(First of two-part series)
Federico “Piki” Lopez , chairman and chief executive of listed First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPH), is a third generation top-level manager of the Lopez Group.
FPH has multiple subsidiaries and affiliated companies, notably First Gen Corp., which focuses on power generation; Rockwell Land Corp, which is in real estate development; and First Philippine Electric Corp. that operates in the power generation sector.
FPH also includes First Batangas Hotel Corp., First Balfour, Inc., and First Philippine Industrial Park.
Lopez, born Aug. 5, 1961, is supposed to be having his hands full steering a heavily diversified company with special interests in power generation, energy solutions, real estate, construction, and manufacturing.
Beyond the boardroom, Lopez immerses himself with environmental concerns such that he also sits as chairman of the Oscar M. Lopez Centre for Climate Change Adaptation, and member of the board of both the Forest Foundation Philippines and Teach Philippines.
Although he wears one corporate hat too many, Lopez never loses sight of his primordial advocacy—help the country transition to renewable or green energy.
He believes that the global COVID-19 pandemic was just a wake-up call for all mankind to meet the challenges of climate change more squarely..
To counter the environmental and societal impacts of climate change, Lopez strongly suggests “decarbonizing and scaling up of a green electricity grid over the next three decades,” adding that it could be the greatest energy transition in the history of mankind.
He acknowledges however, that this ambitious shift to green energy is not a one-man job. Thus, he calls on all major industry players to come together and work as a team, in collaboration with political leaders, policy-makers, and industry regulators.
For his foresight and business acumen, Lopez was named “Management Association of the Philippines Man of the Year” in 2020.
Curiously however, Lopez was probably the most incredulous person in the world to hear about the accolade. He insisted it must have been a huge mistake.
“My wife Monina, my son Robert, and I were still in disbelief, refusing to celebrate given it could have been a mistake or a ‘Steve Harvey (2015) Miss Universe’ moment which might still be retracted,” he recalls.
That he was the man of the hour at that time did not make Lopez any less uneasy. He admits that despite the acclamation, he did not feel like he really earned it.
“Part of this likely stems from a lingering regret I’ve harbored that I never finished my Harvard MBA. After I prematurely left campus in 1988 and joined my father in the task of rebuilding a near-bankrupt FPH, I thought I’d return to complete my studies after three to for years in the business world. I never did,” he confesses.
Lopez also professes that the desire to earn the master’s degree lingered in his psyche since stepping out of Harvard, but the onus of his job was simply too great to be ignored.
“I never resolved whether I’ve done the right thing and spent the last 33 years without the three letters “MBA” embossed on my CV (curriculum vitae). After today, thanks to MAP, the three letters ‘MMY’ more than make up for that and resolve this unfinished goal in my mind once and for all.”
He also discloses that he always felt at home with the world of water. “I grew up a competitive swimmer and my dearth of academic honors was way compensated for by the profusion of competitive swimming medals and records broken.”
