By Bjorn Biel M. Beltran, Special Features and Content Assistant Editor

To call Manuel “Manny” V. Pangilinan an important and influential figure in the Filipino business community would be a substantial understatement. The man is the mogul and chief executive of one of the country’s biggest corporate empires, the Hong Kong-based First Pacific Company. Through firms like Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), Philex Mining Corp., and PLDT, Inc., his interests span the breadth of critical industries like infrastructure, telecommunications, food, healthcare, and energy across Southeast Asia.

Turning 79 this year, Mr. Pangilinan has yet to let go of the reins. Although he’s flirted with retirement more than once, Mr. Pangilinan’s instinct is to return to the frontlines. That he remains so deeply involved in the day-to-day operations of his empire in lieu of enjoying his golden years is proof, perhaps, that for MVP, work is a form of legacy-building.

Recent news paints a picture of a man that is increasingly focused on the future. For instance, power distribution giant Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) last year raised its stake in SP New Energy Corp. (SPNEC), the owner of the largest single-site solar energy facility in the world, Terra Solar.

“It’s the largest single-site solar facility in the world, and the Philippines should be proud of that. It’s a very complex [and] huge undertaking,” he said.

“And I believe that once the entire 3,500 [megawatts, or MW] on 4,000 hectares are built, if we send you to outer space, you can take a photo of that facility from outer space,” the tycoon added.

The P200-billion Terra Solar project, which broke ground in November last year, spans 3,500 hectares across Nueva Ecija and Bulacan and is now poised to become the world’s largest integrated solar and battery storage facility. The project is estimated to deliver 3,500 megawatts-peak of solar power to the Luzon grid with 4,500 megawatt-hour battery energy storage.

The MVP Group took control of the solar firm in 2023, with Meralco injecting P15.9 billion into the company as the group sought to bolster its renewable energy portfolio. SPNEC now serves under Meralco’s renewable energy generation arm Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen).

This March, Mr. Pangilinan announced that he is partnering with businessman Leandro Leviste to expand his renewable energy portfolio and develop another solar project as a follow-up to Terra Solar. The project is still early in the planning process, but he is considering Batangas as a potential site.

Mr. Pangilinan said while Terra Solar 2 may not be as large as the ongoing Terra Solar development, it will also span several thousand hectares.

But his forward-looking ambitions extend well beyond the renewable energy transition. Across the rest of the MVP Group, the focus remains on long-term national development. 

Through Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), the group is progressing with the Cavite–Batangas Expressway (CBEX), a 72-kilometer toll road project designed to improve connectivity in Southern Luzon. In parallel, MPIC is preparing to relist its water utility arm, Maynilad Water Services, Inc., by 2026 — an offering that could raise upwards of P37.41 billion to fund critical infrastructure upgrades.

Meanwhile, Mr. Pangilinan is also looking to regain majority control of Metro Pacific Health, the country’s largest private hospital network, underscoring his renewed emphasis on healthcare accessibility and institutional consolidation.

A TORCHBEARER

Long before he was “MVP,” Mr. Pangilinan was a driven student with a sharp mind for numbers and a hunger for opportunity. His father was a messenger at the Philippine National Bank, who rose through the ranks and ingrained him with the work ethic that would arm the future tycoon for all his life.

He graduated with honors in Economics from Ateneo de Manila University, eventually landing a scholarship that brought him to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he completed his MBA as a Procter & Gamble Fellow — one of the most competitive and prestigious fellowships offered at the time.

When he began his career in earnest as an executive assistant at PHINMA, he quietly began building the foundations of the conglomerate he was to one day lead. It was in Hong Kong, during the financial whirlwind of the early 1980s, after a stint at Bancom International, that he co-founded First Pacific Company Limited in 1981 with little more than a 50-square-meter office and a young, hopeful crew.

Over the next four decades, First Pacific grew into a sprawling investment holding company with interests in telecommunications (PLDT, Smart), food manufacturing (Indofood in Indonesia), infrastructure (MPIC), and mining (Philex).

PLDT rose to become the household name of telecommunications in the Philippines, the country’s largest fixed broadband and wireless network provider. Indofood, meanwhile, became an established brand name across Asia, best known for producing the ubiquitous Indomie instant noodles. MPIC, meanwhile, entrenched itself in the country’s vital sectors: water, power, toll roads, rail, and hospitals.

Mr. Pangilinan often took direct leadership roles across his company’s subsidiaries and related ventures, with a management style that was seen as fair, meritocratic, and visionary. In an interview published in 2012, he outlined the three central pillars of his company: integrity, competence, and passion.

Integrity to him meant both moral and fiscal responsibility. Accounts should be balanced, employees compensated more than the competition, and everyone should be given room to make mistakes. That, in turn, creates a culture of accountability and competence, which leads to the better decisions.

“Second is competence. We have to hire the right people for the right jobs. After all, quality decisions are made by quality people. If people are good, they will make the right decisions, more or less,” Mr. Pangilinan explained.

“Number three, and I think the most important to us, is passion. People have got to have the drive and determination to succeed. If a guy is self-driven and self-motivated, he’s more fun to be with. And if you have good people in your team, people with the same objectives, it’s so much fun to work with them and the burden of pulling or pushing people is diminished,” he said.

Regardless whether he has gathered teams he is happy to work with, however, Mr. Pangilinan is legendary for being a workaholic. Aside from the myriad positions he holds in his companies, he has embedded himself beyond the country’s private sector in the national development agenda.

He chairs or co-chairs numerous civic organizations, including the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), and several corporate foundations such as the PLDT-Smart Foundation and the One Meralco Foundation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he played a key role in coordinating private sector relief efforts under the Tulong Kapatid alliance.

His contributions have been recognized both locally and abroad. In 2021, he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel (Reserve) by the Philippine Air Force. He has received the Order of Lakandula, the Management Man of the Year award, and honorary doctorates from institutions including the Asian Institute of Management, Ateneo, Far Eastern University, Holy Angel University, Xavier University, and San Beda College.

As recently as June, he was a recipient of the Gintong Alon Leadership Award during the Philippine Association of Hong Kong (PAHK) charity ball held at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Mr. Pangilinan’s forward-oriented mindset naturally led his thoughts to mull over the current state of the Philippine workforce, in both the disruptive effects of artificial intelligence and the challenges of intergenerational leadership.

Back in January, he delivered a keynote address at the Management Association of the Philippines about the two topics, where he drew from his extensive experience to lay out the significant challenges and the unprecedented opportunities for growth and progress that they both offered.

Artificial intelligence, he said, is a monumental technology that will forever alter the landscape of business. “But let’s talk about fear for a moment — because fear and progress are strange bedfellows. Every time a new technology arrives, it carries with it the ghost of Macbeth’s Banquo. That ghost whispers into our collective ear: This will replace you. This will obsolete you. This will end you,” he said.

“Time and again, we have confronted these fears, only to emerge transformed — not diminished. The end of one job often signals the beginning of another. When coachmen disappeared, mechanics and drivers rose in their place. When telephone operators faded into history, a new world of telecommunications — faster, versatile, and more useful — was born.”

“So, the lesson here is that humanity has never been shaped by the jobs we lose. Instead, we are defined by the future we create,” Mr. Pangilinan said.

He underscored the importance of embracing technological advancements while fostering empathy and understanding across generational lines, particularly as Millennials and Generation Z become more prominent in the workforce.

“There are moments when the wisdom of years serves as a useful compass for uncharted waters, especially in a place like the Philippines. But even the finest old compasses must one day allow younger hands to steer the ship,” he said.

“Succession is not merely about finding replacements and nurturing them for the future; it is about creating space for growth, about recognizing when our wisdom must give way to their energy, when our experience must make room for their ingenuity. Leadership is not a chair to sit on forever — it is a torch to pass on.”

Mr. Pangilinan has carried that torch longer than most, and with a persistence few have matched. Whether or not he eventually steps away for good to live a quieter life, his influence is already etched into the architecture of modern Philippine industry. Its light can be seen from the solar farms he helped build, or the towns and provinces connected by his roads, among many other areas.