Xavier Loinaz: An extraordinary influence to Ayala group

Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala pays tribute to a key non-family member who mentored him way back when he was still learning the ropes of the family conglomerate
What the Ayala-Razon deal on Manila Water means

Two of the richest Filipino families just announced a water deal that is suspect for its timing. One is at the bitter end of Duterte’s tirades against the business elite, the other an ally.