Tag: Oscar Lopez

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  The 13‑Hour Meralco meeting: Inside one of the most dramatic shareholders’ battles I’ve covered

  In May 2008, Meralco’s annual stockholders’ meeting turned into a 13‑hour corporate siege—boos and chants, dead microphones, SEC orders, and a walk‑out press conference in a nearby mall. This eyewitness account traces how that day unfolded and how it quietly set up the end of Lopez control of Meralco.

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  [2009] Meralco’s boardroom saga wont be decided in stockholders meeting

  NOTE: This was a story I wrote a year as part of my coverage of how the Lopez family lost control of a ‘crown jewel,’ Meralco. This was published on May 25, 2009

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  [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…

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  [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…

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  [2008] Meralco board saga: Classic case on how to win a war

  NOTE: This was a story I wrote a year as part of my coverage of the Lopez family’s battle against a hostile Arroyo government in 2008. The family business was under attack due to the conglomerate’s media arm ABS-CBN’s news coverage that was critical of the then Arroyo government. This story is a post-mortem of…

• [2009] Lopez: Meralco needs gov’t support to be profitable

  NOTE: This was a story I wrote a year after the Lopez family ‘sacrificed’ their stake in Meralco. In 2008, the family business was under attack due to the conglomerate’s media arm ABS-CBN’s news coverage that was critical of the then Arroyo government. This story captured the sentiments of the patriarch then, Oscar Lopez. This…