2018 ANNUAL REPORT
FIBER POWER
A
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT Whether at home or at work,
our life is increasingly powered by fiber.
CONTENTS
02 Comparative Highlights
03 Consolidated Financial Performance Highlights
05 Message from the Chairman, President and CEO
11 The PLDT Group Corporate Milestones
17 The PLDT Group Corporate Social Responsibility Repor t
20 People and Culture
23 The PLDT Group Corporate Governance Repor t
47 The PLDT Group Enterprise Risk Management Report
48 Board of Directors
51 Advisory Board/Committee
52 Executive Officers
55 Officers
56 Financial Review
96 Audit Committee Repor t
97 Statement of Management’s Responsibility
for Consolidated Financial Statements
Independent Auditor’s Repor t
98
106 Consolidated Statements of Financial Position
108 Consolidated Income Statements
109 Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income
110 Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity
111 Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
113 Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
292 Contact Information
B
FIBER POWER
PLDT is the leading telecommunications and digital services
provider in the Philippines. Through its principal business
segments – fixed line, wireless, digital and others – PLDT offers
the most diversified range of communications and digital services
across the Philippines’ most extensive fiber optic, wireless and
fixed line networks.
PLDT is listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE:TEL) and
its American Depositary Shares are listed on the New York Stock
Exchange (NYSE:PHI). In 2018, PLDT was one of the largest
Philippine-listed companies in terms of market capitalization.
VISION
Lead and inspire Filipinos to create a better tomorrow.
MISSION
Empower Filipinos everywhere with customer-
focused digital innovations that unlock and share
their infinite potential.
VALUES
Deliver awesome customer experience
Take care of our people
Collaborate to win
Fast is better than perfect
Malasakit
Humility to listen and learn
SUBSIDIARIES
WIRELESS
Smart Communications, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc.
Smart Broadband, Inc. and Subsidiary
FIXED LINE
PLDT Clark Telecom, Inc.
PLDT Subic Telecom, Inc.
PLDT Global Corporation and Subsidiaries
PLDT-Philcom, Inc. and Subsidiaries
PLDT-Maratel, Inc.
Digital Telecommunications Philippines, Inc.
ePLDT, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Pilipinas Global Network Limited and Subsidiaries
OTHERS
PLDT Communications and Energy Ventures, Inc.
PLDT Digital Investments Pte. Ltd. and Subsidiaries
PLDT Global Investments Holdings, Inc.
PLDT Global Investments Corporation
1
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT COMPARATIVE
HIGHLIGHTS
FINANCIAL INFORMATION
(in million pesos, except cash dividends
declared per common share)
Revenues
Service revenues
Non-service revenues
Expenses
Selling, general and administrative expenses
Depreciation and amortization
Cost of sales and services
Interconnection costs
Asset impairment
Provisions
Net income for the year
Core income
EBITDA
Property and Equipment
Accumulated depreciation, amortization, and impairment
Carrying value
Capital expenditures
Short and Long-term debts
Net Debt
Equity attributable to equity holders of PLDT
Cash dividends declared per common share
out of the earnings for the year
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
170,835
164,943
5,892
130,457
68,483
31,379
14,129
10,420
3,844
2,202
34,090
37,410
76,750
605,598
413,614
191,984
34,759
130,123
102,821
134,364
171,103
162,930
8,173
139,268
70,289
31,519
17,453
10,317
5,788
3,902
22,075
35,212
70,218
632,918
437,136
195,782
43,175
160,892
113,008
113,608
165,262
157,210
8,052
140,559
67,196
34,455
18,293
9,573
1,074
9,968
20,162
27,857
61,161
665,653
462,465
203,188
42,825
185,032
143,572
108,175
159,926
151,165
8,761
150,415
68,990
51,915
13,633
7,619
3,913
4,345
13,466
27,668
66,174
690,520
503,613
186,907
40,299
172,611
138,632
106,842
164,752
154,207
10,545
150,979
73,916
47,240
14,427
7,331
2,345
5,720
18,973
25,855
64,027
714,037
518,073
195,964
58,490
176,276
123,457
112,358
156
122
77
76
72
2,207,889
1,481,109
331,781
1,149,328
2,303,454
1,514,640
258,776
1,255,864
2,438,473 2,663,210
1,720,753 1,950,881
237,354
1,713,527
72,511,422 68,612,118 62,763,209 58,293,908 60,499,017
2,710,972
2,025,563
213,526
1,812,037
76,200,420 72,430,212 66,922,435 62,907,999 65,235,552
11,658
17,222
6,332
10,890
11,837
17,176
7,505
9,761
11,880
17,496
7,786
9,710
11,774
18,038
7,343
10,695
11,712
17,779
7,042
10,737
270,203
1,450,550
OPERATING INFORMATION
Number of mobile subscribers
Number of fixed line subscribers
Number of broadband subscribers
Fixed Wireless
Fixed Line
Total number of subscribers
Number of stockholders
Number of employees:
Wireless
Fixed Line
2
FIBER POWER
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL
PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS
170
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
164.9
162.9
157.2
151.2
154.2
76.8
70.2
61.2
66.2 64.0
37.4
35.2
27.9
27.7 25.9
1.0
1.0
51.5
53.7
0.7
58.1
1.2
1.1
63.8
72.8
112.4 108.2
98.4
86.2
80.3
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
SERVICE REVENUES
(in billion pesos)
EBITDA
(in billion pesos)
CORE INCOME
(in billion pesos)
WIRELESS
FIXED LINE
OTHERS
76.2
72.4
66.9
62.9
65.2
66.0
69.7
49.0
56.1 61.1
627.9
445.1 294.9 319.8 291.7
1.5
2.2
1.5
2.3
1.7
2.4
2.0
2.7
1.9
2.7
72.5
68.6
62.8
58.3
60.5
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
SUBSCRIBER BASE
(in millions)
CASH FLOW FROM
OPERATIONS
(in billion pesos)
MARKET
CAPITALIZATION
(Year-end, in billion pesos)
MOBILE
FIXED LINE
BROADBAND
3
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT 4
FIBER POWER MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN,
PRESIDENT AND CEO
TO MY FELLOW SHAREHOLDERS,
The past year was a break-out year for your Company: In 2018,
after sustained efforts over the past three years, PLDT has put its
overall business firmly back on the growth path. We are now better
positioned to pursue a higher level of growth even as we gear up for a new
wave of digital innovation that will be unleashed by new technologies such
as 5G, artificial intelligence and the internet of things (IoT).
As in recent years, our Home and
Enterprise Businesses continued to post
double digit growth rates in 2018. The
big turnaround was pulled off by our
Wireless Consumer Business which,
having stabilized in 2017 after several
years of decline in revenues, generated
growth in revenues, and an increase in
subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Moving forward, we expect revenues
from our three major business groups to
continue to be on the upswing.
A key achievement in 2018: PLDT and
Smart clearly established the superiority
of their fixed and mobile data network
quality. That helped power revenue
growth, continuing to be the underpinning
of the expansion of our fiber home
broadband and Enterprise businesses.
More importantly, our network advantage
powered the recovery of our Wireless
Consumer Business, as customers felt the
difference and stepped up their use of
data services.
As testament to this network superiority,
we won awards from several international
third party internet analytics companies
for recognizing PLDT’s leadership in
terms of speed, low latency, and video
quality, among others.
To establish network superiority, we
undertook a record-setting capital
expenditures (capex) program in 2018
with a total investment of Php58.5 billion.
And to keep building on our growth
momentum, our capex in 2019 will hit a
new high of Php78.4 billion. We are doing
this to strengthen our existing network
advantage in PLDT’s fiber-powered fixed
broadband and Smart’s LTE and LTE-
Advanced mobile broadband services,
which we expect to translate to better
customer experience and consequently,
higher revenues. In addition, we are also
developing exciting new capabilities in 5G.
Working with our technology and business
partners, we are taking the lead in helping
the country take part in what has been
called the Industrial Revolution 4.0.
OUR FINANCIAL RESULTS
Our full-year 2018 results provide the
details of our turnaround.
Our Consolidated Service Revenues
(net of interconnection costs), grew 2%
year-on-year to Php145.8 billion, excluding
Php1.1 billion of revenues from Voyager
Innovations (Voyager). This is the first
time we posted overall revenue growth
since 2014.
Maintaining their growth record of the
past several years, the Enterprise and
Home Groups each raised revenues by
10% -- Php38.4 billion and Php36.4 billion,
respectively. After stabilizing revenues in
2017, the Wireless Consumer Group
posted a 7% increase to P62.5 billion in
2018, a clear break from several years of
revenue declines.
Broadband and data revenues powered
growth in all major business groups,
growing 37% to P90.2 billion. Data and
broadband now account for 60% of our
total service revenue mix.
“Moving forward,
we expect
revenues from
our three major
business groups
to continue to be
on the upswing.”
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PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT
Consolidated EBITDA reached Php68.3
billion, excluding Voyager and Manpower
Rightsizing Program (MRP) costs, with
margin of 45%. Inclusive of Voyager
and MRP charges, EBITDA stood at
Php64.0 billion.
Consolidated Core Income was Php25.9
billion. Excluding Voyager operations, Telco
Core Income was up 2% to Php24.0 billion.
For 2018, the Board of Directors declared
total dividends per share of Php72, in
line with the Company’s dividend policy
wherein 60% of core income are paid
as dividends.
Reported Net Income increased to
Php18.9 billion, a 41% jump from the
previous year as the costs of our network
swap was much less than in 2017.
Except for segment revenues which are
presented on pro-forma basis for analysis
purposes, the abovementioned financial
results are in accordance with Philippine
Financial Reporting Standards (PFRS) 15
which was adopted effective January 1,
2018.
As of end-2018, Consolidated Net Debt
and Net Debt to EBITDA amounted to
US$2,357 million and 1.93x, respectively.
Gross Debt stood at US$3,362 million of
which only 8% was unhedged. Fixed-rate
loans, post-interest swaps made up 89%
of total loans. The average pre-tax interest
cost was 4.5%.
FIBER POWER
A key factor that underpinned our 2018
results was our capex: P58.5 billion,
a historic level. That enabled us to
aggressively pursue the transformation of
our fixed and mobile networks to deliver
the country’s best internet services.
As I said in my message to you last year,
that is the lynchpin of our digital pivot,
and, moving forward, the key to future-
proofing our business.
On this front, we have made huge
progress. PLDT added about 70,000
kilometers of fiber cables in 2018,
increasing the reach of its total fiber
network by 39% to over 244,000
kilometers. This is critical because fiber
power is the crucial resource needed to
deliver world-class internet, whether on
fixed or mobile. On this score, we have
built a formidable advantage.
On fixed, the coverage of PLDT’s fixed
broadband network exceeded 6.3 million
homes passed, a 57% leap from 2017.
The total number of available ports for
use of customers jumped from about one
million to 2.6 million, as of end-2018.
On mobile, our expanding fiber network
has provided the capacity needed to
support our mobile data network roll
out. Smart boosted the number of its
LTE base stations by 86% to about
16,200, and, its 3G base stations by
over 17% to 11,500 in 2018. As a result,
Smart was able to fulfill its commitment
to the National Telecommunications
Commission to provide mobile
broadband service in at least 90%
of country’s cities and municipalities.
The improvements in our network reach
and service quality were progressively
felt by our customers in different parts
of the country. This was further validated
by leading international internet analytics
companies such as Ookla, Opensignal
and Tutela. In their respective crowd-
sourced-based studies in 2018, these
three companies were unanimous in
6
FIBER POWER
their findings that PLDT and Smart
provided the best fixed and mobile
Internet services in the Philippines, clearly
outpacing the competition in data speeds,
low latency and superior video quality.
NETWORK SUPERIORITY
Our network superiority boosted both
subscriber take up and usage. After
several years of decline, our Wireless
Consumer Business added 2.1 million
customers, raising our total count to 60.0
million in 2018. That upturn has continued
into 2019.
Despite challenges in our installation and
repair services, our Home Business signed
up around 100,000 new broadband
customers, which increased its broadband
subscriber count to 1.9 million.
Meanwhile, data usage and revenues in all
our business groups have surged. Mobile
data revenues of our Wireless Consumer
Group jumped 62% to Php37.6 billion.
This enabled service revenues to rise 7%
to Php62.5 billion, despite the continued
decline of voice and text messaging
revenues.
The 10% revenue growth posted by
our Home Business to Php36.4 billion
was powered by the 33% rise in Home
broadband revenues. For Enterprise, data
and digital services continued to be the
growth driver. Corporate data revenues
increased by 13% to Php18.9 billion while
the ICT business rose 14% to Php3.7
billion by offering digital services such
as data centers, managed IT and cyber
security services.
These results show that our efforts to
pursue growth by shifting from legacy
services like voice and text messaging to
data and digital services are bearing fruit.
Meantime, in November 2018, Voyager
Innovations received US$215 million in
new funding in the largest investment thus
far in a Philippine technology company.
The new investors are leading global
investment firm KKR & Co.; Tencent, a
leading global internet-based technology
company based in China; and IFC and the
IFC Emerging Asia Fund, the investment
arm in Asia of the International Finance
Corporation of the World Bank Group.
Voyager is now utilizing the fresh funding
to step up its efforts to further expand
digital payments among enterprises and
communities under the PayMaya brand.
VIDEO IS THE SWEET SPOT
Technology improvements have a strong
impact when these address the changing
needs of customers.
In 2018, the sweet spot was online video
– for both Home and Wireless Consumer
businesses. Studies have shown that
Filipinos are among the most avid viewers
of online video in the world. Young and
old, we now watch more video via fixed
broadband or on mobile than on TV.
To address that demand, we launched
our Free Youtube promo in April 2018,
offering Smart, Sun and TNT subscribers
an hour of free Youtube viewing per day
when they buy specific load packages.
In the six months that the promo ran,
Youtube traffic soared to 15 times the
level at the start of the offer.
We followed through by offering new
mobile data packages with “Video
Everyday” content offers. That set the
stage for a big jump in mobile subscriber
take up and revenues, particularly in
the last quarter of 2018 – a surge
that continued into 2019. Our mobile
network could effectively carry that traffic
because – as OpenSignal put it – Smart
LTE service offers the better mobile
video viewing experience.
Demand for Home’s fiber fixed
broadband service, on the other hand,
has been fueled by the strong shift of
consumer demand in favor of online
video on demand services. To address
that demand, we bundled our fiber
broadband services with the content
offered by leading video streaming
companies like Netflix, iflix and Cignal
among others.
For Enterprise, its ICT business continued
to grow rapidly banking on its unrivaled
capabilities to offer digital services such
as data centers, managed IT and cyber
security. One noteworthy sign of things
to come are the about 100,000 new
mobile phone postpaid subscribers and
another 100,000 new Internet of Things
(IoT) connections that signed up in 2018.
These helped boost Enterprise wireless
services revenues by 24% to about Php7
billion. These wireless data services are
being used to support businesses like ride
hailing and vehicle tracking.
Moving forward, we are bolstering our
network superiority through Php78.4
billion capex program for 2019 – another
historic high. Much of the additional
Php20 billion in capex for 2019 will
7
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT
go to what we call “customer capex”
for fixed broadband. This will fund the
purchase of last-mile and customer-
premises equipment like modems,
and the acquisition of vehicles and
equipment for our new team of service
delivery associates who will speed up
installation and repair of fixed broadband
connections. This will enable us to serve
more fixed broadband customers
more quickly.
This capex program is enabling us
to further expand our LTE and LTE-
Advanced mobile networks, offering
mobile data services at higher speeds in
more parts of the country. What’s more,
even as we extend our 4G roll-out, we
are also moving forward in 5G. Our
Enterprise Group has taken the lead in
building Smart 5G cities in selected areas
like Clark, Pampanga and in Makati, Metro
Manila in order to develop compelling
digital services that can delivered via 5G.
PLDT has, for example, started a
program to transform our fiber transport
network into the most modern in the
country, with cutting edge electronics
that will enable us to quickly deliver to
our customers a growing range of digital
services. This fiber transport network
will also support the deployment of 5G,
offering not just much higher speeds
but also the more sophisticated features
needed to support higher-level 5G
capabilities like network splicing.
We are building the digital future now.
CORPORATE ACTION
In April 2018, PLDT joined other major
Philippine corporations in a major
step forward in corporate disaster
preparedness and resiliency. The Philippine
Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF)
opened the country’s first private-sector
national emergency operations center
(EOC) in Clark, Pampanga. The EOC acts
as a self-sufficient operations hub that
coordinates relief and response efforts of
the private sector during major disasters.
It also serves a training center for disaster
preparedness.
PLDT’s support for the PDRF is
complemented by its own disaster
preparedness and response efforts. For
example, Smart’s TNT Tropang Ready
program provided disaster preparedness
training for about 5,300 teachers and
students in three major universities in
2018. The PLDT-Smart Foundation (PSF)
continued to participate in disaster relief
efforts, providing assistance to over 8,000
families in calamities that hit various parts
of the country like Pampanga, Pangasinan,
Cagayan, Benguet, Ilocos Sur and Marawi.
We continued our substantial programs
in education. Gabay Guro, for example,
produced 135 graduates of its teacher
scholarship program in 2018, bringing its
total to 808 since 2007. A joint effort of
8
FIBER POWER
the PSF and the PLDT Managers’ Club,
the program has also provided about
37,600 teachers various training courses
as of end-2018.
Meantime, the PLDT Infoteach Outreach
Program provided digital literacy training
for 6,420 teachers and students in 11
education department school divisions
covering 50 cities and municipalities. In
2018, Smart turned over 83 School-in-a-
Bag units to various learning institutions
in the country. Designed to mobile
classrooms, the program has benefitted
over 30,000 and over a thousand
teachers since its start in 2016.
Working with the Philippine Business for
Social Progress-Motolite Balik Baterya
Program, PLDT turned over more
than 4,000 books from the Marawi
Storybooks series to 35 elementary
schools in Marawi City which had been
devastated by a six-month battle between
government forces and Islamic militants.
PLDT continued its strong support for
Philippine sports through the MVP Sports
Foundation (MVPSF). The Foundation’s
assistance helped the country win
gold medals in golf, weightlifting and
skateboarding in the 18th Asian Games
in Indonesia. Among the sports benefiting
from help of the MVPSF are badminton,
boxing, football, taekwondo, gymnastics
and weightlifting.
OUTLOOK
To attain higher levels of growth in 2019,
we are stepping up our efforts while
keeping in mind a few basic guidelines.
For a start, we need to stay focused on
improving customer experience. The huge
sums invested in our fixed and mobile
networks have made a difference because
they have improved customer experience,
to levels that are clearly above those
offered by the competition. That has
been the key to raising revenues and
profitability in 2018.
In 2019, we are also upgrading our
data analytics and overhauling our IT
support systems so that PLDT and
Smart can develop relevant, compelling
and affordable services more quickly
and make these services simpler and
easier for our customers to access
and use. When combined, these two
parallel initiatives – for our networks
and IT systems – are strengthening our
competitive position.
Second, while keeping our eyes on the
present, we must also be mindful of
the future. Especially if that future is
almost upon us. PLDT and Smart are
now in the thick of a massive roll out
of fiber-powered fixed broadband and
LTE in mobile. But we are now also busy
building the vital use cases for 5G and its
kindred technologies like AI and IoT. These
emerging technologies offer new revenue
opportunities that must be developed now.
Third, new technologies are great, but it’s
people and organizations that make them
work. That is why we remain focused
on transforming PLDT and Smart into
ONE team, digitally enabled, focused on
delivering the best customer experience.
Given these initiatives and the positive
momentum built up in 2018, we expect
service revenues to rise and our Telco Core
Income to grow to Php26.0 billion in 2019.
Allow me to thank once more our
shareholders for their continuing support,
our Board of Directors for their insight and
guidance, our Management and Staff for
their tireless efforts to bring our Company
to higher levels of growth and profitability
and to help bring our country forward in
the fast-rising global digital economy.
Manuel V. Pangilinan
Chairman of the Board, President and
Chief Executive Officer
“ Working with our technology and
business partners, we are taking
the lead in helping the country take
part in what has been called the
Industrial Revolution 4.0.”
9
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT
Enjoying the delights of
fiber-powered digital
entertainment at home.
10
FIBER POWER THE PLDT GROUP
CORPORATE MILESTONES
PLDT continued to expand its fiber optic cable network in 2018, providing
the vital foundation for further developing and modernizing the PLDT
Group’s fixed and mobile networks. It boosted its total fiber footprint to
244,000 kilometers at the end of 2018 to deliver the most reliable fiber-
powered broadband services to its customers.
FIBER-POWERING THE COUNTRY
The accelerated network transformation
program enabled PLDT to surpass several
key full-year 2018 roll-out targets way ahead
of schedule.
PLDT Home’s fiber coverage reached 6.3
million homes, surpassing the full year 2018
target of 5.3 million homes. At the same time,
total capacity reached 2.6 million ports with
about 1.0 million ports available for sale.
Continuing its aggressive nationwide fiber
expansion in 2018 through its PLDT Fibr-
powered SmartCity program, in cooperation
with Local Government Units, PLDT fiber-
powered numerous areas, including favorite
tourist destination El Nido in Palawan, as well
as the country’s bustling shoe capital Marikina
City in Metro Manila. PLDT also installed
fiber optic cables in over 190 new cities and
municipalities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao
including Norzagaray in Bulacan, Arayat
in Pampanga, Surallah in South Cotabato,
Bayombong in Nueva Vizcaya, Nabunturan
in Compostella Valley, Mati City in Davao
Oriental, and Bangued in Abra.
Earlier, PLDT already transformed key urban
areas into Fibr-powered SmartCities starting
with Toledo City in Cebu, General Santos in
Mindanao, Naga City in the Bicol region, as well
as South Metro Manila, East Metro Manila, and
central business districts like Rockwell Makati
and Bonifacio Global City, while Cavite became
the first “Smart Province.”
The PLDT Group’s network transformation
is complemented by the realignment of
its information technology (IT) systems
and platforms that support its network
and business operations. PLDT and Smart
partnered with global information and
communications technology leaders Huawei
and Amdocs to undertake the modernization
of IT applications and introduce the latest
digital technologies that would enable them to
provide a more efficient personalized service
and invaluable after sales, eventually delivering
compelling customer experiences.
UPGRADING LTE-A
As PLDT accelerated its network expansion
and modernization program, its wireless
subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. likewise
stepped-up the deployment of Long-Term
Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A)
networks and carrier aggregation technology
across the country, driving mobile data usage
and revenues, and getting recognition for its
network’s record-fast speed.
The stepped up deployment of LTE, LTE-A
and 3G facilities enabled Smart to fulfill its
commitment to the government to provide
mobile broadband services to 90% of the
country’s cities and municipalities by end-2018.
One of the features of LTE-A is carrier
aggregation (CA) which enables the
combination of two or more radio frequency
bands to deliver much faster data speeds
to mobile phone users. Two-Component
Carrier (2CC) carrier aggregation features
the combination of two frequencies, while
3CC involves three frequencies and 4CC,
four bands.
In Quezon City, home to three million people
and thousands of business establishments,
Smart activated up to 5CC aggregation which
enabled users of capable devices, such as the
Samsung Galaxy S9, to experience speeds of
up to 500 Mbps.
Smart further expanded its LTE and LTE-A
networks from the northern sites of Batanes
and Sagada, to key areas in the Visayas such
as Cebu, Aklan, Bohol, Capiz, Leyte, Guimaras,
Negros Oriental, Samar and Southern Leyte,
as well as in Mindanao areas such as Siargao,
Marawi, Davao City, and Sarangani, to name
a few.
To encourage more users to upgrade to LTE,
Smart partnered with major mobile device
manufacturers such as Apple, offering the
iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max bundled with
the data-packed Giga X Plans, which provides
10GB more data for streaming videos on
YouTube, iflix, Fox+ and iWant TV.
Smart also teamed up with Samsung for the
Galaxy S9 and S9+, Note 9 and Galaxy J2
Core smartphones; Starmobile for the PLAY
Click LTE bundle for TNT subscribers; and
Oppo for the A71, which comes with an LTE
upgrade SIM for existing Smart, TNT and Sun
customers. Smart likewise introduced Huawei
smartphones with data-packed Smart Giga X
plans—the Huawei Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro.
DELIVERING 5G
In 2018, PLDT and Smart fired up the
Philippines’ first 5G cell sites in Makati City
and at Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga
province, successfully making the country’s
first 5G to 5G video call. The historic video
call used 5G Radio and Core equipment of
Huawei in Makati and Ericsson in Pampanga,
showcasing 5G interoperability in a multi-
vendor environment.
With its capability to deliver extremely high
speeds coupled with low latency, 5G opens up
exciting possibilities for Internet of Things (IoT)
applications for the transport sector, traffic
management, manufacturing, airport and mall
operations, logistics and warehousing, retail,
customer support, and smart homes,
among others.
EXPANDING LTE FOR
SUN SUBSCRIBERS
Sun subscribers in Cebu enjoyed improved
mobile connectivity as PLDT expanded LTE
coverage for the brand across the Visayas’
foremost urban hub.
In addition to network upgrades in Metro
Cebu, LTE was also made available to the rest
of Cebu province, including key tourism areas
like Oslob, Moalboal, Daanbantayan, Medellin,
Toledo City, Bogo City and Carmen, allowing
tourists and residents alike to share photos and
videos of their experiences using Sun LTE.
Expanded LTE capacity is also now accessible
in areas in Cebu City, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu,
Minglanilla and Talisay, while the service has
likewise been rolled out in Badian, Balamban,
Barili, Catmon, Madridejos, Sibonga, and Tabuelan.
11
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT
6.3Mn
HOMES, FIBER COVERAGE REACHED
REWARDING THE CUSTOMER
In 2018, PLDT launched the MVP Rewards
Program, an incentive system for customers
of PLDT, Smart, Sun and TNT. Customers can
enroll via MVPRewards.ph their PLDT Home,
Smart, TNT and Sun accounts and conveniently
link it to their MVP Rewards wallet.
Customers are rewarded by paying their
monthly bills on time and in full, or whenever
they load their prepaid numbers. Earned points
are as good as cash, hence they need not
worry about when points will expire or when
points can be redeemed. They are given the
freedom to choose when and where to use
their rewards. Points earned are consolidated
in a single rewards wallet which comes with a
virtual card powered by PayMaya, the leading
digital payments wallet in the country. MVP
Rewards members simply need to download
the PayMaya app and activate their virtual card.
MVP Rewards is a product of the strategic
collaboration of PLDT, Smart and Voyager
Innovations through its digital financial services
arm, PayMaya Philippines, and its digital
marketing arm, Hatch.
PROVIDING THE BEST
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
PLDT and Smart expanded their portfolio of
products and services and unveiled a host of
new innovations to serve the ever-changing
needs of customers in the digital landscape,
such as the growing demand for video, gaming
and smart home solutions.
Among the new offers in 2018 was the Free
Video Every Day, which enabled users to enjoy
their favorite online video services, powered
by Smart’s award-winning network. Smart,
Sun and TNT users availed of free access to
YouTube and other video streaming apps for
one hour daily by simply registering to GigaSurf
and other data packs such as AllOutSurf99,
GigaSurf 50, AllOutSurf 30, Panalo Data 30,
Panalo Combo 30, Super Combo 20 and Big
Time Data 70.
PLDT Home introduced the Best Buy Bundle
composed of product bundles that enable
subscribers to easily mix and match their
unlimited PLDT Home Fibr, Smart mobile,
and Cignal pay TV plans from PLDT Home,
Smart, and Cignal TV. These services for home
broadband, mobile, and pay TV are contained
in one bill, making it possible for subscribers to
spend less, get more, and enjoy a worry-free
digital lifestyle with their loved ones.
PLDT and Smart teamed up with the National
Basketball Association (NBA) for select
offerings of NBA League Pass, the league’s
premium live game subscription service,
to more than 62 million subscribers in the
Philippines. This multiyear partnership has
provided fans with access to live and on-
demand NBA games online and via mobile
12
devices. The NBA League Pass offerings
included Day Pass (Php50), which enabled
users to watch live games for a 24-hour period.
The new offerings can be accessed online and
through iOS and Android phones and tablets.
Also launched in 2018 was the new PLDT
Home TVolution Lite powered by Roku®,
the latest streaming device that lets subscribers
turn their TV into a digital entertainment
powerhouse.
PLDT Home continued its support for world-
class eSports events for all Filipino eSports
athletes, fans, and enthusiasts, powering the
biggest international eSports conventions and
competitions in the Philippines such as the ESL
One, Manila Masters, and Esports and Gaming
Summit (ESGS). PLDT also kicked off the
Road to Nationals, a nationwide multi-game
grassroots tournament in search of the best
eSports players in the country which became
the gateway for athletes to take part in the
founding teams of The Nationals, the first
eSports franchise league in the Philippines.
In 2018, PLDT entered into an exclusive
partnership agreement with Google to bring
Google Wifi to the Philippines. Google Wifi
is a mesh networking system that puts an
end to dead zones at home, ensuring strong
and fast signals for all connected devices. The
Philippines is one of the first countries in Asia
to introduce Google Wifi after Singapore,
Hong Kong, and Japan.
PLDT Home’s newest plan - the Google Wifi
Plan 3799 - was offered to all new PLDT
Home Fibr customers. This plan comes with an
unlimited 50Mbps Fibr connection and three
Google Wifi points. Existing PLDT Home Fibr
customers could also avail of add-on Google
Wifi units at Php299 for the 1-piece set, and
Php799 for the 3-piece set.
The PLDT Home TVolution Lite powered by
Roku® comes with a handy remote control
with a dedicated button for Netflix, Cignal,
iflix, and Youtube. Available for only Php99 per
month as an add-on service to a PLDT Home
Fibr Plan, the new PLDT Home TVolution
Lite powered by Roku® features a sleeker
and thinner device, plus a more dynamic and
effortless user experience.
A new PLDT-Smart store was unveiled in the
Makati central business district. The converged
one-stop digital hub, which showcases the
synergy among PLDT, Smart, and Cignal
products, also serves as a venue where PLDT
and Smart can exhibit innovations and services
of the future, such as 5G applications, and
Internet of Things, among others. Earlier in
2018, the first-ever PLDT-Smart converged
store was inaugurated at the Bonifacio
Global City.
In the Visayas, Sun users can now visit the
newest Sun Shop at Island City Mall in
Tagbilaran City. Customers in Bohol can enjoy
better mobile internet experience by upgrading
their SIMs and availing of LTE smartphones.
A new Smart Store was launched in Boracay,
which was recently opened to tourists. Visitors
on the world-class island can find the branch
at One Central Boracay, Station 1.
In line with the company’s vision of bringing
world-class Internet to Filipino families, PLDT
Home launched its first ever PLDT Home
Prepaid WiFi, an affordable service with a
plug and play device that instantly connects
subscribers to the Internet. Once plugged
into a power source, it can simultaneously
connect up to five WiFi-ready devices, such as
a smartphone, tablet, or laptop, to high-speed
Internet, delivering high-speed Internet indoors.
SUPPORTING FILIPINO
ENTREPRENEURS
In line with its mandate of helping build the
nation, PLDT Enterprise has partnered with
Voyager and Go Negosyo, to help the country’s
micro, small and medium entrepreneurs
(MSME) engage in e-commerce through
an end-to-end enablement program that
covers all aspects needed to participate in
the digital marketplace.
FIBER POWER “ PLDT and Smart expanded their portfolio of
products and services and unveiled a host of
new innovations to serve the ever-changing
needs of customers in the digital landscape,
such as the growing demand for video, gaming
and smart home solutions.”
Another initiative was the tie-up with the City
Government of Cagayan de Oro to empower
and benefit Cagayanons with cashless
transactions and bring seamless connectivity to
the local government offices with super-speed
internet service, Smart Wifi.
Elevating customer experience through
cashless payments with PayMaya, PLDT
Enterprise has continued to team up with
McDonald’s and established new partnerships
with the SM Store, Mercury Drug, and
Robinson’s Retail Holdings.
To help customers handle the digital world’s
challenges, PLDT Enterprise and ePLDT
unveiled in an event, called The Hacker’s Code,
the most advanced and extensive portfolio
of cyber safety and security solutions for
businesses to make sure that their growth is
not stunted by digital threats.
To further serve the needs of businesses and
government agencies in key areas around
the country, ePLDT opened the 10th VITRO
Data Center in Mandaue, Cebu, providing
800 racks capacity, state-of-the-art design and
architecture, including 11 layers of physical
security and the use of biometric devices
equipped with finger recognition technology.
This complements the data centers established
by the PLDT Group in different locations
which include Pasig, Cebu, Parañaque, Taguig,
Subic, Clark, Davao and two in Makati City.
Celebrating the values of commitment to
excellence, fearlessness, and integrity that
define the Filipino entrepreneurial spirit, the
2018 MVP Bossing Awards, an annual event
conducted by PLDT Enterprise, included
10 innovative entrepreneurs in the prestigious
roster of previous awardees. The 2018
Grand MVP Bossing Award was presented to
Magsaysay Group of Companies President
and CEO Doris Magsaysay-Ho.
ENABLING THE OVERSEAS FILIPINOS
In 2018, PLDT Global launched the Free Bee
app to deliver high quality calls directly to
mobile phones & landlines in the Philippines,
connecting overseas Filipinos with their families
- even those without access to smartphones
or 24/7 mobile data. With hundreds of
thousands engaged users to date, the Free Bee
app has created an ecosystem for brands and
businesses to reach Filipinos globally through
advertising, content and deals.
Platform improvements and strong global
partners enhanced the cross-border transfer of
airtime to their families back home. Innovations
on load paved the way for financial inclusion
through load services that allow Overseas
Filipinos to pay utility bills using their airtime.
EMPOWERING EVERY FILIPINO
IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY
With its various initiatives, PLDT’s digital
innovations arm Voyager Innovations (Voyager)
stepped up its efforts to enable every Filipino
to participate and thrive in the new economy
through its inclusive financial ecosystems.
In October 2018, Voyager welcomed KKR,
Tencent, IFC, and IFC Emerging Asia Fund as
new investors, raising a total of $215 million
funding. This marked the largest investment
to date in a Philippine technology company.
PLDT remains the single largest shareholder
with an ownership stake of slightly less than
50% in Voyager. With the global expertise and
fresh capital from its new investors, the tech
company is enabling Filipinos to gain greater
access to digital financial and internet service.
PayMaya, the leading e-wallet app in the
Philippine market, became the first non-bank
institution to join InstaPay to enable instant
fund transfers from a bank account to a
PayMaya account for ease of fund access for
consumers as part of the National Retail
Payments System initiative led by the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas.
As the first e-Money provider to offer in-app
Know Your Customer process via video call,
it has allowed users to instantly verify and
upgrade their accounts without leaving the
comforts of their home.
For large merchants, PayMaya started rolling
out its One by PayMaya Business device for
face-to-face payments acceptance, which
allows merchants to accept a variety of
payment options, including credit, debit, and
prepaid cards, as well as PayMaya QR, WeChat
Pay, and a host of other emerging payment
options in the future. Some of its initial users
included McDonald’s for its newly launched
self-ordering kiosks, as well as Smart kiosks in
NAIA Terminals 1-4.
Digital financial services were made available
to local government units (LGU) when the
constituents of Malolos, Mandaluyong, and
Muntinlupa cities were provided with the
PayMaya Super ID for the disbursement of
financial assistance. The PayMaya Super ID also
empowered the students of Lyceum of the
Philippines Batangas as well as the following
enterprise partners: Smart, PLDT, 24/7, and the
Contact Center Association of the Philippines.
For consumers, PayMaya powered the wallet
and disbursement platforms for the rewards
and loyalty program MVP Rewards. It has
also worked with Oxfam Philippines to aid
in disbursing financial assistance to internally
displaced people in Marawi City and through
the iAFFORD card, an all-in-one identification
and electronic payment card powered by
PayMaya. With the iAFFORD card, families
in Marawi can access financial services, save
money, and purchase their basic needs.
In 2018, Voyager’s financial inclusion program,
KasamaKA, that includes an income and
community builder component and an on-
ground caravan, conducted 31 roadshows
in various cities, towns, provinces, private
companies, and government agencies.
13
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT THE PLDT GROUP
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
ASEAN CORPORATE GOVERNANCE SCORECARD (ACGS)
• Top Performing Companies under the ACGS in 2017 – PLDT (Score Range: 90-99.99)
FINANCE ASIA
• Best Managed Company - #7
• Most Committed to Corporate Governance - #3
• Best at Corporate Social Responsibility - #9
• Best at Investor Relations - #3
TELECOM ASIA AWARDS
• Telecom CEO of the Year: Manuel V. Pangilinan
• Most Innovative Partnership Strategy: Lendr (FINTQnologies)
GOLDEN GLOBE TIGER AWARDS
• CFO of the Year: June Cheryl Cabal-Revilla
OOKLA SPEEDTEST AWARDS
• Philippines’ Fastest Fixed Network for Q1-Q2 of 2018: PLDT
• Philippines’ Fastest Mobile Network for Q1-Q2 of 2018: Smart
OPENSIGNAL
• Best Video Experience in the Philippines: Smart Communications
MEF AWARDS 2018
• Retail Service Provider of the Year for APAC: PLDT
• Best Network and Service Innovation for APAC: PLDT
READER’S DIGEST TRUSTED BRAND 2018
• Platinum Awardee for Broadband services: PLDT
• Platinum Awardee for Landline Phone services: PLDT HOME
• Gold Awardee for Mobile Phone Services: Smart
ASIA COMMUNICATION AWARDS
• Social Contribution Award: Smart’s School-in-a-Bag Program
• Highly Commended, Network Transformation Initiative: Smart Network Transformation Program
• Highly Commended, Best Brand Campaign: TNT Tropa Apps
IPRA’S GOLDEN WORLD AWARDS
• Winner for Community Engagement Award: TNT Tropang Ready Disaster Preparedness Caravan
GLOBAL TELECOMS AWARDS
• Winner for Telecoms Transformation Award: Smart Network Transformation Program
53RD ANVIL AWARDS OF THE PUBLIC RELATIONS
SOCIETY OF THE PHILIPPINES (PRSP)
• Grand Prix
- Smart Communications
• Grand Anvil Award
- Smart’s SHINE OS+
• Gold Anvil Awardee
- PLDT HOME’s Fiber XP: Bringing the Fibr Experience Nationwide
- Smart’s SHINE OS+
- Smart’s Learning as One Nation
- Smart’s School-in-a-Bag Program
- Smart Chatbot
- Smart Saturdays
- TNT Tropang Ready Caravan
14 FIBER POWER
14
FIBER POWER
• Silver Anvil Awardees
- PLDT 2016 Annual Report – Digital Like Never Before
- PLDT88 Hackathon: Creating Digital Tools for the Better Customer Experience
- PLDT Enterprise’s 2016 MVP Bossing Awards”
- PLDT Enterprise’s Industry Suite Launch
- PLDT Enterprise’s LGU Campaign
- PLDT HOME’s Fibr the Ms. Universe
- PLDT HOME’s #ConnectwithPurpose Social Media Day”
- PLDT HOME’s Home Fibr XP Roku-powered TVolution Launch
- PLDT HOME’s Fibr XP Roku-powered TVolution Campaign
- PLDT Group Awesome Inside Out
- PSF Gabay Guro’s “A Decade of Dedication and Gratitude to Filipino Teachers”
- PSF Gabay Guro’s campaign
- Smart Bro’s Bond Like Never Before with Smart Bro
- Smart’s Doon Po Sa Amin Storytelling Caravan
- Smart’s Paskong Pinoy
- Smart Communities
- Smart Millenniors
- Smart Paywall
- Smart TechnoCart
- Smart’s SWEEP Awards
- TNT App
- TNT Online Store
- TNT Tropa Trip
16TH PHILIPPINE QUILL AWARDS OF THE I/ABC PHILIPPINES
• Excellence Award
- PLDT HOME’s Fibr XP: Bringing the PLDT Home Fibr Experience Nationwide
- SHINE OS+
- Smart Communities
- Smart TechnoCart
- Smart School-in-a-Bag
• Merit Award
- PLDT HOME’s Connect for Real (Mother’s Day)
- PLDT HOME’s Connect with Purpose (Social Media Day)
- PLDT HOME’s Whole Home Wi-Fi
- PSF Gabay Guro’s “A Decade of Dedication and Gratitude
to Filipino Teachers”
- Smart’s #LevelUpToLTE Campaign
- Smart’s Learning as One Nation
- Smart Bro’s Bond Like Never Before Campaign
- Smart Millenniors
- Smart’s SWEEP Awards
- TNT Online Store
- TNT Panalo Data Campaign
- TNT Tropa Apps Campaign
- TNT Tropa Challenge
- TNT Tropang Ready Disaster Preparedness Caravan
THE ASIAN BANKER
PHILIPPINE COUNTRY AWARDS 2018
• Best Financial Inclusion Initiative, Application or Programme:
FINTQ “KasamaKa”
AGROW AWARDS
• Financial Inclusivity Award: FINTQNOLOGIES Corp
CISCO AWARDS
• SME Service Provider of the Year: PLDT
• Tier 2 partner of the year: ePLDT
• Tier 2 services partner of the year: ePLDT
• FY17 Commercial Sales Champion: ePLDT
DELL AWARDS
• Tier 2 Partner of the year: ePLDT
• Top tier 2 Enterprise Storage Partner: ePLDT
15
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT
Seeing the world through
fiber-powered lenses.
16
FIBER POWER THE PLDT GROUP
CORPORATE SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY
At the heart of the Company is its commitment to enrich the lives of every Filipino.
In 2018, the PLDT Group continued its efforts in improving the quality of life of the
Filipino people through its various Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs,
including digital literacy, disaster preparedness and response, sustainable
livelihood, and environmental protection.
This program is a collaborative effort
of PLDT, University of the Philippines
Open University (UPOU) and the
UPOU Foundation, the Department of
Education, the Department of Information
Communications Technology, and the
local governments of the areas where the
participating schools are located.
Together with the Philippine Business
for Social Progress (PBSP)-Motolite Balik
Baterya Program, PLDT was recognized
as one of the pioneer sponsors of the
Marawi Storybooks Series in 2018. PLDT
turned over more than 4,000 books from
the Marawi Storybooks Series to over 35
elementary schools in Marawi City. The
series is part of PBSP’s children’s literacy
campaign iRead4Peace. In partnership
with PBSP, PLDT turned over a classroom
building in Carmen Central Elementary
School at Brgy. Baring in Carmen, Cebu
and another one in Surigao State College
of Technology (SSCT) in Del Carmen
Campus, Siargao funded from the Balik
Baterya program. PLDT also initiated the
construction of a computer laboratory in
Butig, Lanao del Sur with 20 refurbished
computer units.
To date, PLDT remains the biggest donor
of the Motolite-PBSP Balik Baterya
Program with their 4,200 tons of used
lead-acid batteries almost amounting to
P63 million pesos for proper recycling. In
its 11th year of support to the Motolite-
PBSP Balik Baterya Program, PLDT has
turned over almost 195 tons of used
lead-acid batteries.
6,420
GRADUATES OF THE
PLDT INFOTEACH
OUTREACH PROGRAM
4,000
BOOKS TO 35 SCHOOLS
IN MARAWI CITY
CHAMPIONING
DIGITAL LITERACY
Education, with a strong emphasis
on digital literacy, continued to be
the flagship program of PLDT and its
subsidiaries.
A joint effort of the PLDT Smart
Foundation and the PLDT Managers
Club, the Gabay Guro program provides
opportunities for teachers to learn
new skills needed in the changing
education landscape. Gabay Guro has
seven pillars including scholarships,
livelihood programs, broadbanding and
computerization, housing and educational
facilities, trainings, innovations, and the
Teacher’s Tribute program which gathers
thousands of teachers in a much-awaited
annual event. In 2018, there were a
total of 135 teacher graduates. Since
its inception in 2007, the Gabay Guro
program has produced more than 800
graduates nationwide – 582 of which are
LET passers.
The PLDT Infoteach Outreach Program
reaches out to high school students and
elementary and high school teachers
nationwide. In 2018, the program, which
is run by the PLDT Community Relations
Team, provided digital literacy training to
6,420 program participants in 11 schools
divisions of DepEd covering 50 cities
and municipalities. Since 2004, there has
been over 32,000 graduates of the PLDT
Infoteach Outreach Program. It produced
3,082 students and 3,196 teacher
graduates, 26 women, 25 senior citizens,
and 91 out-of-school youth graduates
from the barangay level with a total of
6,420 graduates.
17
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT
135
TEACHER
GRADUATES OF
GABAY GURO IN 2018
800
SINCE 2007
OVER
P1BN
IN SUPPORT TO VARIOUS
SPORTS DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMS
18
In 2018, Smart turned over 83 School-in-
a-Bag units to various learning institutions
nationwide. This resulted to a flagship
Learn Smart program that to-date has
benefitted over 30,000 students and
over 1,000 teachers in communities all
over the country. Some of their partners
include the PLDT-Smart Foundation
(PSF), the Project Handclasp Foundation
(PHF), the US-Philippines Society (USPS),
and the Philippine Disaster Resilience
Foundation (PDRF).
Smart also launched the Millenniors
program. It aims to teach technology
to older Filipinos who may not be as
tech-savvy as their younger family
members. The program specifically
focuses on smartphones, mobile
internet, and social media.
ENHANCING DISASTER
PREPAREDNESS AND RESILIENCY
In April 2018, PDRF opened the world’s
first national emergency operations
center (EOC) run by the private
sector. The EOC acts as a self-sufficient
operations hub geared towards training
for disaster preparedness and the
coordination of relief and response
efforts during major disasters.
PLDT also supported the construction
of the Brgy. Sagonsongan Rural Health
Center in Marawi City. This facility is
expected to provide great service to the
entire Sagonsongan resettlement site
as well as the men and women of the
Philippine Armed Forces.
As part of its #SafePH advocacy, a major
risk reduction partnership of Smart in
2018 was the Nokia Saving Lives Project,
which sought to provide communications
technology and technical assistance to
emergency response teams.
Now on its second year, TNT Tropang
Ready has already engaged 10,000
students nationwide. In 2018 alone,
the program reached 5,284 attendees
from three universities. Furthermore,
145 selected students and faculty
members from these participating
schools underwent extensive Disaster
Preparedness training via TNT Tropang
Ready Training of Trainers (ToT). TNT
Tropang Ready (Team Ready) is a learning
caravan which engages and mobilizes the
Filipino youth to advocate a culture of
preparedness in disaster-prone Philippines.
In 2018, PSF reached out to over 8,000
families, who were severely affected by
Typhoon Vinta in Leyte; Mayon evacuees
in Albay; flooding due to Habagat in
Pampanga, Malabon and Pangasinan; fire
victims in Malabon; Typhoon Karding
in Rizal; Typhoon Ompong in Cagayan
Benguet, and Ilocos Sur; Typhoon Rosita
in Cagayan Valley; and survivors of Marawi
conflict. PLDT also held relief operations
FIBER POWER
for Ompong and Rosita typhoon
survivors in Baggao, Cagayan, Marikina
and Quirino Province as well as
Mt. Mayon eruption survivors in Albay.
PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE
LIVELIHOOD
In 2018, PLDT launched a series of
CSR initiatives for its 90th Anniversary,
including the Philippine Eagle Plush Toys,
and the Bicol Ecobags. In partnership
with the Conservation Sew Mates,
selected indigenous women from
partner communities were trained to
create the Philippine Eagle plush toys.
Finished products were mainly sold at the
Philippine Eagle Center.
As part of its livelihood program for
the women of the Rural Workers
Muladbucad Pequeňo Association, PLDT
supported the women sewers of Albay
through its Bicol ecobags project. Through
the PLDT Balik Baterya funds, the
company supported the at-risk sectors
after the onslaught of the Mayon Volcano
Eruption which started in January 2018.
The support fund gave women members
of the Rural Workers Muladbucad
Pequeňo Association access to livelihood
opportunities. In partnership with PBSP
and the Coalition for Bicol Development
(CBD), there were 15 trainees that
completed the capability training, which
was part of the program.
Smart developed the Ka-Partner Rewards
Program, which gives incentives to the
company’s load sellers to help them
grow their businesses and enhance their
livelihood, while enabling communities to stay
connected. In 2018, Smart held five, instead
of the usual three retailer conventions, in
various locations across the country. Each
assembly had its own set of raffle winners,
including one recipient each of the P1 million
grand prize.
UNIFYING THE NATION
THROUGH SPORTS
2018 was a stellar year for Philippine
sports, and for the MVP Sports Foundation
(MVPSF), particularly at the 18th Asian
Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia.
The MVPSF’s support has helped the
country garner the gold medals in Golf,
Weightlifting and Skateboarding.
Since its creation in 2011, MVPSF has been
providing financial support amounting
to over P1 billion in sports development
programs of different National Sports
Associations (NSAs).
Aside from its well-known support for
basketball, MVPSF is also currently focused
on other sports, namely, badminton, boxing,
cycling, football, golf, taekwondo, rugby, and
weightlifting. The Foundation also extended
support to other athletes in the field of
gymnastics, figure skating, and skateboarding.
“ In 2018, PLDT
launched a
series of CSR
initiatives for its
90th Anniversary,
including the
Philippine Eagle
Plush Toys,
and the Bicol
Ecobags.”
19
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT
PEOPLE AND CULTURE
CREATING A MEANINGFUL EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE
The number of total employees across the
PLDT Group in 2018 was 14,701. In PLDT,
65% of its workforce were male and 35%
female; whereas, the distribution between
male and female in Smart were close to
equal in population. The bulk of PLDT’s
employees were from the Management/
Supervisory positions (72.3%) while 58.2%
awere from the Rank and File level in Smart.
On a regional basis, 88.1% of PLDT workers
were stationed in Luzon, 7.3% from Visayas
and 4.5% from Mindanao. Similarly in Smart,
majority of the employees were Luzon-
based at 86.9%, 7.3% from Visayas, and 5.8%
in Mindanao.
The company also seemed to be attracting
a young workforce with a 70% population
in Smart belonging to Gen Y and Z; and
a growing 55% in PLDT compared to the
previous years.
Loyalty appeared to be a strong suit within
the PLDT personnel with a low attrition
rate of 1.2%. 60% of those who left the
company in 2018 were Baby Boomers
with an average tenure of 23.2 years; while
Smart had a turnover rate of 9.4% with an
average tenure of 5.7 years. Majority of the
attritions came from the Luzon region with
73% being Gen Y individuals, 24% Gen X,
and 1% Gen Z.
Recruitment ramps were heavy in 2018
due to the increased demand of new and
specialized roles needed for the company’s
ongoing business transformation. 25.9%
of the PLDT population belonged to new
hires with 83% coming from the millennial
market. Smart reached an all-time high of
18.5% hires in the past three years with 86%
of new hires belonging to Gen Y.
COLLABORATIVE LEARNING
It is crucial for PLDT and Smart to keep
up with the latest trends in technology and
skills, while putting equal importance in
behavioral training and values formation. The
Learning and Development Team maintains
a healthy mix of learning channels – from
classroom to digital learning to sustain its
employee productivity. The group consists
of dedicated in-house trainers and coaches,
as well specialists for gamified and online
training.
In 2018, there were 23,010 classroom
graduates across various workshops and
41,840 e-learning courses accomplished.
These initiatives included on-boarding
programs, and committed certifications and
trainings on skills building, digital learning,
policies and processes, change management,
PEOPLE GROUP MISSION
2018 was a milestone year for the employee
community with the celebration of PLDT’s
90 years of service in the Philippines, Smart
Communications’ 25th anniversary, and
Digitel Mobile Philippines’ 10-year mark.
Along with this momentous occasion were
welcoming challenges such as multiple
business transformations, operational
synergies, and organizational changes.
These were prerequities for reinforcing
the company’s Road to 2020 roadmap,
wherein 2018 was focused on “reversing
the profitability trend”.
To support this business need, the HR
team centered its mission on providing
an employee experience that drives
awesome customer experience and positive
shareholder value.
ATTRACTING AND
RETAINING TALENT
Being a company with a legacy that spans
over 90 years and 25 years respectively,
PLDT and Smart had to renew their talent
strategy to remain relevant to business.
The HR team worked with the leaders on
building the talent channel and ecosystem
for the next generation of leaders who
would drive innovative products and
services in the country. Such initiatives
include the creation and application of
programs for Leadership Development and
Top Talents, and targeted hiring activities
across local and global markets. These
candidates would form part of the Executive
Development pipeline, Management
Associate pool, and introduction of a
revitalized internship program to re-shape
the company’s new foundational footprint in
the academe.
23,010
CLASSROOM GRADUATES
41,840
E-LEARNING COURSES
ACCOMPLISHED
20
FIBER POWER
leadership formation, team development,
strategic planning, and the like. There
were a number of customized programs
that were even extended to members of
the MVP group of companies. Its “L&D
on the Road” program which focuses on
nationwide roadshows and workshops, also
acquired various citations such as the PSTD
2018 Gawad Maestro Special Award on
Digitization of Training and a Grand Anvil.
Due to the strong learning and
development collaborative efforts of PLDT
and Smart, the group achieved cost savings
of Php3.5M in 2018 with a training cost per
day that was 78% lower than market scale.
BOOSTING EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING
PLDT and Smart’s wellness programs are
anchored on three principles – (1) leader-
led, where there are wellness ambassadors
at the Officer and Executive levels; (2)
employee-owned, where the community is
encouraged to create their own initiatives;
and (3) HR-enabled, with sufficient
productivity tools in place. Branded as
“Workplace Wellness 360”, the company’s
well-being programs include the strength
of work relationships, family engagement,
health and fitness, spiritual wellness, financial
stability, corporate social responsibility and
employee safety.
PLDT and Smart are active wellness
ambassadors of the MVP Group,
participating in various group-wide activities
such as the Makabansa Basketball League,
where they served as event sponsors, and
their own employee-funded clubs. In the
most awaited sports tournament MVP
Olympics, PLDT won the championship
title in its second consecutive year. Likewise,
PLDT Group Officers are highly supportive
when it comes to sports-related initiatives.
PLDT Business Transformation Office Head
Mr. Ricky Vargas plays an active role in the
country’s sports program as the elected
Philippine Olympic Committee (POC)
President in 2018.
Relative to well-being, employee safety
is also a priority in PLDT and Smart as it
raises the overall employee health index.
The company has a robust Disaster
Preparedness Program with various
typhoon and earthquake drills, educational
campaigns, readiness expo events, a first
aiders’ certification program, as well as its
very own application. HANDA or Hazard
Alert Notification for Disaster App allows
employees to notify their immediate
managers and the company’s Security and
Rescue teams whether they are safe or in
need of aid (SOS) in times of crisis.
Rewarding company benefits such as
vacation and sick leaves, medical and
insurance coverage, loan facilities, monthly
allowances, and a retirement plan or
provident fund apply to every regular
employee from staff to executive level.
RECOGNIZING PERFORMANCE
In an effort to reinforce strong performance
across the organization, the PLDT Group
worked on modernizing their benefits and
improving their salary structure to be at par
with global industry standards. Short-term
incentive plans were implemented for
employees across all levels, with an added
transformation incentive plan for qualified
leaders which are linked to the company’s
performance shares, as co-owners of the
business. This enabled the workforce to be
more accountable for PLDT Group’s shared
goals and get rewarded for their hard work,
cultivating a performance-driven mindset.
With 2018 being a breakout year for the
company in terms of turning the business
around and celebrating its triple 90-25-
10 Anniversary, it was timely that PLDT
and Smart synergized their rewards and
recognition program. The tribute awarded
90 outstanding employees, alongside senior
leaders, colleagues, and family members,
putting a spotlight on their success stories.
While the road ahead to 2020 may be
challenging, the year 2018 proved to
be a momentous time for the PLDT
Group workforce as they celebrated
their unwavering strength, resilience, and
continuous legacy to the country.
In the area of health care, the PLDT Group
takes pride in its comprehensive medical
and dental coverage for employees. It has
its own clinics located in PLDT MGO and
Smart Tower, and partner clinics nationwide
serviced by in-house doctors, nurses, and
medical consultants.
An Annual Physical Exam is facilitated across
all sites nationwide for employee staff
covering medical history exam, vital signs,
physical and dental examination, chest X-ray,
CBC with platelet count, urinalysis with
microscopy, electrocardiogram, ultrasound,
and blood chemistry. In PLDT, 87.65%
of staff and supervisors completed their
exam, and 83% from Smart. Executives and
Officers also have a yearly annual check-up
in partnership with reputable hospitals such
as St. Luke’s, Makati Medical Center, and
Medical City. In 2018, more than 80% of
PLDT and Smart Management completed
their medical exams.
To prevent illnesses, PLDT and Smart
facilitate discounted vaccinations for
employees and their family members
for hepatitis A and B, influenza, cervical
cancer, and pneumonia. In 2018, 707
PLDT employees and 7,195 dependents
took advantage of this, while 928 Smart
employees and their 5,534 dependents
participated.
With all its company benefits on healthcare
and well-being, the company was also
recognized for being a Circle of Excellence
finalist for “Wellness Company of the Year”
at the Asia CEO Awards in 2018.
21
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT
Cultivating the best values
in life with the help of
the most reliable fiber-
powered network.
22
FIBER POWER THE PLDT GROUP
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE REPORT
Corporate Governance is the cornerstone of PLDT strategy. It is PLDT’s way of doing
business consistent with applicable laws, regulations, Company policies and international
best practices. It is doing business mindful that what we do impacts the lives of many -
our stakeholders, internal and external to the company. It is our commitment to work
passionately together in order to achieve our Mission and strategic objectives and secure
sustainable value for the Company to the benefit of our stakeholders. In the PLDT Group,
corporate governance is everyone’s business - the Board, Management and employees,
who have pledged to uphold the Company’s core principles of integrity, accountability,
fairness, and transparency in all business dealings and transactions.
OUR LEADERSHIP
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The primary responsibility for ensuring
good corporate governance in PLDT
is vested in our Board of Directors
(“Board”). As the body entrusted with
authority to act for and on behalf of
the Company, acts of the Board are
expressions of the Company’s will,
including its exercise of the corporate
powers, conduct of business and control
of the properties of the Company.
Directors are expected to perform
their duties diligently and in good faith
and devote sufficient time and attention
for such purpose. The Board and the
directors are bound to act in the best
interest of the Company and for the
common benefit of its stockholders and
other stakeholders.
To ensure a high standard of governance
for the Company, the Board performs
the following functions and duties with
the assistance of the Board Committees:
• Corporate Governance. The
Board, with the assistance of the
Governance and Nomination
Committee, establishes the
Company’s corporate governance
framework and policies and
oversees their implementation.
• Determination and review of
• Management oversight.
Company’s Vision, Mission and
strategic objectives. The Board, in
coordination with Management,
determines the Vision, Mission and
strategic objectives of the Company
and reviews the same annually in
relation to corporate performance in
its annual strategic planning session
with Management.
The Board exercises oversight
on Management in its execution
of the strategic direction and
implementation of the policies set by
the Board.
23
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT HIGHLIGHTS IN 2018
• 11 Board Meetings and
25 Board Committee Meetings
• Annual Stockholders’ Meeting
• Appointment of Chief Risk Management Officer
• Appointment of Chief Information
Security Officer
• Review of Code of Business Conduct and
Ethics; Conflict of Interest Policy
• Training on Sustainability Strategy in a
Disruptive Business Environment: ESG Best
Practices and Compliance Issues; Blockchain
Technology Use Cases and Strategic Benefits,
Risks and Governance Issues
•
•
•
• Corporate Social Responsibility and
Stakeholder engagement. The Board
oversees the Company’s stakeholder
engagement and corporate social
responsibility programs. It ensures
that the Company has an investor
relations program and programs for
engagement and communication with
sectors of the community in which
the Company operates, including the
Company’s disclosure of material
and reportable information regarding
non-financial and sustainability issues,
with focus on the management of
economic, environmental, social and
governance (EESG) issues of the
business.
•
Financial reporting, internal control,
internal audit and independent
audit. The Board, with the assistance
of the Audit Committee, carries
out its oversight responsibilities for
the Company’s financial reporting,
internal control system, internal audit
and independent audit mechanisms.
Enterprise risk management. The
Board, with the assistance of the
Risk Committee, fulfills its oversight
responsibilities for the Company’s
assessment and management of
enterprise risks, and reviews and
discusses with Management the
Company’s major risk exposures and
the corresponding risk mitigation
measures.
Technology. The Board, with
the assistance of the Technology
Strategy Committee, reviews and
approves the Company’s technology
strategy and roadmap and capital
expenditures for network and
technology.
•
Succession planning, professional
development and executive
compensation. The Board, through
its Executive Compensation
Committee, reviews the criteria
for employment, promotion and
professional development plans
for Senior Management; keeps
track of their performance, and
evaluates their potential career
paths. A succession planning
process is facilitated within the
PLDT Group referred to as the
Leadership Succession Planning and
Development. The Board is assisted
by the Executive Compensation
Committee in developing the
compensation philosophy or policy
consistent with the strategy, culture
and control environment of the
Company.
Selection process for directors
and appointment of officers.
The Board, with the assistance of
the Governance and Nomination
Committee, implements a selection
process to ensure that the Board
has an effective and balanced mix
of knowledge, expertise, experience
and diversity in terms of, among
others, age, gender and ethnicity, and
reviews the qualifications of officers
to be appointed.
24
FIBER POWER •
Annual Board assessment.
The Board conducts an annual
self-assessment to evaluate the
performance of the Board as a
whole, the Board Committees and
the individual directors. Each Board
Committee also conducts an annual
self-assessment of its performance.
Our Board and our directors have access
to independent professional advice, at
the Company’s expense, as well as access
to Management as they may deem
necessary to carry out their duties.
COMPOSITION
Our Board is composed of 13 members,
with 3 independent directors, 7 other
non-executive directors and 3 executive
directors. Four directors are female
and two are Japanese citizens. All the
members of our Board are qualified
and competent directors with diverse
and complementing skills, expertise,
experience and knowledge which enrich
the collective processes and practices of
our Board. Our directors have extensive
experience in their respective fields or
industries, such as telecommunications,
Information and Communication
Technology (ICT), business processing,
infrastructure, power, banking, insurance,
real property development, retail and
agriculture businesses, law and public
administration. At least three of our
non-executive directors have extensive
experience in the telecommunications
industry.
Chairman. The Chairman provides
leadership for the Board and ensures that
the Board works effectively and performs
its duties responsibly. He presides and
facilitates discussions in Board meetings
focusing on strategic matters, risk
management, key issues and governance
concerns that will affect the business
operations.
The incumbent Chairman, Mr. Manuel
V. Pangilinan, concurrently holds the
position of President and CEO since
January 1, 2016. With the guidance of the
Governance and Nomination Committee,
Mr. Pangilinan is managing the search
for a new President and CEO of PLDT.
Meanwhile, the Board is assured of the
benefit of independent views with the
checks and balances in place: (i) clearly
defined duties and responsibilities of
the Chairman and the President &
CEO in the By-Laws, CG Manual and
Board Charter; (ii) independent Board
Several of our directors have professional background and business experience in more than one field.
25
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT oversight, supported by 3 independent
directors, 7 non-executive directors,
Audit Committee composed entirely of
independent directors, and Governance
and Nomination Committee, Executive
Compensation Committee and Risk
Committee with independent directors
constituting majority of their respective
voting members; and (iii) Company
policies and procedures which have
been established to manage conflicts of
interests.
Independent Directors. Our independent
directors, namely, Retired Supreme Court
Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban, Mr.
Pedro E. Roxas and Mr. Bernido H. Liu,
were selected pursuant to the specific
independence criteria set out under
applicable laws and rules, our By-Laws and
CG Manual. Under our CG Manual, an
independent director is, broadly, “a person
who is independent of Management
and who, apart from his fees and
shareholdings, is free from any business
or other relationship with the Company
which could, or could reasonably be
perceived to, materially interfere with
his exercise of independent judgment
in carrying out his responsibilities as a
director of the Company.” More specific
independence standard criteria are
enumerated in our By-Laws and CG
Manual. On March 21, 2019, the Board
appointed Hon. Artemio V. Panganiban
as Lead Independent Director pursuant
to the Recommendation of the Code of
Corporate Governance for Publicly-Listed
Companies (CG Code for PLCs).
DIVERSITY
PLDT considers having an optimally
performing diverse Board as an essential
element for the attainment of the
Company’s strategic objectives and its
sustainable development. PLDT’s Board
Diversity Policy articulates the Company’s
recognition of the enhanced quality
of performance and decision-making
capability of a Board that is composed of
a mix of directors who are equipped with
knowledge, skills, professional or business
experience, cultural and educational
background, ethnicity, gender, age,
length of service, and is a combination
of executive, non-executive and
independent directors. The Company’s
Board Diversity Policy provides that
without infringing the cardinal right of the
stockholders to nominate and vote for
the election of directors, the Governance
and Nomination Committee and the
Board shall consider the appropriate mix,
complementation and interplay of the
various diversity aspects in the selection
of qualified director-nominees, including
independent director-nominees, who will
be recommended for election by the
stockholders or the Board, as the case
may be, for the Company to achieve the
benefits of Board diversity as well as to
fairly and effectively promote the interest
of all the stakeholders, particularly the
long term interest of the stockholders of
the Company.
For the purpose of selecting the
members of our Board, the Governance
and Nomination Committee follows the
Company’s Guidelines on the Search,
Screening and Selection of Directors and
Screening Checklist which contain, among
others, the criteria and qualifications for
directorship and a matrix on the skills,
expertise and experience relevant to
the responsibilities of the Board, and
considers other relevant factors, such
as conflict of interest and directorships
and/or positions in other corporations.
The process ensures that the selection
of directors and independent directors
is aligned with the Board Diversity Policy
and the Company’s Mission, Vision and
strategic objectives.
DIRECTORSHIPS IN OTHER
CORPORATIONS
Our Board adheres to a performance-
based standard in determining whether
other directorships compromise the
capacity of a director to serve or perform
his/her duties and responsibilities to
the Company diligently and efficiently.
Differences in individual capabilities and
the nature and demands of directorships
in other companies are given due
consideration in determining fitness and
capacity to serve in our Board.
MEETINGS
Our Board meets, more or less, on a
monthly basis, in accordance with the
schedule of meetings that it sets at the
end of the preceding year. Invariably, some
of these meetings are devoted to the
review and/or approval of the Company’s
Vision and Mission, the strategic plans
and budget, business operations updates,
network and technology updates, capital
expenditures and investments, risk
management reports and CSR programs.
Once every quarter, our Board reviews
the quarterly financial reports.
In 2018, our Board held 11 meetings (9
regular Board meetings, 1 special Board
meeting and 1 organizational Board
meeting). In each meeting, a quorum of at
least two-thirds of the Board members,
including at least one independent
director, was present. All independent
directors were present in the Annual
Stockholders’ Meeting held on June 13,
2018. The respective Chairmen of the
Audit, Governance and Nomination,
Executive Compensation, Risk, and
Technology Strategy Committees were
likewise present in the said meeting.
Key agenda items in the 2018 Board
meetings included the following:
• Audited financial results for the year
ended December 31, 2017
• 2018 Annual Budget, business
strategies and initiatives
• Financial results for each quarter
of 2018
• Business updates
• Network projects and capital
expenditures
• Equity and other securities
transactions
• Dividend declarations
• Annual Stockholders’ Meeting matters
• Appointment of members of
the Advisory Board and Board
Committees
• Appointment and promotion of
officers
• Amended Charters of Board
Committees
• Reports of Board Committees
• Enterprise Risk Management Report
• Sustainability Report
• TIP Award for 2017 Performance
Cycle
COMPENSATION
All our directors are entitled to a per
diem of Php250 thousand for attendance
in each Board meeting and Php125
thousand for attendance in each meeting
of the Board Committees in which some
of them are members. Save for our
executive directors, our directors do
not receive stock options, performance
incentives, bonuses or any other form of
compensation from the Company.
TRAINING
For the orientation of new directors,
the Chairman, President and CEO, Chief
Financial Officer, Corporate Secretary
and Chief Governance Officer give a
briefing on the Company’s structure,
business, operating and financial highlights,
responsibilities of the Board and its
Committees and how each operates. The
new director is also furnished with copies
of all relevant corporate documents,
including the Company’s Articles, By-Laws,
Annual Report, CG Manual, Code of
26
FIBER POWER ATTENDANCE IN BOARD MEETINGS AND ANNUAL STOCKHOLDERS’ MEETING
Board Meetings
Annual Stockholders’ Meeting
Director
Manuel V. Pangilinan
Ray C. Espinosa
Ma. Lourdes C. Rausa-Chan
Bernido H. Liu
Artemio V. Panganiban
Pedro E. Roxas
Helen Y. Dee
Emmanuel F. Dooc1
James L. Go
Shigeki Hayashi
Junichi Igarashi2
Aurora C. Ignacio3
Albert F. del Rosario
Atsuhisa Shirai4
Amado D. Valdez5
Marife B. Zamora
Designation
Executive Director
Executive Director
Executive Director
Independent Director
Independent Director
Independent Director
Non-Executive Director
Non-Executive Director
Non-Executive Director
Non-Executive Director
Non-Executive Director
Non-Executive Director
Non-Executive Director
Non-Executive Director
Non-Executive Director
Non-Executive Director
1 Elected to the Board on March 27, 2018, vice Mr. Amado D. Valdez.
2 Elected to the Board on August 9, 2018, vice Mr. Atsuhisa Shirai.
3 Elected to the Board on November 8, 2018, vice Mr. Emmanuel F. Dooc.
4 Until August 9, 2018.
5 Until March 27, 2018.
11/11
11/11
11/11
11/11
11/11
11/11
8/11
6/7
11/11
11/11
5/5
2/2
11/11
6/6
1/2
10/11
BOARD REMUNERATION IN 2018 (PHP)
Director
Remuneration for ASM
and Board Meetings Attended
Remuneration for
Board Committee
Meetings Attended
Executive Directors
Manuel V. Pangilinan
Ray C. Espinosa
Ma. Lourdes C. Rausa-Chan
Independent Directors
Bernido H. Liu
Artemio V. Panganiban
Pedro E. Roxas
Non-executive Directors
Helen Y. Dee
Emmanuel F. Dooc
James L. Go
Shigeki Hayashi
Junichi Igarashi
Aurora C. Ignacio
Albert F. del Rosario
Atsuhisa Shirai
Amado D. Valdez
Marife B. Zamora
Total
2,500,000
2,500,000
2,500,000
2,500,000
2,500,000
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
2,500,000
2,500,000
1,250,000
500,000
2,500,000
1,250,000
250,000
2,250,000
31,500,000
1,625,000
625,000
500,000
2,375,000
2,500,000
2,375,000
--
250,000
1,750,000
--
1,500,000
--
625,000
1,375,000
--
--
15,500,000
--
--
Total
4,125,000
3,125,000
3,000,000
4,875,000
5,000,000
4,875,000
2,000,000
1,750,000
4,250,000
2,500,000
2,750,000
500,000
3,125,000
2,625,000
250,000
2,250,000
47,000,000
* Only one per diem was given to directors for attendance in the Annual Stockholders’ Meeting, Regular Meeting and Organizational Meeting on June 13, 2018.
27
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT
PLDT Director Ms. Helen Y. Dee, Advisory Board/Committee member Mr. Oscar S. Reyes and Director Mr. James L. Go.
Ethics, and the Charters of the Board
Committees. Updates on business and
governance policies and requirements
principally from the PSEC, PSE, US SEC,
and NYSE, and new laws applicable or
relevant to the Company and its business,
particularly on financial reporting and
disclosures and corporate governance,
are presented in Board meetings and/or
furnished to the directors.
The Board keeps abreast of industry
developments, business trends and legal
requirements relevant to the Company
and its operations. In this regard, the
Company conducts an Annual In-House
Corporate Governance Enhancement
Session (ACGES) that provides an
opportunity for leadership to engage in
discussion with international and local
experts on relevant topics, including
emerging trends and technologies,
new laws, and best business practices.
Updates on business and governance
policies and requirements, and new
laws applicable or relevant to the
Company and its business are presented
in Board meetings or furnished to
directors. In 2018, in collaboration with
Philippine-based affiliates of the First
Pacific Company Limited, the Company
conducted the ACGES for PLDT’s
Board and Management on the topics:
(i) Sustainability Strategy in a Disruptive
Business Environment: Environmental,
Social and Governance (ESG) Best
Practices and Compliance Issues; and (ii)
Blockchain Technology Use Cases and
Strategic Benefits, Risks and Governance
Issues. Some members of our Board
likewise attended other training sessions by
external providers presented in this report.
PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT
Our directors take part in an annual
assessment process which reviews and
evaluates the performance of the whole
Board, the Board Committees and the
individuals that comprise these bodies.
This process enables the Board to identify
its strengths and areas for improvement
and elicit individual directors’ feedback
and views on the Company’s strategies,
performance and future direction. Each
Board Committee also conducts an
annual self-assessment of its performance.
The Board assessment process is further
discussed under the Section Monitoring
and Evaluation of this report.
Date of Training
Program
Speaker/Training Institution
Name of Director
DIRECTORS’ TRAINING 2018
Cybersecurity; Synopsis on
Corporate Governance,
Legal and Regulatory Update
Mr. Graham Winter of Gibson Dunn
Pricewaterhouse Coopers/
First Pacific Company Limited Directors’ Training
Manuel V. Pangilinan
Sustainability Strategy in a Disruptive
Business Environment: ESG Best
Practices and Compliance Issues
Blockchain Technology Use Cases
and Strategic Benefits, Risks and
Governance Issues
Dr. Matthew Bell
Asia Pacific Oceania Managing Partner, Climate
Change and Sustainability Services
Ernst & Young (EY)/
PLDT Annual Corporate Governance
Enhancement Session
Mr. Paul Brody
Global Innovation Leader on Blockchain
Technology
Ernst & Young (EY)/
PLDT Annual Corporate Governance
Enhancement Session
Ray C. Espinosa
Shigeki Hayashi
Junichi Igarashi
Aurora C. Ignacio
Bernido H. Liu
Artemio V. Panganiban
Ma. Lourdes C. Rausa-Chan
Albert F. del Rosario
Pedro E. Roxas
Corporate Governance
SGV & Co.
Artemio V. Panganiban
2018 Annual Seminar
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation
Helen Y. Dee
Corporate Governance
Institute of Corporate Directors
Junichi Igarashi
Corporate Governance
SGV & Co.
Marife B. Zamora
October 19
November 16
August 8
October 27
November 14
December 6
28
FIBER POWER ATTENDANCE IN BOARD MEETINGS AND ANNUAL STOCKHOLDERS’ MEETING
Members
Designation
No. of Board Meetings
Annual Stockholders’ Meeting
Oscar S. Reyes
Roberto R. Romulo
Benny S. Santoso
Orlando B. Vea
Christopher H. Young
Advisor
Advisor
Advisor
Advisor
Advisor
11/11
11/11
11/11
11/11
11/11
ATTENDANCE IN BOARD COMMITTEE MEETINGS
Member
Audit Committee
(AC)
Governance
& Nomination
Committee (GNC)
Executive
Compensation
Committee (ECC)
Risk Committee
(RC)
Technology
Strategy Committee
(TSC)
Manuel V. Pangilinan
Ray C. Espinosa
Ma. Lourdes C. Rausa-Chan***
Bernido H. Liu*
Artemio V. Panganiban*
Pedro E. Roxas*
Emmanuel F. Dooc
James L. Go**
Shigeki Hayashi
Junichi Igarashi
Albert F. del Rosario
Atsuhisa Shirai**
Roberto R. Romulo**
Oscar S. Reyes
Orlando B. Vea
Corazon S. Dela Paz-Bernardo**
Maria Elizabeth S. Sichon***
*Independent Director
**Advisor to the Audit Committee
***Non-voting member
7/8
8/8
8/8
8/8
3/3
4/5
8/8
8/8
4/4
4/4
4/4
4/4
4/4
2/2
2/2
4/4
4/4
4/4
3/4
2/2
2/2
4/4
4/4
4/4
1/4
2/2
2/2
2/2
3/3
5/5
5/5
2/3
5/5
3/3
5/5
1/2
5/5
5/5
29
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT
BOARD COMMITTEES
To aid in ensuring compliance with the
principles of good corporate governance,
our Board has constituted the following
Board Committees: Audit, Governance
and Nomination, Risk, Executive
Compensation, and Technology Strategy.
Board of Directors
Advisory Committee
Audit
Committee
(AC)
Governance
& Nomination
Committee
(GNC)
Executive
Compensation
Committee
(ECC)
Risk
Committee
(RC)
Technology
Strategy
Committee
(TSC)
ADVISORY BOARD/COMMITTEE
AUDIT COMMITTEE (AC)
Our Board is supported by an Advisory
Committee that provides guidance and
suggestions, as necessary, on matters
deliberated upon during Board meetings.
Our Advisory Committee is composed
of Mr. Roberto R. Romulo, Mr. Benny
S. Santoso, Mr. Orlando B. Vea, Mr.
Christopher H. Young, and Mr. Oscar S.
Reyes.
PLDT’s other Board Committees, namely
Audit, Governance and Nomination,
Executive Compensation, Risk, and
Technology Strategy Committees
assist the Board in the performance
of its functions and responsibilities.
The respective charters of the Board
Committees provide that each shall have
the necessary resources and authorities
to discharge their responsibilities,
including obtaining external legal or
professional advice.
The Audit Committee assists the Board in
fulfilling its oversight responsibility for: (i)
the integrity of the Company’s accounting
and financial reporting principles and
policies, and system of internal controls,
including the integrity of financial
statements and the independent audit
thereof; (ii) the Company’s compliance
with legal and regulatory requirements;
and (iii) the Company’s audit process
and the performance of the internal
audit organization and the external
auditors, including the external auditors’
qualifications and independence. For
efficiency, the Board has determined
that in lieu of creating a distinct Related
Party Transaction Committee, the
AC’s functions shall include the review
of material related transactions and
significant unusual transactions, in
accordance with the materiality threshold
set in the Guidelines on the Proper
Handling of Related Party Transactions or
by the Board.
Our AC is composed of three members,
all of whom are independent directors,
and four advisors. The AC members are
Retired Supreme Court Chief Justice
Artemio V. Panganiban, Mr. Bernido H.
Liu and Mr. Pedro E. Roxas, who is the
chairman of this committee. The four AC
advisors are Mr. Junichi Igarashi and Mr.
James L. Go, who are non-independent
members of our Board, Mr. Roberto R.
Romulo, a member of our Advisory/
Board Committee, and Ms. Corazon S.
de la Paz-Bernardo, a former member
of our Board of Directors. All of the
members of our AC are financially literate
and Ms. Corazon S. de la Paz-Bernardo
has expertise in accounting and financial
management. She was a former Chairman
and Senior Partner of Joaquin Cunanan
& Company, now Isla Lipana & Co.,
a member firm of Pricewaterhouse
Coopers (PwC).
PLDT Advisory Board/Committee member Mr. Christopher H. Young and
Director Ms. Aurora C. Ignacio.
Independent Director Retired Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban and Advisory
Board/Committee member Mr. Roberto R. Romulo.
30
FIBER POWER The charter of the AC may be viewed
and downloaded from the PLDT website
through the following link: http://pldt.
com/docs/default-source/corporate-
governance-files/committee-charter/
amended-ac-charter-jan22-2018.pdf.
The purposes, duties and powers of the
AC are set forth in its charter.
AC Activities in 2018
The Audit Committee held five regular
meetings and three joint meetings
with the Audit Committees of Smart
Communications, Inc. (SMART) and
Digital Telecommunications Philippines,
Inc. (Digitel), which covered the following
important activities:
With respect to the external auditor
SyCip, Gorres, Velayo and Co (SGV &
Co.), a member practice of Ernst & Young
Global Limited (EY), the AC discussed,
reviewed, evaluated and approved, or
noted:
•
•
•
•
•
the summary of audit, audit-related
and non-audit services and fees
of SGV & Co. and EY that were
approved by the AC in 2017;
SGV & Co.’s report on the results of
the integrated audit of PLDT’s 2017
financial statements prepared in
accordance with Philippine Financial
Reporting Standards (PFRS) and
International Financial Reporting
Standards (IFRS), and internal
controls over financial reporting
(ICFR);
SGV & Co.’s required
communications (to the AC)
including their independence from
PLDT, within the meaning of the
Securities Act of the Philippine
Securities Regulation Code and
the U.S. Securities Exchange Act,
and SGV & Co.’s opinion that the
PLDT Group maintained, in all
material respects, effective ICFR as
of December 31, 2017, based on the
COSO6’s 2013 Internal Control –
Integrated Framework;
SGV & Co.’s performance for 2017
and, re-appointment of SGV & Co. as
PLDT’s external auditor for the year
2018;
SGV & Co.’s plan for (and status
reports on) the integrated audit of
PLDT’s and its subsidiaries’ 2018
financial statements and review of
ICFR; and
•
various audit and non-audit
engagements of SGV & Co. and Ernst
& Young LLP (Singapore) in 2018.
With respect to the internal auditors, the
AC discussed, reviewed and approved, or
noted:
• PLDT’s unaudited consolidated
financial results and reports for the
first quarter of 2018, second quarter
and first half of 2018, and the third
quarter of 2018 and nine months
ended September 30, 2018, and the
related party and significant unusual
transactions in 2018; and
• PLDT Internal Audit and Fraud Risk
Management Group’s performance
report for the year 2017;
•
information regarding industry
comparison with respect to
unaudited financial results for both
fixed line and wireless businesses for
the first, second and third quarters of
2018, and for the six months ended
June 30, 2018 and nine months
ended September 30, 2018.
With respect to governance, general
internal controls and risk management
process, the AC discussed, reviewed and
approved, or noted the following:
•
•
•
•
summary results of AC’s Self-
Assessment and Performance
Evaluation for 2017;
2017 PLDT AC Report for inclusion
in the Annual Report;
2018 annual stockholders’ meeting,
(Notice and Agenda, Information
Statement, materials for the Proxy
Form), the Company’s compliance
system, and significant legal matters;
updates on regulatory matters
and compliance with applicable
regulations;
• Group-wide Whistleblowing Status
Reports on whistleblower complaints
received, pending or closed during
the last quarter of 2017 and each of
the first three quarters of 2018;
•
Internal Audit Group (IAG) Head’s
statement of compliance with the
International Standards for the
Professional Practice of Internal
Auditing, and confirmation of the
organizational independence of
PLDT Internal Audit organization;
• periodic status reports regarding
PLDT Group’s readiness for SOX
404 compliance as of yearend
2017 and as of yearend 2018, IAG’s
major internal audit and fraud
risk management activities and
accomplishments and organizational
updates, SMART and Digitel Mobile
Philippines, Inc. Internal Audit’s
major internal audit activities and
accomplishments, PayMaya Internal
Audit’s major internal audit activities
and accomplishments, and updates
on significant audit open items, and
launch of Project OWN, which
aims to promote ownership and
accountability, and ultimately build a
culture of compliance;
• PLDT Group’s scoping and approach
for 2018 SOX 404 compliance;
the Group-wide Internal Audit Plan
for 2019, jointly with the SMART and
Digitel Audit Committees; and
•
•
the existing PLDT Internal Audit
Charter for retention until the next
review in 2019.
• PLDT Group top risks for 2018, and
updates on ERM activities, processes,
and coverage;
With respect to financial reporting and
controls, the AC reviewed, discussed and
approved:
•
•
the final results and report of SGV
& Co. on its integrated audit of 2017
PFRS and IFRS financial statements
and ICFR;
• PLDT Group’s 2017 audited financial
statements in accordance with PFRS
and IFRS, Annual Report on Form
17-A (for PSEC filing), and 2017
Annual Report on Form 20-F
(for U.S. SEC filing);
related party transactions including
the (i) transfer of SMART’s interest in
Voyager to PLDT Communications
and Energy Ventures (PCEV), PCEV’s
investment in Voyager Group and
in Smart Perpetual Notes, and the
lease out of PLDT’s AW139 Aircraft
to Pacific Global One Aviation
Company, Inc., (ii) the advisory
services agreement between
SMART and First Pacific Investment
Management Limited (FPIML); and
(iii) the renewal of PLDT’s and
SMART’s Property Insurance for
2018-2019;
31
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT
On policy review and development:
•
•
updates on tax matters including
pending tax audits, and tax
assessments and settlements as of
December 31, 2017; and
• Customer experience (CX)
transformation programs, user access
management and technology asset
management program.
GOVERNANCE AND
NOMINATION COMMITTEE
(GNC)
The GNC assists the Board in the
performance of its functions to: (i)
establish the Company’s corporate
governance framework, principles and
policies and oversee their implementation;
(ii) develop and implement the Board’s
performance evaluation process; (iii)
review and evaluate the qualifications
of the persons nominated to the
Board and to other positions requiring
appointment by the Board; (iv) identify
persons qualified to become members
of the Board and/or the Board
Committees; and (v) make an assessment
of the effectiveness of the Company’s
nomination and selection process for the
Board and Board Committees.
Our GNC is composed of five voting
members, all of whom are regular
members of our Board of Directors,
and two non-voting members. Three of
the voting members are independent
directors, namely, Retired Supreme Court
Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban, Mr.
Pedro E. Roxas and Mr. Bernido H. Liu,
and two are non-independent directors,
namely, Mr. Junichi Igarashi and Mr. Manuel
V. Pangilinan, who is the chairman of this
committee. The non-voting members
are Atty. Ma. Lourdes C. Rausa-Chan and
effective March 21, 2019, Ms. Gina Marina
P. Ordonez.
The charter of the GNC may be viewed
and downloaded from the PLDT website
through the following link: http://pldt.
com/docs/default-source/corporate-
governance-files/committee-charter/
amended-gnc-charter-jan22-2018.pdf. The
purposes, duties and powers of the GNC
are set forth in the charter.
•
reviewed the (i) Code of Business
Conduct and Ethics, and (ii) Conflict
of Interest Policy, and determined
that the said policies remain to
be compliant with applicable law,
regulations and best practices and
are appropriate for the Company,
and approved the recommendation
to continue to strengthen the
implementation of the said policies;
and
• discussed PLDT’s Integrated Annual
Corporate Governance Report that
was submitted to the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) and
Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) in
compliance with the SEC Code of
Corporate Governance for Publicly
Listed Companies and related SEC
and PSE memorandum circulars.
On education and communication:
• provided guidance on and approved
the speakers for and the content
of PLDT’s Annual Corporate
Governance Enhancement Session
(ACGES) for Directors and Officers.
The ACGES themes were: (a)
Sustainability Strategy in a Disruptive
Business Environment: ESG Best
Practices and Compliance Issues, and
(b) Blockchain Technology Use Cases
and Strategic Benefits, Risks and
Governance Issues;
•
•
•
reviewed, selected and approved the
theme entitled, #ItsNotComplicated
and related creative concepts for
the 2019 Corporate Governance
communication materials; and
reviewed and noted the Corporate
Governance e-Learning Refresher
Course of PLDT and SMART, and
the results of the 12-point Ethics
Survey; and
reviewed and approved PLDT’s
Corporate Governance Report for
2017.
On compliance and enforcement:
GNC Activities in 2018
•
The activities of the GNC pursuant to its
oversight function on governance-related
matters included the following:
reviewed the reports on PLDT’s
Expanded Whistleblowing (EWB)
cases and the investigation
and dispositions thereof, and
those of SMART, PLDT Global
Corporation, ePLDT, Inc., Digital
Telecommunications Philippines, Inc.
and Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc.;
6 Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)
32
reviewed and noted or approved, as
applicable, the Conflict of Interest
(COI) Disclosures of key employees;
• discussed and recommended Voyager
Group’s establishment of appropriate
governance structures, including
the creation of audit, governance
and other board committees, and
adoption of relevant corporate
governance policies; and
•
assisted in implementing the Board
Performance Assessment for 2017
performance, which included the
performance evaluation of the Board
Committees and Individual Directors.
The activities of the GNC pursuant to its
oversight function on nomination related
matters included the following:
• pre-screened candidates nominated
to become Directors and the
qualifications of candidates for
Independent Directors, and
submitted to the Board the final
list of qualified Director and
Independent Director nominees
for election at the 2018 Annual
Stockholders’ Meeting;
•
•
•
screened and recommended to the
Board the appointment of three
directors to fill the vacancies in the
Board;
reviewed and confirmed People
Group’s evaluation of the
qualifications of officers and
recommended their re-appointment
as such at the 2018 Organizational
Meeting of the Board of Directors;
reviewed and confirmed People
Group’s evaluation of proposed
appointments of new officers and
promotions to officer rank for
approval by the Board; and
•
reviewed and noted the engagement
of new key advisors.
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
COMMITTEE (ECC)
The ECC assists the Board in the
performance of its functions to:
(i) oversee the development of a
compensation philosophy or policy
consistent with the strategy, culture and
control environment of PLDT; (ii) oversee
the development and administration
of PLDT’s executive compensation
programs, including long term incentive
FIBER POWER •
2017 award under the PLDT and
SMART Long-Term Incentive Plan,
referred to as the Transformation
Incentive Plan (TIP);
• 2018 Grant under Cycle 1 of the TIP;
• proposed amendments to the 2019
Grant and the over-achievement
award under Cycle 1 of the TIP; and
• proposed changes to the PLDT
the Technology Group, the Business
Transformation Office, the Corporate
Services Group, the Revenue Office, and
Voyager/PayMaya; (ii) the Regulatory
Risks; (iii) the IT Transformation
Project; and (iv) the risks surrounding
data privacy, data security and data
management.
Retirement Benefit Plan and Medical
Benefit Plan.
TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY
COMMITTEE (TSC)
plans and equity-based plans for officers
and executives; (iii) oversee the
development and administration of the
Company’s performance management
framework to monitor and assess
the performance of Management; (iv)
review the succession plan for officers,
including the CEO, and (v) oversee the
development and implementation of
professional development programs for
officers.
Our ECC is composed of five voting
members, all of whom are regular
members of our Board of Directors,
and one non-voting member. Three of
the voting members are independent
directors, namely, Retired Supreme Court
Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban, Mr.
Pedro E. Roxas and Mr. Bernido H. Liu,
and two are non-independent directors,
namely, Mr. Junichi Igarashi and Mr. Manuel
V. Pangilinan, who is the chairman of this
committee. The non-voting member is
Ms. Gina Marina P. Ordonez, effective
March 21, 2019.
Our ECC is composed of five voting
members, all of whom are regular
members of our Board of Directors,
and one non-voting member. Three of
the voting members are independent
directors, namely, Retired Supreme Court
Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban,
Mr. Pedro E. Roxas and Mr. Bernido H. Liu,
and two are non-independent directors,
namely, Mr. Junichi Igarashi and Mr. Manuel
V. Pangilinan, who is the chairman of this
committee. The non-voting member is
Ms. Gina Marina P. Ordonez, effective
March 21, 2019.
The charter of the ECC may be viewed
and downloaded from the PLDT website
through the following link: http://pldt.
com/docs/default-source/corporate-
governance-files/committee-charter/
amended-ecc-charter-mar8-2018.pdf. The
purposes, duties and powers of the ECC
are set forth in the charter.
ECC Activities in 2018
RISK COMMITTEE (RC)
The RC assists the Board in the
performance of its functions to: (i)
oversee Management’s adoption and
implementation of a system for identifying,
assessing, monitoring and managing key
risk areas; (ii) review Management’s
reports on the Company’s major risk
exposures; and (iii) review Management’s
plans and actions to minimize, control or
manage the impact of such risks.
Our RC is composed of five voting
members, all of whom are regular
members of our Board of Directors.
Three of the voting members are
independent directors, namely, Mr. Pedro
E. Roxas, Mr. Bernido H. Liu and Retired
Supreme Court Chief Justice Artemio V.
Panganiban, who is the chairman of this
committee, and two are non-executive
non-independent directors, namely,
Mr. Junichi Igarashi and Mr. James L. Go.
The Charter of the RC may be viewed
and downloaded from the PLDT website
through the following link: http://pldt.
com/docs/default-source/corporate-
governance-files/committee-charter/
amended-rc-charter-jan-22-2018.pdf. The
purposes, duties and powers of the RC
are set forth in the charter.
RC Activities in 2018
The RC reviewed and discussed with
the Group Enterprise Risk Management
(GRMD) and Management, and noted or
approved the following:
The TSC assists the Board in the
performance of its functions to: (i) review
and approve the strategic vision for the role
of technology in PLDT’s overall business
strategy, including the technology strategy
and roadmap of PLDT; (ii) fulfill its oversight
responsibilities for PLDT’s effective execution
of its technology-related strategies; and (iii)
ensure the optimized use and contribution of
technology to PLDT’s business and strategic
objectives and growth targets.
Our TSC is composed of five voting
members and two non-voting members. The
five voting members are non-independent
directors Mr. Manuel V. Pangilinan, who is
the chairman of the committee, former
Ambassador Albert F. del Rosario, Atty. Ray
C. Espinosa, Mr. James L. Go and Mr. Junichi
Igarashi; and the two non-voting members
are Mr. Oscar S. Reyes and Mr. Orlando B.
Vea, who are members of our Advisory
Board/Committee.
A copy of the charter of the TSC may
be viewed and downloaded from the
PLDT website through the following link:
http://www.pldt.com/docs/default-source/
corporate-governance-files/committee-
charter/amended-tsc-charter-jan22-2018.
pdf?sfvrsn-2. The purposes, duties and powers
of the TSC are set forth in the TSC Charter.
TSC Activities in 2018
The TSC reviewed and discussed with the
Technology Group and Management, and
approved or endorsed to the Board for
approval the following:
•
•
•
technology budget items;
status of the network, including upgrades
on network roll-out and performance;
technology strategies, programs,
projects, initiatives and plans, including,
among others, core & transport
network capacity expansion and IT
transformation; and
operations including, among others, the
consolidated device buying plan.
33
The ECC discussed and approved or
endorsed to the Board for approval the
following:
•
framework and process followed by
the GRMD;
• Risk Appetite Statement of the PLDT
•
amendments to the charter of the
ECC;
• payout of the 2017 PLDT and
SMART Short-Term Incentive Plan
(STIP);
•
Group;
top risks of the PLDT Group as
identified by the Top Management
Team;
for the PLDT Group;
• proposed 2018 and 2019 PLDT and
•
SMART STIP;
2018 Merit Increase and Promotions
for Officers and Executives;
• progress of GRMD in conducting
Enterprise Risk Management
Workshops with core operational
groups; and (i) the Risk Profile of
• purchase of a Cyber Insurance Policy
• projects in support of business
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT The President & CEO has general care, management and
administration of the business operations of the Company.
He ensures that the business and affairs of the Company are
managed in a sound and prudent manner and that operational,
financial and internal controls are adequate and effective to ensure
reliability and integrity of financial and operational information,
effectiveness and efficiency of operations, safeguarding of assets
and compliance with laws, rules, regulations and contracts.
34
FIBER POWER MANAGEMENT
Our Board exercises oversight on
Management in accordance with the
standards set forth in our CG Manual. The
roles of Management and other offices
involved in ensuring implementation of
the corporate governance policies and
requirements are discussed below.
President and CEO. The President and
CEO has general care, management and
administration of the business operations
of the Company. He ensures that the
business and affairs of the Company are
managed in a sound and prudent manner
and that operational, financial and internal
controls are adequate and effective to
ensure reliability and integrity of financial
and operational information, effectiveness
and efficiency of operations, safeguarding
of assets and compliance with laws, rules,
regulations and contracts. He provides
leadership for Management in developing
and implementing business strategies,
plans and budgets to the extent approved
by the Board. In order to enable the
members of the Board to properly
fulfill their duties and responsibilities,
the CEO provides the Board with a
balanced and understandable account
of the Company’s performance, financial
condition, results of operations and
prospects on a regular basis. He directs
Management to provide the Board/
directors with adequate and timely
information about the matters to
be taken up in their Board meetings.
He ensures that the directors have
independent access to Management. The
President and CEO: (i) communicates
and implements the Company’s vision,
mission, values and overall strategy and
promotes the appropriate enhancement
in the organization or its stakeholder
engagement in relation to the same; and
(ii) serves as the link between internal
operations and external stakeholders.
Management formulates, under the
oversight of the Audit Committee,
financial reporting and internal control
systems, rules and procedures. Other
duties of the President are set forth in
the CG Manual.
Corporate Secretary. The Corporate
Secretary assists the Board in the
conduct of its meetings, including the
preparation of the schedule and agenda
of Board meetings, and ensures that all
Board procedures, rules and regulations
are observed by the directors, and
Management provides the Board with
complete and accurate information
necessary for judicious decision making.
The Corporate Secretary is responsible
for the safekeeping and preservation
of the integrity of the minutes of the
meetings of the Board and Board
Committees, as well as other official
records of the Company, and contributes
to the flow of information between
the Board and Management, the Board
and its Committees, and the Board and
the Company’s stakeholders, including
stockholders.
Internal Audit Organization. Our
Internal Audit organization determines
whether the Company’s structure of risk
management, control and governance
processes are adequate and functioning
to ensure that:
• Risks are appropriately identified,
•
•
managed and reported;
Significant financial, managerial, and
operating information are accurate,
reliable and timely;
Employees’ actions are in compliance
with policies, standards, procedures,
and applicable laws and regulations;
• Resources are acquired economically,
used efficiently and are adequately
protected;
• Programs, plans and objectives are
achieved;
• Quality and continuous improvement
are fostered in our control processes;
and
Significant legislative or regulatory
issues impacting the Company
are recognized and addressed
appropriately.
•
The Chief Audit Officer/Internal Audit
Head reports functionally to the AC and
administratively to the President and
CEO. In the discharge of his duties, the
Chief Audit Officer/Internal Audit Head is
required to:
• Provide annually, an assessment on
the adequacy and effectiveness of the
Company’s processes for controlling
activities and managing risks;
• Report significant issues related to
the processes of controlling activities,
including potential improvements
to such processes, as well as provide
information concerning such issues; and
• Periodically provide information on
the status and results of the annual
internal audit plan and the sufficiency
of our internal audit organization’s
resources.
The charter of the Internal Audit
organization complies with the
International Standards for the
Professional Practice of Internal Auditing
of the Institute of Internal Auditors. Other
duties of the Chief Audit Officer/Internal
Audit Head are set forth in the CG
Manual.
External Auditor. The Company’s
external auditor is appointed by the
AC which reviews its qualifications,
performance and independence. To
ensure objectivity in the performance of
its duties, the external auditor is subject
to the rules on rotation and change,
every five years; general prohibition on
hiring by the Company of the external
auditor’s staff; and full and appropriate
disclosure to, and prior approval by, the
AC of all audit and non-audit services
and related fees. Approval of non-
audit work by the external auditor is
principally tested against the standard
of whether such work will conflict with
its role as an independent auditor or
would compromise its objectivity or
independence as such. Our external
auditor is SGV & Co., a member practice
of EY.
Chief Risk Management Officer and
Group Enterprise Risk Management
Department (GRMD). The GRMD,
under the leadership of the Chief Risk
Management Officer, implements an
integrated risk management program
with the goal of identifying, analysing
and managing the PLDT Group’s risks
to an acceptable level so as to enhance
opportunities, reduce threats, and
thus sustain competitive advantage.
The implementation of the enterprise
risk management (ERM) process
ensures that high-priority risks are well
understood and effectively managed
across all functions and units within the
PLDT Group. The GRMD identifies and
analyzes key risk exposures relating to
economic, environmental, social and
governance factors and the achievement
of the organization’s strategic objectives,
evaluates and categorizes identified risks,
and develops a risk mitigation plan for
the most important risks of the Company.
It communicates and reports significant
risk exposures, including business risks,
control issues and risk mitigation plan to
the Risk Committee. The ERM process
used by the GRMD is based on the ISO
31000 standard on risk management. The
GRMD Head supervises the entire ERM
35
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT process and spearheads the development,
implementation, maintenance and
continuous improvement of ERM
processes and documentation, and
communicates the top risks and status
of implementation of risk management
strategies and action plans to the Risk
Committee and the Board.
Chief Governance Officer. The primary
responsibilities of the Chief Governance
Officer include monitoring compliance
with the provisions and requirements
of corporate governance laws, rules
and regulations, reporting violations
and recommending the imposition of
disciplinary actions, and adopting measures
to prevent the repetition of such violations.
The Chief Governance Officer assists the
Board and the GNC in the performance
of their governance functions. Under the
supervision and direction of the Chief
Governance Officer, the Corporate
Governance Office (CGO) assists in
the implementation of the corporate
governance policies adopted by the Board.
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Oversight
Annual Audit
CEO
MANAGEMENT
Report
Accountability
36
FIBER POWER POLICIES AND PRACTICES
PLDT follows the corporate governance
standards prescribed by Philippine law
or recommended under rules and
regulations of the Philippine Securities
and Exchange Commission (PSEC) and
the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). As
a foreign private issuer with American
Depositary Shares listed and traded In
the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE),
PLDT also complies with governance
standards laid out in the relevant laws of
the U.S. and rules and regulations of the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
(US SEC) and NYSE. Being an associated
company of First Pacific Company Ltd., a
company listed in the Hong Kong Stock
Exchange, PLDT also benchmarks with
the governance standards of Hong Kong.
PLDT’s corporate governance framework
is embodied in the integrated system
of governance structures, policies and
processes set forth in PLDT’s Articles
of Incorporation, By-Laws, Manual on
Corporate Governance (CG Manual),
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
(Code of Ethics) and Corporate
Social Responsibility Statement. Our
business principles are threshed out
in implementing policies including the
Supplier/Contractor Relations Policy,
Conflict of Interest Policy, Expanded
Whistleblowing Policy, Policy on
Gift-Giving Activities, Policy on Gifts,
Entertainment and Sponsored Travel,
Guidelines on Related Party Transactions,
and Disclosure Rules, among others.
The Company promotes a culture of
good corporate governance through
the implementation of these corporate
governance (CG) policies, including the
CG Manual, Code of Ethics and related
policies. PLDT’s key subsidiaries have
adopted corporate governance rules and
policies similar in substance and form
to the foregoing corporate governance
policies and suited to their particular
business environments and contexts, and
appointed their respective corporate
governance or compliance officers.
remain compliant with applicable law,
regulations and best practices and are
appropriate for the Company.
CG Manual. Our CG Manual defines
our corporate governance framework
and structure. Supplementary to PLDT’s
Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws,
it assigns and delineates functions
and responsibilities, and entrusts
powers, authorities and resources
for the execution of such functions
and responsibilities. The CG Manual
provides, among other matters, the
composition and responsibilities of the
Board, the Company’s duties towards
its shareholders in general, its minority
shareholders and its other stakeholders,
and the Company’s obligation to comply
with applicable disclosure rules. A copy
of the CG Manual is posted at http://
pldt.com/docs/default-source/corporate-
governance-files/cg-manual-/pldt-manual-
on-corporate-governance.pdf?sfvrsn=0.
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
(Code of Ethics). Our Code of Ethics
defines the Company’s corporate
governance values of integrity,
accountability, transparency and fairness,
which the Company shall observe in
the conduct of its business. It sets the
governance and ethical standards that
shall govern and guide all business
relationships of the Company, its
directors, officers and employees. A copy
of the Code of Ethics is posted at: http://
pldt.com/docs/default-source/policies/
pldt-code-of-business-conduct-and-ethics.
pdf?sfvrsn=4.
The implementation of the Code of
Ethics is reinforced by enabling policies
such as the Supplier/Contractor Relations
Policy, Expanded Whistleblowing Policy, Gifts,
Entertainment and Sponsored Travel Policy,
and Policy on Gift-Giving Activities which,
in conjunction with the Code of Ethics,
embodies the Company’s anti-corruption
policy.
All CG policies of the Company are
reviewed at least once every two years
to ensure that they are appropriate for
PLDT, benchmarked with global best
practices, and compliant with applicable
law and regulations. In 2018, PLDT’s
Board of Directors reviewed the
Company’s Code of Business Conduct
and Ethics and Conflict of Interest Policy,
and determined that these policies
Conflict of Interest Policy. This policy
enjoins PLDT’s directors, employees
and consultants to promptly disclose
conflict of interest (COI) situations to
the relevant authorities. If warranted,
the person concerned should obtain
appropriate approvals and inhibit himself
from any action, transaction or decision
involving an existing or potential COI.
The Company has established an online
COI disclosure system to facilitate the
disclosure of conflicts of interests.
Guidelines on the Proper Handling
of Related Party Transactions (RPT
Guidelines). This guidelines provides
the process of review, approval and
disclosure of the Company’s related party
transactions (RPTs). RPTs are subject to
review and approval by the designated
authorities. The review’s principal focus
is on whether an RPT is on arm’s
length terms and in the best interest of
PLDT and its shareholders as a whole,
considering all relevant circumstances.
Material RPTs are reviewed by the
AC, which is composed entirely of
independent directors, and subject to
approval by the Board. The Head of
Financial Reporting and Controllership
Sector, in coordination with the
Company’s Disclosure Committee, is
responsible for the disclosure of RPTs
in the relevant financial reports of the
Company as required under Philippine
Accounting Standard 24, Related
Party Disclosures, and other applicable
disclosure requirements.
Policy on Gifts, Entertainment and
Sponsored Travel (Gifts Policy) and
Policy on Gift-Giving Activities. The Gifts
Policy provides safeguards in the receipt
and acceptance of gifts given by third
parties to ensure that such gifts would
not affect the objective, independent
or effective performance by directors,
officers and employees of their duties
to the Company. The Policy on Gift-
Giving Activities provides guidance and
procedural safeguards with respect to
gift-giving activities to government officials
and employees and to business partners,
for or on behalf of, PLDT. The policy
seeks to ensure that such activities are
compliant with applicable laws, respectful
of the intended recipient’s gifts policy,
and consistent with the Company’s core
values and policies.
Supplier/Contractor Relations Policy.
This policy establishes clear rules for arm’s
length transactions and fair treatment of
prospective and existing suppliers. The
policy specifically adopts the processes
of vendor accreditation and competitive
bidding as the general rule to ensure that
contracts are awarded only to qualified
and duly-accredited vendors who offer
the best value for money for PLDT’s
requirements.
37
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT Expanded Whistleblowing Policy (EWB
Policy). This policy provides guidelines
on handling employee disclosures or
complaints regarding (i) violations of
corporate governance rules, including the
aforementioned policies; (ii) questionable
accounting and auditing matters; and
(iii) violations or offenses (other than
those in (i) and (ii) above) covered
by the Company’s Human Resources
Manual. The EWB Policy protects
whistleblowers from retaliation, and to
ensure confidentiality and fairness in the
handling of a disclosure or complaint,
PLDT maintains a Whistleblowing Hotline
and other reporting facilities, such as a
dedicated electronic mailbox, post office
box and facsimile transmission system. All
employees and stakeholders who come
forward in good faith to report violations
or any act that may be considered
as contrary to the Company’s values
may submit a disclosure or complaint
regarding such violation to the CGO.
Anonymous disclosures or complaints are
allowed and duly processed, subject to
certain conditions.
In all processes and activities related to
a whistleblowing disclosure/complaint,
utmost confidentiality is observed
in order to ensure the integrity of
the process and protect the parties,
employees or officers who are allegedly
involved therein.
For 2018, there were five new
whistleblowing complaints received by the
CGO. Two of these cases were deemed
closed while three cases are under
investigation/administrative proceeding.
The complaints covered allegations of
violation of the Code of Ethics, Conflict
of Interest Policy, Gifts Policy, Supplier/
Contractor Relations Policy, Procurement
Policy, Guidelines on Management and
Protection of Company Documents;
Acceptable Use of Technology Resources
and Standards; Policy on Employees
Running for or Elected to Public Office
and the Human Resources Manual.
Moreover, the CGO received two
concerns that fall under the jurisdiction
of line Management, which were referred
to the subject employees’ respective
immediate heads for further evaluation
and handling. There were no complaints
on retaliation received in 2018.
SMART received four whistleblowing
cases which are under investigation.
PLDT subsidiaries, PLDT Global
Corporation, ePLDT, Inc., and Digital
Telecommunications Philippines, Inc.,
and the latter’s subsidiary, Digitel Mobile
Philippines, Inc. did not receive any
whistleblowing complaint or complaint on
retaliation in 2018.
Protection of Technology Resources
and Information. PLDT has a Unified
Information Technology Policy that is
applicable to PLDT, SMART and Digitel
Mobile Philippines, Inc., and which
contains policy statements on social
media and data privacy, and provides for
the protection of information assets and
the proper use of technology resources.
In 2018, the Chief Information Security
Officer (CISO) was appointed to oversee
the implementation and management of
information and cyber security processes,
especially regarding compliance with the
business directions and applicable local
and international laws and regulations.
PLDT also established the Cyber Security
Operations Group, headed by the
CISO, to create, implement and operate
the Information Security Management
Systems framework and to support the
review and update the security policy.
Protection of Data Privacy. In 2017,
the Chief Data Privacy Officer for the
PLDT Group was appointed. PLDT has a
Personal Data Privacy Policy which aims
to ensure that the Company complies
with the relevant data protection laws
and regulations, protects the rights of its
data subjects, is transparent about how
it processes personal data, and protects
itself from the risk of data breach.
Blackout Periods/Restriction on
Trading of Shares. PLDT’s Code of
Ethics prohibits directors, officers and
employees from dealing in the Company’s
shares when in possession of material
non-public information about and
involving the Company. During blackout
periods, dealing in Company shares
by directors, officers, and employees
in possession of material non-public
information is prohibited and in any
exceptional case, prior notice to the
Company should be made of any such
dealing in Company shares, in accordance
with the Company’s policy on Blackout
Period/Restriction on Trading of Shares.
Directors and officers are enjoined to
report to the Company their dealings
in the Company’s shares, regardless of
whether such dealings were effected
during or outside the blackout period,
within three trading days from the date of
the transaction, to enable the timely filing
of the required disclosures to the PSEC
and the PSE.
2018 RESTRICTIONS ON BUYING AND/OR SELLING PLDT SHARES
PLDT 2018 Results/Reports
Date of Release
Q1
Q2
Q3
Full Year (unaudited)
Full Year (audited)
May 10
August 9
November 8
March 7, 2019
March 21, 2019
Blackout Period
April 25 – May 157
July 25 – August 13
October 24 – November 12
January 29 – March 25, 2019
7 Trading restriction period was extended to May 15, 2018 due to the declaration of May 14, 2018 as a special non-working holiday.
38
FIBER POWER
2018 SHAREHOLDINGS OF THE BOARD AND OFFICERS
Number of PLDT Shares8
Starting
Balance9
Acquired Disposed
Ending
Balance10
A. Directors
1. Manuel V. Pangilinan
252,450
8,300
1,794
258,956
8. Bernido H. Liu
25,08011
17,743
1,000
135,914
104,295
25,080
9. Artemio V. Panganiban
18,743
10. Maria Lourdes C. Rausa-Chan
Number of PLDT Shares8
Starting
Balance9
Acquired Disposed
1
1,771
199
3,300
1,099
2. Helen Y. Dee
3. Ray C. Espinosa
4. James L. Go
5. Shigeki Hayashi
6. Junichi Igarashi12
7. Aurora C. Ignacio14
B. Officers
1. Ernesto R. Alberto
2. Anabelle L. Chua
3. Victorico P. Vargas
4. Marilyn A. Victorio-Aquino15
5. Gina Marina P. Ordoñez17
6. Alejandro O. Caeg
7. Juan Victor I. Hernandez
8. Menardo G. Jimenez, Jr.
9. June Cheryl C. Revilla
10. Oscar Enrico A. Reyes, Jr.
11. Florentino D. Mabasa, Jr.
12. Leo I. Posadas
13. Katrina L. Abelarde
14. Marco Alejandro T. Borlongan
15. Alfredo B. Carrera
16. Marisa V. Conde
17. Gil Samson D. Garcia
18. Joseph Ian G. Gendrano
19. Leah Camilla R. Besa-Jimenez
20. Albert Mitchell L. Locsin
21. Dale M. Ramos
22. Aileen D. Regio
23. Luis S. Reñon18
24. Martin T. Rio
25. Ricardo M. Sison
26. Juan Alfonso D. Suarez19
27. Emiliano R. Tanchico, Jr.
28. Annette Yvette W. Tirol
29. Victor Y. Tria
30. Melissa V. Vergel de Dios
1
113
113
0
12,028
1,470
016
2,19916
200
0
22
0
0
0
10
0
0
300
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
016
0
4,200
09
1,539
0
0
0
31. Maria Cecilia H. Abad20
27021
32. Minerva M. Agas
33. Benedict Patrick V. Alcoseba
34. Elizabeth S. Andojar20
35. Tito Rodolfo B. Aquino, Jr.20
0
0
37021
17021
36. Ariel G. Aznar
0
170
240,209
11. Albert F. Del Rosario
142,410
12. Pedro E. Roxas
13. Marife B. Zamora
1
1
1
4,300
37. Jerameel A. Azurin
15,828
38. Rafael M. Bejar
5,270
39. Jose Arnilo S. Castañeda
0
40. Gerardo Jose V. Castro
2199
41. Gene S. de Guzman
3,500
42. Elisa B. Gesalta
3,300
43. John John R. Gonzales
1,093
2,229
44. Ma. Gillian Y. Gonzalez
231
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
359
473
357
500
843
353
357
195
148
246
2,425
45. Ma. Criselda B. Guhit
1,250
3,370
46. Silverio S. Ibay, Jr.
841
47. Gary F. Ignacio
1,210
48.. Marven S. Jardiel
1,027
49. Princesita P. Katigbak
1,200
50. Alexander S. Kibanoff
1,143
51. Javier C. Lagdameo
500
52. Luis Ignacio A. Lopa
0
53. Czar Christopher S. Lopez
500
54. Paolo Jose C. Lopez
1,200
55. Ma. Carmela F. Luque
1,083
1,100
17
0
56. Melanie A. Manuel20
57. Ronaldo David R. Mendoza20
58. Oliver Carlos G. Odulio
59. Carlo S. Ople
847
60. Harold Kim A. Orbase
5,043
61. Charles Louis L. Orcena22
0
62. Eduardo H. Rafuson20
2,739
63. Ricardo C. Rodriguez
405
352
64. Genaro C. Sanchez
65. Maria Christina C. Semira
1,200
66. Ma. Merceditas T. Siapuatco
270
500
254
370
170
170
67. Arvin L. Siena
68. Carla Elena A. Tabuena
69. Patrick S. Tang
70. Jecyn Aimee C. Teng20
71. John Henri C. Yanez
72. Radames Vittorio B. Zalameda23
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
12521
12521
0
0
0
016
17021
5,712
4,460
30
0
50
0
570
17021
0
016
140
143
137
141
500
500
500
500
500
500
500
291
500
170
170
500
500
500
500
1,370
1,199
170
500
500
500
500
418
500
170
170
500
418
500
170
141
145
116
142
4,300
3,800
3,800
3,300
3,300
3,300
2,425
3,370
1,200
1,200
1,500
1,200
1,200
500
500
500
1,200
1,083
1,100
860
1,200
1,200
1,200
600
500
1,200
500
500
Ending
Balance10
1
1,771
2,400
142,410
231
5
360
500
500
357
363
500
359
291
1,750
170
170
500
500
500
500
171
170
500
500
125
125
359
355
302
0
170
5,712
4,960
200
170
550
418
928
170
170
0
8
Includes directly and indirectly owned shares in the Company. Changes in shareholdings were disclosed in the Statements of Changes in Beneficial Ownership of Securities filed with the Securities Exchange
Commission and Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. and posted on the Company website at PLDT Investor Relations>Shareholder Information>Beneficial Ownership.
9 As at December 31, 2017.
10 As at December 31, 2018.
11
Includes 2,780 shares for the account of Michelle Y. Dee-Santos and 245 shares under the name of Helen Y. Dee, both under PCD Nominee Corporation and 21,957 shares owned by Hydee Management
Corporation. As chairperson and president of Hydee Management Corporation, Ms. Dee may exercise the voting right in respect of the 21,957 shares of Hydee Management Corporation
12 Mr. Igarashi was elected as director on August 9, 2018 replacing Mr. Atsuhisa Shirai who resigned on August 08, 2018.
13 As at date of election as director.
14 Ms. Aurora C. Ignacio was elected as director on November 8, 2018 replacing Mr. Emmanuel F. Dooc who resigned on even date.
15 Appointment as Chief Legal Counsel effective December 1, 2018 was approved by the Board of Directors in the meeting held on August 09, 2018
16 As at date of appointment as officer.
17 Appointed as Head of People Group effective March 21, 2019
18 Appointment as First Vice President effective July 1, 2018 was confirmed by the Board of Directors in the meeting held on August 9, 2018
19 Appointment as First Vice President effective October 1, 2018 was confirmed by the Board of Directors in the meeting held on November 8, 2018
20 Promoted to Vice President effective November 8, 2018
21 As at date of promotion as officer
22 Appointment as Vice President effective July 9, 2018 was confirmed by the Board of Directors in the meeting held on August 09, 2018
23 Appointment as Vice President effective January 1, 2018 was confirmed by the Board of Directors in the meeting held on August 09, 2018
39
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT TRAINING
AND EDUCATION
The Company provides orientation
and continuous training for its Board,
Management and employees. For its
directors and officers, the Company
likewise conducts an Annual In-House
Corporate Governance Enhancement
Session (ACGES) that provides an
opportunity for leadership to engage in
discussion with international and local
experts on relevant topics, including
emerging trends and technologies, new
laws, and best business practices. In 2018,
the Company’s ACGES was conducted
on the topics: (i) Sustainability Strategy
in a Disruptive Business Environment:
ESG Best Practices and Compliance
Issues; and (ii) Blockchain Technology
Use Cases and Strategic Benefits, Risks
and Governance Issues. It included
discussions among directors, officers,
and resource persons and live streaming
of speaker presentations to PLDT and
SMART executives. One of our directors,
Mr. James L. Go, has been granted
by the PSEC permanent exemption
from its corporate governance training
requirement. Updates on business and
governance policies and requirements,
and new laws applicable or relevant
to the Company and its business are
presented in Board meetings or furnished
to directors.
For employees, the Company conducts
orientation and periodic training sessions
on Company policies, including corporate
governance policies; skills building; and
wellness and development, supplemented
with appropriate communication
materials and feedback mechanisms.
In addition to orientation sessions on
corporate governance policies for
new employees, the Company also
conducted corporate governance
refresher courses for newly-promoted
PLDT executives, while a corporate
governance refresher course was
conducted with the Technology Group
in SMART. A CG eLearning refresher
course with twelve-point ethics survey
was likewise conducted for PLDT and
SMART executives and employees, and
made available to officers. Education
and training is supplemented by the
production and dissemination of relevant
communication materials, including
thematic posters and calendars and
advisories on corporate governance.
40
FIBER POWER Top L-R: Blockchain technology resource speaker Mr. Paul Brody; ACGES host Mr. Ramon R. Isberto (PLDT and
Smart); ESG resource speaker Dr. Matthew Bell and ACGES attendees; ESG moderator Dr. Daniela Luz Laurel
(One News, Cignal TV, Bloomberg TV Ph) and Dr. Bell. Bottom L-R: ESG panel discussion with Atty. Michael T.
Toledo (Philex Mining), Mr. Raymond B. Ravelo (Meralco), Atty. Roel S. Espiritu (Maynilad) and Ms. June Cheryl
Cabal-Revilla (PLDT and Smart); Dr. Bell and ACGES attendees.
41
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT MONITORING
AND EVALUATION
PLDT monitors and evaluates the
effectiveness of its corporate governance
through the annual performance
self-assessment conducted by the
Board and the Board Committees, the
periodic review of the effectiveness of
the implementation of the Company’s
CG policies, the annual compliance
evaluation conducted by Management,
and other tools employed to monitor
the implementation of the CG policies.
In 2018, PLDT confirmed its compliance
with its CG Manual which contains
relevant provisions of the PSEC Code of
Corporate Governance for Publicly-Listed
Companies (CG Code for PLCs) and
certain corporate governance standards
under the US Securities Exchange Act
and NYSE Listed Company Manual.
In compliance with the respective
memorandum circulars of the PSEC and
the PSE, PLDT filed its Integrated Annual
Corporate Governance Report (IACGR)
on May 30, 2018.
An annual self-assessment is conducted
by the Board to evaluate the performance
of the Board as a whole as well as each
Board Committee, and the individual
directors. The process, which also includes
an evaluation of the performance of
the CEO and Management, enables
the Board to identify strengths and
areas for improvement and to elicit
individual director’s feedback and views
on the Company’s strategy, performance
and future direction. Each Board
Committee also conducts an annual
self-assessment of its performance. The
members of the Board and the Board
Committees accomplish their respective
self-assessment questionnaires for this
purpose. In 2018, the Board and Board
Committees’ assessment questionnaires
were enhanced and expanded to include
certain good governance practices
recommended in the CG Code for PLCs.
The Board’s self-assessment questionnaire
contains the following criteria based on
leading practices and principles on good
governance: (i) for the Board – Structure,
Leadership, Roles and Responsibilities,
Internal Control, Code of Conduct
and other CG Policies, Independence,
Stewardship, Resources, Internal
Governance, Reporting and Disclosure,
and Shareholder and other Stakeholder
Engagement; (ii) for the Board
Committees – the respective purposes,
functions and duties of the Committees;
and (iii) for individual directors - the
specific duties and responsibilities of
a director. On the other hand, the
Board Committees’ self-assessment
questionnaire contains the following
criteria: performance, compliance and
committee governance. The report on
the results of the assessment process
for the 2017 performance period was
submitted to the directors in 2018.
Prospectively, the annual self-assessment
shall, as practicable, be supported by
an external facilitator every three years
and allow for a feedback mechanism
for stockholders, to conform with the
recommendation in the CG Code for PLCs.
PLDT monitors and evaluates compliance
with the CG rules through a cross-
functional evaluation system whereby the
heads of the various business and support
groups/units conduct an evaluation
of their group/unit’s compliance. The
process uses an evaluation questionnaire
consisting of the governance standards
set forth in the CG Code for PLCs
which are applicable and relevant to their
respective functions. The results of the
evaluation conducted by the heads are
consolidated as input to the Company’s
IACGR submitted to the PSEC and PSE.
In line with all of these, PLDT has
incorporated CG standards in the
performance evaluation of employees and
has included violations of CG rules as a
cause for disqualification from incentives
and rewards in its Policy on Employee
Qualification for Incentives and Rewards.
PLDT conducts focus group discussions
and employee surveys in order to gain
insights into the effectiveness of its
CG programs and initiatives. Valuable
information is also obtained and analyzed
from the results of and feedback from
our education activities, reports from
business partners, customer complaints,
reported violations and other sources of
relevant information.
STAKEHOLDER
ENGAGEMENT
In fulfilling our commitments to
our stakeholders, we are guided by
our Code of Ethics and Corporate
Social Responsibility Statement (CSR
Statement). The CSR Statement is the
articulation of our belief that helping to
improve the overall well-being of the
Filipino people is an integral part of our
business. The CSR Statement enumerates
the broad responsibilities that PLDT
assumes as it operates and conducts its
business. A copy of the CSR Statement
is posted at http://pldt.com/corporate-
governance-in-pldt/our-stakeholders.
Pursuant to the CSR Statement, the
PLDT Group’s social programs leverage
its communications and digital services
and the volunteer spirit of its employees
to implement projects in education,
health, livelihood, disaster preparedness
and resiliency, the environment, digital
tourism and sports that aim to help
Filipinos change their lives for the better.
These CSR programs and activities
are presented in the Corporate Social
Responsibility section of this Annual
Report.
Investors/Shareholders. PLDT respects,
promotes and upholds shareholders’
rights such as: the right to vote; pre-
emptive right; the right to inspect
corporate books and records, including
minutes of Board meetings and stock
registries, subject to certain conditions;
right to timely receive relevant
information, whether in printed or digital
form; right to dividends; and appraisal right.
The Board promotes transparency and
fairness in the conduct of the annual
and special stockholders’ meetings of
the Company. The Company explores
and implements steps to reduce
excessive or unnecessary costs and
other administrative impediments to
stockholders’ participation in annual
and special stockholders’ meetings.
Stockholders are encouraged to
personally attend such meetings, raise
questions and exercise their voting
rights. Within a reasonable period of
time before the meeting, stockholders
are apprised of their right to appoint a
proxy in case they could not personally
attend such meetings, and give their
voting instructions in the proxy form
provided. Relevant meeting materials
such as the Notice, Agenda, Information
Statement and Annual Report are made
available to the stockholders in printed or
digital form and through the Company’s
website to enable them to make a
sound judgment on all matters tabled
for their consideration or approval. The
Board ensures the disclosure and filing
of reports with the PSEC, PSE and, as
applicable, US SEC and NYSE and posting
on the Company’s website, immediately
after the meeting or the day after the
meeting, of all significant actions taken in
the meeting and the votes obtained for
each of such actions.
42
FIBER POWER PLDT’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Risk Management Officer, Ms. Anabelle L. Chua; President & CEO, Mr. Manuel V. Pangilinan; Chief Revenue Officer,
Mr. Ernesto R. Alberto; Chief Corporate Services Officer, Atty. Ray C. Espinosa during the announcement of PLDT’s Full Year 2018 (FY2018) Financial and
Operating results at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel.
The Company held its Annual
Stockholders’ Meeting on June 13,
2018, with holders of 87.19% of
total outstanding capital present or
represented by proxy in the meeting.
To view the Minutes of the 2018
PLDT Annual Stockholders’ Meeting,
please access this link: http://pldt.com/
docs/default-source/annual-meeting-of-
stockholders/2018/2018_june13_annual-
meeting-(as-of-06-18-18)_final.pdf.
The Board ensures that material
information and transactions that could
potentially affect the market price
of the Company’s shares are timely
disclosed and filed with the PSEC, PSE
and as applicable, with the US SEC and
NYSE. In this regard, information on,
among other matters, earnings results,
acquisition or disposal of significant assets,
off balance-sheet transactions, related
party transactions, Board membership
changes, shareholdings of directors and
officers and any changes thereto, and
remuneration of directors and officers
are promptly and accurately disclosed.
PLDT regularly conducts analysts and
investors’ briefings to discuss financial and
operating results for the second quarter
and full year, and teleconferences to
discuss first and third quarter results. Our
Investor Relations Center also conducts
regular dialogues with our investors.
Shareholders who wish to raise matters
or concerns relating to the business of
the Company, their investments and
rights may elevate such matters to
the Corporate Secretary, the Investor
Relations Officer, concerned units of
PLDT’s Management or the Board.
The Company’s dividend policy provides
a regular dividend payout rate of 60%
of Core Earnings Per Share as regular
dividends. The dividend policy takes into
account: (i) the elevated levels of capital
expenditures to build a robust, superior
network to support the continued
growth of data traffic; (ii) plans to invest
in new adjacent businesses that will
complement the current business and
provide future sources of profits and
dividends; and (iii) management of cash
and gearing levels. In the event that
no investment opportunities arise, the
Company may consider the option of
returning additional cash to shareholders
in the form of special dividends or share
buybacks. PLDT was able to pay out
approximately 60% of its core earnings
for the year 2018. Information on
PLDT’s 2018 Dividend Declarations is
available at http://pldt.com/docs/default-
source/shareholders-information/dividend-
info/2018/2018-dividend-declaration12418.
pdf?sfvrsn=0.
Customers. PLDT serves a broad
range of customers from individuals,
residential, micro, small and medium
enterprise (SME) and large enterprise,
including the public sector. PLDT strives
to satisfy its customers’ requirements
and expectations regarding innovative
products and services, quality of
service, pricing, application process,
service provisioning process, repair
and restoration service and the billing
process. We continuously engage with our
customers through various touchpoints
with the end in view of knowing and
understanding their product and service
needs, promptly addressing their concerns
and identifying areas where we could
further enhance customer experience.
In 2018, the following improvements
were completed, among others, as part
of PLDT Home’s Customer Care Service
Transformation Program:
•
Improved hotline call experience.
Multiple hotline numbers for PLDT
Home consumers were unified into
one customer care number (171).
This hotline number is supported by
a new and improved voice recording
system (IVRS) with simplified IVRS
options and additional customer
enabling features such as requesting
for billing statements, inquiring about
outstanding balances, reporting
payment, and requesting for service
reconnection using the automated
system in the IVRS.
•
Increased engagement in social media.
Digital customer care experience
was improved by optimizing channel
data analysis in order to provide
the appropriate tone and voice of
engagement. Initiative in this area
43
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT resulted in a 40% decrease in social
media customer waiting time and
a 20% increase in online customer
engagement.
•
Improved self-help website tools. PLDT
Home’s customer support page was
enhanced to enable customer access
to frequently asked questions and a
guide to troubleshooting and device
set-up. A YouTube playlist within the
PLDT Home channel that provides
instruction videos and troubleshooting
tip videos for customers was also
made available.
• Data privacy. In compliance with the
Data Privacy Act (R.A. No.10173),
PLDT reviewed existing business
policies and processes to ensure the
protection of customers’ personal
information and/or sensitive personal
information.
Additionally, the following were
made available, among others, for the
convenience of PLDT customers:
• PLDT myHome self-service App. PLDT
released a new myHome App that
enables customers to subscribe to
new PLDT products, check and pay
for their PLDT bills, view their account
information, and submit service
requests digitally through the app.
• At Your Service Program. PLDT
launched the At Your Service Program
to address customer concerns in
particular areas, and to bring service
teams closer to communities.
PLDT Enterprise customer care program
included, among others:
•
•
Improved self-help touch points. The
PLDT Enterprise 177 Mobile App
was enhanced to address after-sales
concerns of PLDT Enterprise clients,
and to allow the creation of customer
tickets in real time. The PLDT
Enterprise website’s customer support
page was also enhanced with a live
chat function.
Improved engagement in social media.
PLDT embarked on a customer
engagement management tool that
provides faster response time and a
single view of customer complaints in
various social media platforms.
Employees. PLDT respects the dignity,
rights, and interests of its employees,
among which are the right to self-
organization, safe and healthy working
conditions, professional development, and
community-building social activities. The
value of employees to the business is
underscored by the inclusion of people
and culture transformation among the
shared Company goals. Identifying,
developing, and retaining talent is a core
responsibility and accountability of every
leader. Anchored on the foundational
premise that the Company’s treatment
of its employees will influence how
employees, in turn, deliver service to
customers, PLDT embeds employee
experience at the core of all people
initiatives, programs, and processes. Three
principles guide the employee experience
design: leader-led, employee-owned,
digital-enabled.
The vision for digital market leadership is
hinged on a high-performing culture, and
PLDT continuously engages employees
to aspire for this goal by aligning groups
and individuals to the Company’s shared
goals and ensuring that the Company’s
performance management system is
performance-driven and coaching-
centered. A digital platform has been
implemented to enable a standard
performance management system across
PLDT and SMART. Supporting the
objective of shaping a high-performing
culture is a Total Rewards Program
that is merit-based and addresses both
short-term and long-term transformation
goals. Compensation and incentives are
determined on the bases of performance
and accomplishment. Management has
approved two major rewards programs,
the Short-term Incentive Plan (STIP) and
the Transformation Incentive Plan (TIP).
To support the success of the ongoing
organization transformation, PLDT has
renewed its talent strategy to remain
relevant to the business and the talent
market. Working with the Leaders
on present requirements is an urgent
groundwork activity while building the
talent pipeline and ecosystem for the
next horizon of products and services
becomes a strategic priority. This includes
the creation and application of programs
for Leadership Development and Top
Talents, series of targeted hiring in local
and global markets who will form part of
the Executive Development Pipeline as
well as Management Associate pool and
the introduction of a revitalized internship
play to re-shape our new foundational
footprint in the academe.
A digital environment requires a
strong learning and development
ecosystem. PLDT’s comprehensive
corporate university that utilizes a
combination of classroom and mobile
learning methodologies, supports
the organization’s capability-building
needs. Adequate opportunity for
career management and development
is provided to employees. The digital
curriculum Workforce Learning 2020
anchors on the digital transformation
skills requirements, new leadership
competency mandates, 2020 technologies
for fixed and wireless, and foundational
compliance training requirements such as
Data Privacy.
PLDT organizes engagement programs
that prioritize the well-being of
employees and strengthen the quality
of work relationships. These allow
employees to engage in a broad range
of character-developing and relationship-
building activities through CSR, sports,
special interest groups, and family-
oriented programs. Formal channels for
employee feedback are made available
through engagement surveys conducted
at regular intervals to give employees the
opportunity to share their perspectives
about relevant Company matters. Digital
and social platforms are optimized for
employee crowdsourcing and internal
communication. Management-led
digital dialogues provide opportunity for
employees across various parts of the
country to directly interact and voice out
their suggestions and recommendations
to top management.
Regulators. PLDT operates within
relevant legislative and regulatory
frameworks and complies with the
requirements thereunder which are
applicable to it. We participate in
public policy forums, conferences and
hearings conducted by governmental
and regulatory agencies relative to
initiatives in the fields of Information
and Communication Technology (ICT),
corporate governance and labor-related
matters. Our “Internet for All” advocacy
and investments in network infrastructure
and technologies to provide the widest
coverage and superior quality of service
at affordable prices are aligned with and
support the Government’s objectives
set out in the Public Telecommunications
Policy Act.
Suppliers. PLDT aspires to maintain
mutually beneficial relationships only
with like principled suppliers that
uphold PLDT’s core values of fairness,
44
FIBER POWER accountability, integrity and transparency
in their own businesses. Suppliers are
required to undergo an accreditation
process before they engage in business
with PLDT. Among the criteria for
accreditation are financial and technical
capability, compliance with applicable laws,
including those pertaining to industrial
relations, environment, health and safety,
and intellectual property rights. The
Company’s purchases, as a general rule,
are made on the basis of competitive
bidding among accredited and qualified
suppliers.
Creditors. In accordance with our
Code of Ethics, we protect the rights of
our creditors by publicly disclosing all
material information, such as earnings
results and risk exposures relating to
loan covenants. Our disclosure controls
and procedures also include periodic
reports to our creditors such as our
latest certified financial statements, no
default certification, and certification
on compliance with financial ratio
limits. PLDT’s credit has been rated at
investment grade by the three major
international credit rating agencies.
Communities. Serving the community
is an integral part of the mission of
promoting inclusive development. With
their technology and services, PLDT and
SMART are well-positioned to provide
much needed assistance to communities.
As good corporate citizens, PLDT and
SMART are leveraging their infrastructure
and services to act as enablers, especially
in communities with greatest need,
through their CSR programs in education,
health, community, environment, livelihood
development, youth development and
sports, and disaster relief operations.
These CSR programs are discussed in the
Corporate Social Responsibility Report
section of this Annual Report.
ADVOCACY
AND NETWORKING
PLDT supports the advocacy for better
governance and ethics in business as
manifested in the Company’s policy
against corruption and bribery set forth
in its Code of Ethics and reinforced
in specific policies such as the Policy
on Gift-Giving Activities, Gifts Policy,
Supplier/Contractor Relations Policy,
Corporate Governance Guidelines for
Suppliers, which prohibit bribery or acts
which may be construed as bribery
involving third parties in business dealings
with the Company. These policies are
implemented through anti-corruption
programs and measures such as internal
controls, training and communication,
whistleblowing system, third party
due diligence, and support for and
participation in multi-sectoral anti-
corruption initiatives to eliminate graft
and corruption.
PLDT continues to work with institutions
and organizations engaged in programs
and advocacy efforts in the corporate
governance, compliance and business
ethics field. As a sponsoring partner
member of the Ethics and Compliance
Initiative (ECI), PLDT has access to
ECI’s vast online library on governance
and related topics and opportunities
to interact with other governance
and ethics professionals around the
world, and is able to benchmark its
governance practices against those of
leading companies. Locally, PLDT is
a premium member of the Integrity
Initiative, Inc. and a member of the Good
Governance Advocates and Practitioners
of the Philippines (GGAPP). PLDT
also participates in the activities of the
Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD)
and its sister-institute in the public sector,
the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA).
PLDT recognizes that corporate governance will be one of the key
factors in its business transformation journey. The Company’s
determined focus to achieve its Mission and strategic objectives
shall be sustained by PLDT’s commitment to its customers,
shareholders, employees and other stakeholders and adherence
to the principles of good governance.
45
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT Managing risks proactively
with the steadfast support of
fiber-powered technology.
46
FIBER POWER THE PLDT GROUP
ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT
The implementation of the ERM process
ensures that high-priority risks are well
understood and effectively managed across all
functions and units within the PLDT Group.
RISK COMMITTEE
The Risk Committee assists the PLDT Board
in overseeing Management’s adoption and
implementation of a system for identifying,
assessing, monitoring and managing key risk
areas. The committee reviews Management’s
reports on the Company’s major risk
exposures as well as Management’s plans and
actions to minimize, control or manage the
impact of such risks.
The GRMD reports to the PLDT Risk
Committee on a quarterly basis and to the
PLDT Board of Directors on a semi-annual
basis on developments with regard to the
Group’s risk management activities.
PLDT GROUP TOP RISKS
A risk assessment exercise was undertaken
by the Top Management Team to identify and
prioritize the most important risks affecting the
PLDT Group for 2018. The top risks were:(i)
competitive situation and economic conditions;
(ii) rapid speed of disruptive innovations and
new technologies; (iii) regulatory changes/
scrutiny; (iv) privacy/identity management
challenges and increase in information
security issues; (v) regular occurrence of
natural disasters; and (vi) people risks.
Treatment strategies have been developed,
and mitigation initiatives were put in place.
Risk management activities are continuously
monitored and reviewed to ensure that critical
risks are appropriately addressed across the
organization.
ISO 31000: RISK MANAGEMENT PROCESS
ESTABLISH THE CONTEXT
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IDENTIFY RISKS
ANALYZE RISKS
EVALUATE RISKS
TREAT RISKS
2018 GROUP ENTERPRISE RISK
MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT (GRMD)
The PLDT Group’s commitment to the
proactive management of existing and
emerging risks is reinforced by the Group
Enterprise Risk Management Department
(GRMD). The GRMD, under the leadership of
the Chief Risk Management Officer (CRMO),
develops and manages a comprehensive
integrated risk management program that
is implemented across all levels of the
organization, with the goal of managing the
Group’s risks to an acceptable level, so as to
enhance opportunities, reduce threats, and
thus create even more value for the business
and its stakeholders.
On August 28, 2018, the Board appointed Ms.
Anabelle L. Chua as the CRMO concurrent to
her position as Chief Financial Officer.
THE PLDT GROUP RISK MANAGEMENT
PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT
The PLDT Group adopts a risk philosophy
that recognizes risks as integral to its business
thereby committing itself to managing these
risks with the aim of attaining its business
objectives, thus enhancing shareholder value.
The PLDT Group operates in a complex and
dynamic business environment which gives
rise to a variety of risks that can be both
threat and opportunity. Recognizing that these
risks are an integral part of its business, the
PLDT Group is committed to managing its
overall risk exposure in a systematic way and
in such a manner that supports its strategic
decision-making process. Accordingly, the PLDT
Group employs a comprehensive, integrated
risk management program, effected across
all levels of the organization, with the goal of
identifying, analyzing and managing the Group’s
risks to an acceptable level, so as to enhance
opportunities, reduce threats, and thus sustain
competitive advantage. The PLDT Group
believes that an effective risk management
program will contribute to the attainment
of objectives by PLDT and its subsidiaries,
thus creating value for the business and its
stakeholders.
THE ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT
FRAMEWORK AND PROCESS
The GRMD promulgates and encourages the
adoption of a standard risk evaluation process
focused on the need to properly identify,
analyze, evaluate, treat and monitor risks
that may affect the achievement of business
objectives. The ERM process implemented is
based on the International Standard of
ISO 31000.
47
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MANUEL V. PANGILINAN
HELEN Y. DEE
ALBERT F. DEL ROSARIO
RAY C. ESPINOSA
MANUEL V. PANGILINAN, 72, FILIPINO
Director of PLDT since November 24,
1998. He was appointed as Chairman of the
Board of Directors of PLDT after serving
as its President and Chief Executive Officer
from November 1998 to February 2004.
Since January 1, 2016, he concurrently holds
the position of President and Chief Executive
Officer of PLDT and Smart Communications,
Inc. (“Smart”). He is the Chairman of the
Governance and Nomination, Executive
Compensation and Technology Strategy
Committees of the Board of Directors of
PLDT. He also serves as Chairman of Metro
Pacific Investments Corporation (“MPIC”),
Manila Electric Company, (“Meralco”), PXP
Energy Corporation and Philex Mining
Corporation, and Vice Chairman of Roxas
Holdings, Inc., all of which are PSE-listed
companies, and of several subsidiaries or
affiliates of PLDT or MPIC, including, among
others, Smart, Digitel Mobile Philippines,
Inc., Digital Telecommunications Phils, PLDT
Communications & Energy Ventures, Inc.,
ePLDT, Inc., Beacon Electric Assets Holdings
Inc., Manila North Tollways Corporation,
Maynilad Water Services Corporation, Landco
Pacific Corporation, Metro Pacific Hospital
Holdings, Inc., Medical Doctors Incorporated
(Makati Medical Center), Colinas Verdes
Corporation (Cardinal Santos Medical
Center), Davao Doctors Incorporated,
Riverside Medical Center Incorporated, Our
Lady of Lourdes Hospital and Asian Hospital
Incorporated. He is also the Chairman of
MediaQuest Holdings Inc., TV5 Network, Inc.
and PLDT-Smart Foundation.
Mr. Pangilinan founded First Pacific
Company Limited (“First Pacific”), a Hongkong
Stock Exchange-listed company, in 1981 and
serves as its Executive Chairman, Managing
Director and Chief Executive Officer. Within
the First Pacific Group, he also holds the
position of President Commissioner of P.T.
Indofood Sukses Makmur Tbk, the largest food
company in Indonesia.
Outside the First Pacific Group,
Mr. Pangilinan is the Chairman of the Board
of Trustees of San Beda College and Amateur
Boxing Association of the Philippines, a
governing body of amateur boxers in the
country, and the Chairman Emeritus of the
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas. He is also
the Chairman of Philippine Business for Social
Progress, the largest private sector social
action organization made up of the country’s
largest corporations and a Co-Chairman of the
Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, Inc.,
a non-stock, non-profit foundation established
to formulate and implement a reconstruction
strategy to rehabilitate and rebuild areas
devastated by floods and other calamities,
and of the US-Philippine Business Society,
a non-profit society which seeks to broaden
the relationship between the United States
and the Philippines in the areas of trade,
investment, education, foreign and security
policies and culture.
Mr. Pangilinan has received numerous
prestigious awards including the Business
Icon Gold Award for having greatly
contributed to the Philippine economy through
achievements in business and society by Biz
News Asia magazine (2008), Global Filipino
Executive of the Year for 2010 by Asia CEO
Awards, and Philippines Best CEO for 2012
by Finance Asia.
Mr. Pangilinan graduated cum laude
from the Ateneo de Manila University, with
a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics.
He received his Master’s Degree in Business
Administration from Wharton School of
Finance & Commerce at the University of
Pennsylvania, where he was a Procter &
Gamble Fellow. He was conferred a Doctor of
Humanities Degree (Honoris Causa) by the
San Beda College (2002), Xavier University
(2007), Holy Angel University (2009) and Far
Eastern University (2010).
HELEN Y. DEE, 74, FILIPINO
Director of PLDT since June 18, 1986.
She is the Chairperson or a director of EEI
Corporation, House of Investments, Petro
Energy Resources Corporation and Rizal
Commercial Banking Corporation, all of
which are PSE-listed companies. She is the
Chairperson, Vice Chairperson or a director of
several companies engaged in banking, insurance
and real property businesses. She is also the
President and/or Chief Executive Officer of
Hydee Management and Resource Corp., Moira
Management, Inc., Tameena Resources, Inc.,
YGC Corporate Services, Inc., GPL Holdings,
Inc. and Mijo Holdings, Inc. Ms. Dee received
her Master’s Degree in Business Administration
from De La Salle University.
ALBERT F. DEL ROSARIO, 79, FILIPINO
Director of PLDT since July 11, 2016
and is a member of the Technology Strategy
Committee of the Board of Directors of PLDT.
He was the former Secretary of Foreign Affairs
of the Philippines from February 2011 to March
2016 and also served as Philippine Ambassador
to the United States of America from October
2001 to August 2006. Prior to entering public
service, he was on the Board of Directors of
various firms. His business career for over four
decades has spanned the insurance, banking, real
estate, shipping, telecommunications, advertising,
consumer products, retail, pharmaceutical and
food industries.
Ambassador del Rosario is the Chairman of
Philippine Stratbase Consultancy, Inc., Gotuaco
del Rosario Insurance Brokers, Inc., Stratbase
ADR Institute, Inc., and a director of First Pacific
Company Limited, Metro Pacific Investments
Corporation and Rockwell Land Corporation
(both PSE-listed companies), Indra Philippines,
Inc., Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation, Two
Rivers Pacific Holdings Corporation, Metro
Pacific Resources, Inc., Metro Pacific Holdings,
Inc., Metro Pacific Asset Holdings, Inc., Philippine
Telecommunications Investment Corporation,
Enterprise Investments Holdings, Inc. and Asia
Insurance (Phil.) Corp. He is also a trustee of
the Carlos P. Romulo Foundation for Peace &
Development and Philippine Cancer Society,
Inc. and a member of the Advisory Board of
CSIS Southeast Asia Program and Metrobank
Foundation, Inc.
Ambassador del Rosario received
numerous awards and recognition for his
valuable contributions to the Philippines and
abroad. In September 2004, he was conferred
the Order of Sikatuna, Rank of Datu, by H.E.
48
FIBER POWER
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
JAMES L. GO
SHIGEKI HAYASHI
JUNICHI IGARASHI
AURORA C. IGNACIO
BERNIDO H. LIU
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for his
outstanding efforts in promoting foreign
relations for the Philippines and the Order
of Lakandula with a Rank of Grand Cross
(Bayani) for acting as Co-Chair of the 2015
APEC in December 2015. He was a recipient
of the EDSA II Presidential Heroes Award in
recognition of his work in fostering Philippine
democracy in 2001 and the Philippine Army
Award from H.E. President Corazon Aquino
for his accomplishments as Chairman of the
Makati Foundation for Education in 1991. He
was awarded as 2013 Professional Chair for
Public Service and Governance by Ateneo
School of Government and the Metrobank
Foundation, 2014 Management Man of the
Year by Management Association of the
Philippines, 2016 Outstanding Government
National Official by Volunteers Against Crime
and Corruption (VACC), 2016 Asia CEO
Awards as Life Contributor, and Manuel L.
Quezon Gawad Parangal as Quezon City’s
Most Outstanding Citizens for 2016. He was
elevated to the Xavier Hall of Fame in New
York City in 2006. He received the AIM
Washington Sycip Distinguished Management
Leadership Award in 2011, Doctor of Laws
(Honoris Causa) for “principled commitment
to democracy, integrity and the rule of
law both at home and around the globe”
conferred by the College of Mount Saint
Vincent, New York City in September 2015,
Rotary Club Makati West’s First “Albert del
Rosario Award” (Tungo sa Makatarungang
Pamumuhay) in August 2016, Outstanding
Leadership in Diplomatic Service by Miriam
College Department of International Studies
and Philippine Tatler’s Diamond Award both
in November 2016. On September 25, 2018,
he was conferred the Honorary Degree of
Doctor for Humanities by the Ateneo de
Manila University for staunchly defending the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of the
country, raising the standards of economic
diplomacy and proactively ensuring the safety
and security of overseas Filipinos everywhere.
Ambassador del Rosario graduated from New
York University with a Bachelor of Science
Degree in Economics.
RAY C. ESPINOSA, 62, FILIPINO
Director of PLDT since November 24,
1998, and is a member of the Technology
Strategy Committee of the Board of Directors
of PLDT. He was appointed as Deputy
Chief Executive Officer of Meralco and
Senior Advisor to the President and CEO
of PLDT effective January 28, 2019. He has
been the General Counsel of Meralco since
December 15, 2009. He is a director of
Metro Pacific Investments Corporation and
Roxas Holdings, Inc., a director and Chairman
of the Finance Committee of Meralco, an
independent director and Chairman of the
Audit Committee of Lepanto Consolidated
Mining Company, all of which are PSE-listed
companies, and an independent director
and the Chairman of the Risk Management
Committee of Maybank Philippines, Inc. He is
the Chairman of PhilStar Group of Companies
and Business World Publication Corporation,
the President of Mediaquest Holdings, Inc.,
a director of several subsidiaries of PLDT
including Smart and ePLDT, Inc., and a trustee
of the Beneficial Trust Fund of PLDT and
PLDT-Smart Foundation, Inc. Atty. Espinosa
served as the President & CEO of ePLDT
and its subsidiaries until April 2010 and as
President & CEO of TV5 Network Inc. and
Cignal TV, Inc. until May 2013. In June 2013,
he joined First Pacific as Associate Director
and was appointed as First Pacific Group’s
Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs
and Head of Communications Bureau for the
Philippines. He was PLDT’s Head of Regulatory
and Strategic Affairs until December 2016 and
Chief Corporate Services Officer until January
28, 2019.
Atty. Espinosa has a Master of Laws degree
from the University of Michigan Law School
and is a member of the Integrated Bar of the
Philippines. He was a partner at Sycip Salazar
Hernandez & Gatmaitan from 1982 to 2000,
and a foreign associate at Covington and
Burling (Washington, D. C., USA) from 1987
to 1988. He placed first in the 1982 Philippine
Bar Examinations.
JAMES L. GO, 79, FILIPINO
He has been a director of PLDT since
November 3, 2011, and is a member of the
Technology Strategy and Risk Committees and
Advisor of the Audit Committee of the Board
of Directors of PLDT. He is the Chairman of
JG Summit Holdings, Inc. (JGSHI) and Cebu Air,
Inc., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
Oriental Petroleum and Minerals Corporation
(OPMC), the Chairman Emeritus of Universal
Robina Corporation (URC) and Robinsons
Land Corporation (RLC), the Vice Chairman
of Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc. (RRHI)
and a director of Manila Electric Company,
which are PSE-listed companies. He is also the
Chairman Emeritus of JG Summit Petrochemical
Corporation (JGSPC) and JG Summit Olefins
Corporation and a director of United Industrial
Corporation Limited, Marina Center Holdings
Private Limited and Hotel Marina City Private
Limited. He is also the President and a Trustee
of the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation,
Inc. (GBFI). He was the Vice Chairman and
President and Chief Executive Officer of Digital
Telecommunications, Inc. until October 26, 2011.
Mr. Go received his Bachelor of Science Degree
and a Master of Science Degree in Chemical
Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, USA.
SHIGEKI HAYASHI, 51, JAPANESE
Director of PLDT since August 10, 2017.
He is the Vice President-Planning/Carrier Relation
Global Business of NTT Communications
Corporation (“NTT Com”). He handles strategy
and management of the global business of
overseas subsidiaries, post-merger integration of
NTT Com’s mergers and acquisitions companies
and carrier relation with global carriers of NTT
Com. His previous positions in NTT Com
were Director-Planning, Global Business (2012
to 2016), Senior Manager-Overseas Business
Management, Global Business (2007 to 2012)
and Senior Manager-Tax Accounting Division,
Accounts and Finance Department (1999 to
2004). He was the Deputy General Manager-
Corporate Management Department of NTT
Europe Ltd. from 2004 to 2007. Mr. Hayashi
obtained his Bachelor of Economics Degree
from Osaka University.
49
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT
ARTEMIO V. PANGANIBAN
MA. LOURDES C. RAUSA-CHAN
PEDRO E. ROXAS
MARIFE B. ZAMORA
JUNICHI IGARASHI, 54, JAPANESE
Director of PLDT since August 9,
2018. He is a member of the Governance
& Nomination, Executive Compensation,
Technology Strategy and Risk Committees,
and as Advisor of the Audit Committee of
the Board of Directors. From 2016-2018, he
served as a Director of NTT DOCOMO,
Smart Life Business Division in Tokyo, Japan.
He developed and sold a language translation
& travel mobile application (Jspeak: Japanese
– 10 languages) for inbound travelers to
Japan. From 2006-2016, he represented NTT
DOCOMO as a GSMA PSMC (Product &
Service Management Committee) member
and exchanged strategic views about mobile
industry with top 25 largest MNOs. On top
of that, from 2013-2016, he was assigned
in London, UK as General Manager for
DOCOMO Europe, Inc. (a subsidiary of
NTT DOCOMO) and worked with GSMA
executives in GSMA London HQ. From
2006-2013, he served as a Director of NTT
DOCOMO, Global Business Division in Japan.
He conducted the PoC of WiMax Service
in Canada (with Primus Communications,
Inc.) and in Singapore (with InterTouch ,Inc.).
Prior to that, he served as a Director of
Business Development and Head of Japanese
Corporate Sales Division from 2003-2006 in
StarHub, Singapore.
Mr. Igarashi received his Master Degree in
Mechanical Engineering from Tokyo University
and his Master of Business Administration
from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, USA.
AURORA CRUZ IGNACIO, 62, FILIPINO
Director of PLDT since November 8,
2018. She was appointed as President and
Chief Executive Officer of Social Security
System (SSS) on March 28, 2019. Prior to that
she was the Chairman of the Social Security
Commission (SSC), the governing body of the
SSS. She is a member of various committees
of the SSC, including the Investment Oversight,
Governance, Media Affairs, Coverage and
Collection, Risk Management, Information
Technology, and Audit Committees.
Prior to her appointment at SSC,
Ms. Ignacio served as Assistant Secretary
for Special Projects under the Office of the
President of the Republic of the Philippines,
and was designated as the Focal Person for
Anti-Illegal Drugs pursuant to Presidential
Directive No. 5. In additional, she was also
tasked to handle Special Projects for the
Office of the President while at the same
time attending to her duties as Principal
Member of the Task Force on Establishment
of Rehabilitation and Treatment Centers for
Drug Users. She was a Guest Member of
the Dangerous Drugs Board and a council
member of the National Food Authority. Prior
to her government stint, Ms. Ignacio worked in
the Bank of the Philippine Islands as corporate
banking employee.
Ms. Ignacio obtained her Bachelor of
Science Degree in Commerce Major in
Banking and Finance from Centro Escolar
University.
BERNIDO H. LIU, 55, FILIPINO
An independent director of PLDT since
September 28, 2015 and is an independent
member of the Audit, Governance and
Nomination, Executive Compensation and
Risk Committees of the Board of Directors of
PLDT. He is the Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of Golden ABC, Incorporated.
(“GABC”), a fashion retail company which
creates and sells its own clothing, personal
care and accessory lines marketed and retailed
under a fast-growing dynamic portfolio of
well-differentiated proprietary brands. He is
the Group Chairman and President of LH
Paragon Incorporated, a business holdings
company which has under its management
GABC and other companies in various
industries, namely, Matimco Incorporated,
Oakridge Realty Development Corporation,
Basic Graphics Incorporated, Essentia Medical
Group Incorporated, Red Logo Lifestyle Inc.,
Greentree Food Solutions, Inc., a director
of GABC International Pte Limited (SG)
and GABC Singapore Retail Pte Ltd. He
is a trustee for Children’s Hour Philippines
and of the Philippine Retailers Association, a
director for Mga Likha ni Inay, Inc., a member
of the Visayas Advisory Council of Habitat for
Humanity Philippines, and until March 27, 2018,
was an independent member of the Board of
Trustees of the PLDT-SMART Foundation, Inc.
Mr. Liu graduated with a Bachelor of
Science Degree in Architecture from the
University of San Carlos, Cebu, and completed
the Executive Education Owner/President
Management Program of the Harvard Business
School. Over the years, Mr. Liu and GABC
under his leadership have been recognized
by different award-giving bodies. Awards
include, among others, the Agora Award for
Outstanding Achievement in Entrepreneurship
from the Philippine Marketing Association, Ten
Outstanding Young Men for Entrepreneurship,
Global Retailer of the Year from the Philippine
Retailers Association and the Department of
Trade and Industry, and the ASEAN Business
Award of Excellence for Priority Integration
Sector in Retail.
ARTEMIO V. PANGANIBAN, 82,
FILIPINO
An independent director of PLDT since
April 23, 2013 and is serving as an independent
member of the Audit, Governance and
Nomination, Executive Compensation and
Risk Committees of the Board of Directors of
PLDT. He was appointed as Lead Independent
Director on March 21, 2019. He served as an
independent member of the Advisory Board
and an independent non-voting member of
the Governance and Nomination Committee
of the Board of Directors of PLDT from
June 9, 2009 to May 6, 2013. Currently, he
is also an independent director of Manila
Electric Company, Petron Corporation, First
Philippine Holdings Corporation, Metro
Pacific Investments Corporation, Robinsons
Land Corporation, GMA Network, GMA
Holdings, and Asian Terminals, Inc., and a regular
director of Jollibee Foods Corporation, all
of which are PSE-listed companies, as well
as a senior adviser of Metropolitan Bank and
Trust Company, a member of the Advisory
50
FIBER POWER
ADVISORY BOARD/COMMITTEE
OSCAR S. REYES
ROBERTO R. ROMULO
BENNY S. SANTOSO
ORLANDO B. VEA
CHRISTOPHER H. YOUNG
Council of the Bank of the Philippine Islands
and an adviser of Double Dragon Properties,
Corp. He is also Chairman of the Board of
Trustees of the Foundation for Liberty and
Prosperity, and of the Board of Advisers
of Metrobank Foundation, Inc., a trustee
of Tan Yan Kee Foundation and Claudio
Teehankee Foundation, President of the Manila
Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica Foundation,
a member of the Advisory Board of World
Bank (Philippines), Chairman-Emeritus of
the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center,
Inc., Chairman of the Philippine National
Committee of the Asean Law Association,
a consultant of the Judicial and Bar Council,
a member of the Permanent Court of
Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands, and a
column writer of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Hon. Panganiban served the Supreme
Court of the Philippines for more than 11
years, first as Associate Justice (October
10, 1995 to December 20, 2005) and later,
as Chief Justice (December 21, 2005 to
December 6, 2006) during which he sat
concurrently as Chairperson of the Presidential
Electoral Tribunal, Judicial and Bar Council and
Philippine Judicial Academy. He has received
over 250 awards in recognition of his role as
jurist, practicing lawyer, professor, civic leader,
Catholic lay worker and business entrepreneur,
including “The Renaissance Jurist of the
21st Century” given by the Supreme Court
on the occasion of his retirement from the
Court. Hon. Panganiban graduated cum laude
from Far Eastern University with a Bachelor
of Laws Degree in 1960, and was conferred
a Doctor of Laws Degree (Honoris Causa)
by the University of Iloilo (1997), Far Eastern
University (2002), University of Cebu (2006),
Angeles University (2006) and Bulacan State
University (2006). He was co-founder and past
president of the National Union of Students of
the Philippines.
MA. LOURDES C. RAUSA-CHAN,
65, FILIPINO
Director of PLDT since March 29,
2011 and is a non-voting member of the
Governance and Nomination Committee of
the Board of Directors of PLDT. She has been
serving as Corporate Secretary and Chief
Governance Officer since November 1998
and March 2008, respectively, and was the
Head of Corporate Affairs and Legal Services
until November 30, 2018. She is a director
and the Corporate Secretary of ePLDT,
PLDT Global Investments Holdings, Inc., PLDT
Communications and Energy Ventures, Inc.,
ACeS Philippines Cellular Satellite Corporation
and Mabuhay Investments Corporation, and
also serves as Corporate Secretary of several
other subsidiaries of PLDT, and of PLDT-
Smart Foundation Inc. and Philippine Disaster
Resilience Foundation, Inc. Prior to joining
PLDT, she was the Group Vice President for
Legal Affairs of Metro Pacific Corporation
and the Corporate Secretary of some of its
subsidiaries. Ms. Rausa-Chan received her
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science
and Bachelor of Laws Degree from the
University of the Philippines.
PEDRO E. ROXAS, 62, FILIPINO
Director of PLDT since March 1, 2001
and qualified as an independent director
since 2002. He is the Chairman of the Audit
Committee and serves as an independent
member of the Risk, Governance and
Nomination and Executive Compensation
Committees of the Board of Directors of
PLDT. He is the Chairman of Roxas Holdings,
Inc. and Roxas and Company, Inc., and an
independent director of Manila Electric
Company, BDO Private Bank and CEMEX
Holdings Phil. Inc., which are reporting or
PSE-listed companies. He is also the Chairman,
President or a director of companies or
associations in the fields of agri-business, sugar
manufacturing and real estate development
including Brightnote Assets Corporation,
Club Punta Fuego, Inc., Hawaiian-Philippine Co.
and Philippine Sugar Millers Association, and a
member of the Board of Trustees of Philippine
Business for Social Progress and Fundacion
Santiago (where he is also the President) and
Roxas Foundation, Inc.. Mr. Roxas received
his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business
Administration from the University of Notre
Dame, Indiana, U.S.A.
MARIFE B. ZAMORA, 65, FILIPINO
Director of PLDT since November 14,
2016. She is the Chairman of the Board of
Willis Towers Watson Insurance Brokers, Inc.,
a member of the Board of Trustees of the Asian
Institute of Management and ABS-CBN Lingkod
Kapamilya Foundation Inc., and a member of
the Board of Directors and Secretary of the
Integrity Initiative, Inc. She co-founded and is the
Chair of the Filipina CEO Circle, an organization
of Filipina CEOs who rose through the ranks to
lead large corporations in the private sector. She
was Chairman of Convergys Philippines until
December 2018, Managing Director for Asia
Pacific, Europe, Middle East, Africa for Convergys
Corporation, and served as the first Country
Manager of Convergys Philippines, setting up
its first contact center in 2003 and leading its
growth as the country’s largest private employer.
Prior to this, Ms. Zamora served as Managing
Director of Headstrong Phils. She was with IBM
Philippines where she held a number of sales,
marketing and management positions during
her 18-year tenure with the company. She is the
3rd woman President and the 68th President of
the Management Association of the Philippines.
Honors conferred on Ms. Zamora include
the Asia CEO Awards 2011 Global Filipino
Executive of the Year, the ‘Go Negosyo’ Woman
STARpreneuer Award 2012, and the 100 Most
Influential Filipino Women in the World 2013
Ms. Zamora received her Bachelor of Arts
Degree (major in Mathematics & History) from
the College of the Holy Spirit and studied in the
University of the Philippines and the Wharton
School of the University of Pennsylvania.
51
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
ERNESTO R. ALBERTO
ALEJANDRO O. CAEG
ANABELLE L. CHUA
RAY C. ESPINOSA
MANUEL V. PANGILINAN
MENARDO G. JIMENEZ
ERNESTO R. ALBERTO, 57, FILIPINO
Group Chief Revenue Officer for both
PLDT and Smart since December 2016 is
responsible for generating revenues from all
the market segments of the group (Enterprise,
International and Consumer Businesses). He is
also the President and CEO of ePLDT since
January 2013, and sits as member of the PLDT
and Smart Group’s Top Management Team
(TMT). Prior to that he was the head of PLDT
Group Enterprise, International and Carrier
Business since 2012.
He is the Chairman of Asia Netcom
Philippines Corporation, Digitel Crossing, Inc.,
Mabuhay Investments Corporation, Telesat,
Inc., ABM Global Solutions, Curo Teknika,
ePDS, IP Converge Data Services, Rack It Data
Center, Inc., PLDT Malaysia Sdn. Bhd, Bonifacio
Communications Corporation, PLDT Clark
Telecom, Inc., PLDT Subic Telecom, Inc., PLDT
Maratel, Inc., PLDT Philcom and Smart NTT
Multi-Media, a director of Asean Telecom
Holdings Sdn. Bhd, Digital Telecommunications
Phils., Inc., Digitel Mobile Phils., Inc., i-Contacts
Corporation, MVP Rewards and Loyalty
Solutions, Inc., PLDT Global Corporation,
Primeworld Digital Systems, Inc., Smart, Talas
Data Intelligence, Inc., Wifun, Inc., and a number
of subsidiaries and afilaites of PLDT, Smart
and ePLDT. He is a trustee of the Advertising
Foundation of the Philippines and a member of
the Management Association of the Philippines
(MAP) and Makati Business Club (MBC). He
is also a founding member and trustee of IBM
Analitika Philippines. He is the Chairman of
Junior Achievement of the Philippines, Inc. and
is involved in several socio-civic organizations.
He brings with him over thirty (30) years
of extensive experience in telecommunications,
corporate banking, relationship management
and business development, having held key
positions in the PLDT Group and leading local
and foreign banks. Prior to joining PLDT in May
2003, he was Vice President, Senior Banker and
Group Head of the National Corporate Group
of Citibank, N.A., Manila from November 1996
to April 2003 and previously served as Vice
President and Group Head of the Relationship
Management Group of Citytrust Banking
Corporation. Mr. Alberto graduated with a
Bachelor’s Degree major in Economics and
minor in Mathematics and Political Science
from San Beda College and pursued his
masters studies in Economics Research at the
University of Asia and the Pacific.
ANABELLE L. CHUA, 58, FILIPINO
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Risk
Management Officer of the PLDT Group,
previously served as the Chief Financial Officer
of Smart from 2006 and Chief Financial Officer
of Digitel Mobile from 2013 until May 2015.
She holds directorships in several subsidiaries
of PLDT, Smart, Digitel, as well as in Voyager
Innovations and PayMaya Philippines.. She is
also a member of the Board of Directors of
Philippine Stock Exchange, Securities Clearing
Corporation of the Philippines and Philippine
Telecommunications Investment Corporation
and the Board of Trustees of the PLDT-Smart
Foundation and PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund
(“PLDT-BTF”), a director of the companies
owned by PLDT-BTF, and a director and
member of the Finance, Audit, Risk and
Nomination and Governance Committees of
the Board of Directors of Meralco. Ms. Chua
has over 30 years of experience in the areas
of corporate finance, treasury, financial control
and credit risk management and was a Vice
President at Citibank, N.A. where she worked
for 10 years prior to joining PLDT in 1998.
She graduated magna cum laude from the
University of the Philippines with a Bachelor
of Science Degree in Business Administration
and Accountancy.
ALEJANDRO O. CAEG, 58, FILIPINO
Head of Consumer Customer Development,
previously served as Head of WCD Sales
and Distribution of Smart from December
1, 2016 to December 2017 and as Head of
International & Carrier Business from March
1, 2009 until November 30, 2016. He was
Smart’s representative to the Conexus Mobile
Alliance (one of Asia’s largest cellular roaming
alliances), where he was also designated as its
Deputy Chairman until 2012 and Conexus
Chairman until 2014. Prior to joining PLDT
in 2009, he worked in PT Smart Telecom
(Indonesia) as its Chief Commercial Strategy
Officer from July 2008 to December 2008
and as Chief Commercial Officer from January
2006 to June 2008.
He also held various sales, marketing
and customer service-related positions in
Smart including that of Group Head of Sales
and Distribution (2003-2005), Group Head
of Customer Care and National Wireless
Centers (1998-2001) and Marketing Head
of International Gateway Facilities and Local
Exchange Carrier (1997-1998). He also
served as President and Chief Executive
Officer of Telecommunications Distributors
Specialist, Inc. in 2002 and as Chief Operations
Adviser of I-Contacts Corporation (Smart’s
Call Center subsidiary) from 2001 to 2002.
Mr. Caeg graduated with a Bachelor’s
Degree in AB Applied Economics and obtained
MBA credits from De La Salle University Manila.
MENARDO G. JIMENEZ, JR.,
55, FILIPINO
Business Transformation Office Deputy
Head, joined PLDT in December 2001 and
has served in various capacities as Corporate
Communications and Public Affairs Head,
Retail Business Head, Human Resources Group
Head and Fixed Line Business Transformation
Office Head. He holds directorships in several
subsidiaries of PLDT. Prior to joining PLDT,
he had a stint at GMA Network, Inc., where
he served as head of a creative services and
network promotions.
Mr. Jimenez received his AB Economics
Degree from the University of the Philippines.
JUAN VICTOR I. HERNANDEZ,
45, FILIPINO
Enterprise Business Head, is responsible
for setting and driving the overall business
directions for Corporate and SME businesses
of the PLDT Group. He joined the Company
in October 2000 as Executive Trainee under
the Corporate Business Group and served as
52
FIBER POWER
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
JUAN VICTOR I.
HERNANDEZ
MA. LOURDES C.
RAUSA-CHAN*
JUNE CHERYL A.
CABAL-REVILLA
OSCAR ENRICO A.
REYES, JR.
VICTORICO P.
VARGAS
MARILYN A.
VICTORIO-AQUINO
Head of Corporate Credit Management from
August 2001 to February 2003, Head of PLDT
Corporate Business Group –Visayas from 2003
to 2005, Convergence Business B Head from
2003 to July 2009 and Corporate Business
Head from August 2009 to November 2016.
He obtained his BS Agricultural Economics
Degree from the University of the Philippines
and Masters in Business Management Degree
from the Asian Institute of Management.
JUNE CHERYL A. CABAL-REVILLA,
45, FILIPINO
Controller and Financial Reporting and
Controllership Head, is concurrently the Chief
Financial Officer of Smart since May 18, 2015.
She is also a director and/or the Chief Financial
Officer/Treasurer of several subsidiaries of
PLDT, the Co-Controller of Vega Telecom,
Inc., Eastern Telecommunications Phils, Inc.
and Bell Telecommunication Phils, Inc., the
Chief Financial Officer and/or Treasurer of
PLDT-Smart Foundation, Philippine Disaster
Resilience Foundation and TOYM Foundation,
Comptroller of First Pacific Leadership
Academy Foundation and director of Tahanan
Mutual Building and Loan Association.
Prior to joining PLDT in June 2000 as an
executive trainee in the Finance Group, she
was a senior associate in the business audit
and advisory group of SGV & Co.
Ms. Cabal-Revilla received her Bachelor
of Science Degree in Accountancy from De
La Salle University and Master’s Degree in
Business Management Major in Finance from
Asian Institute of Management.
OSCAR ENRICO A. REYES, JR.,
43, FILIPINO
Head of Consumer Market Development,
joined PLDT in February 2015 and was
seconded to CignalTV as Chief Operating
Officer until December 31, 2015. Thereafter,
he served as Home Operations Head until
December 2016 and as Home Business Head
until July 2017. He holds directorships in some
subsidiaries of PLDT.
Mr. Reyes, Jr. has extensive experience in
consumer marketing and sales both locally and
globally and prior to joining PLDT, he served as
General Manager-Consumer Products Division
of L’Oreal Philippines Inc. from June 2012 until
January 2015 and Deputy General Manager-
Consumer Products Division from February
2012 until June 2012. He was the Marketing
Director of Nutri-Asia Philippines, Inc. from
April 2009 to January 2012 and worked for 11
years in Unilever companies, including Unilever
Philippines, Inc. and Unilever Thai Trading
Limited, handling global and local marketing
and sales functions from 1998 to April 2009
Mr. Reyes obtained his Bachelor of Science
Degree in Management Engineering from
Ateneo De Manila University and has attended
an executive courses on Culture Building in
CEDEP, INSEAD and General Management
in France.
VICTORICO P. VARGAS, 66, FILIPINO
Business Transformation Office Head, is an
Assistant Director of First Pacific since January
2016, overseeing First Pacific Group businesses
operating in the Philippines and its region,
with particular focus on leading the Business
Transformation of PLDT. Prior thereto,
Mr. Vargas was the President and Chief
Executive Officer of Maynilad Water Services,
Inc. since August 2010. He joined PLDT in
2000 as its Human Resources Group Head
and through his stay at PLDT got involved in
managing the PLDT Business Transformation
Office, Asset Protection and Management
Group, and the PLDT International Carrier
Business. He has worked in senior roles at
Union Carbide, Pepsi Cola, Colgate Palmolive
and Citibank. He is the President of the
Philippine Olympic Committee, a director of
PLDT Subic Telecom, Inc. and PLDT Clark
Telecom, Inc., President and Member of
the Board of Trustees of the First Pacific
Leadership Academy, Trustee of the MVP
Sports Foundation, and Ideaspace Foundation
and President of the PhilPop Music Fest
Foundation. Mr. Vargas was educated at Ateneo
de Manila and University of Santo Tomas with a
Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology.
MARILYN A. VICTORIO-AQUINO,
63, FILIPINO
Chief Legal Counsel, joined First Pacific
in 2012 as Assistant Director. She holds
various positions in Philippine subsidiaries
and affiliates of First Pacific and Metro Pacific
Investments Corporation (an affiliate of First
Pacific), including President of First Coconut
Manufacturing Inc., and director of Philex
Mining Corporation, PXP Energy Corporation
and Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company,
which are PSE-listed companies, Philex Gold
Philippines, Inc., Silangan Mindanao Mining
Company, Inc. and Maynilad Water Services, Inc.
Prior to joining First Pacific, Atty. Victorio-
Aquino retired as a Senior Partner at SyCip
Salazar Hernandez and Gatmaitan Law Offices
(SyCipLaw). She joined SyCipLaw in 1980 and
was admitted as Partner in 1989. Her practice
areas were mining and natural resources,
investments, mergers and acquisitions,
construction and infrastructure, and project
finance and securities, where she acted as legal
counsel and represented local and foreign
clients in respect of some of the largest
projects and transactions in the Philippines.
Atty. Victorio-Aquino graduated cum laude
(class salutatorian) from the University of the
Philippines with a Bachelor of Laws Degree
in 1980, placed second in the Philippine
Bar Examinations and was admitted to the
Philippine Bar in 1981. She obtained her
Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University
of Santo Tomas. She is a member of the
International Pacific Bar Association, Women
Lawyers Circle, Federacion International de
Abogadas, Philippine Bar Association and
Integrated Bar of the Philippines.
*Retired from employment as General Counsel effective November 30, 2018
53
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT
TOP MANAGEMENT TEAM
MANUEL V. PANGILINAN
ERNESTO R. ALBERTO
ANABELLE L. CHUA
RAY C. ESPINOSA
VICTORICO P. VARGAS
ORLANDO B. VEA
KEY ADVISORS
JOACHIM HORN
RALPH BRUNNER
54
FIBER POWER TOP MANAGEMENT TEAM
KEY ADVISORS
OFFICERS
Manuel V Pangilinan
Chairman of the Board
President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Ernesto R. Alberto
EVP and Chief Revenue Officer
Anabelle L. Chua1
SVP, Chief Financial Officer and Chief
Risk Management Officer
Ray C. Espinosa2
Chief Corporate Service Officer
Victorico P. Vargas
Head, Business Transformation Office
Marilyn A. Victorio-Aquino3
Chief Legal Counsel
Maria Lourdes C. Rausa-Chan
Chief Governance Officer and Corporate Secretary
Gina Marina P. Ordońez4
Chief People Officer
Alejandro O. Caeg
SVP and Head Consumer Customer Development
Juan Victor I. Hernandez
SVP and Head Enterprise Business
Menardo G. Jimenez, Jr.
SVP and Deputy Head, Business Transformation Office
June Cheryl C. Revilla
SVP, Controller and Head Financial Reporting
and Controllership
Oscar Enrico A. Reyes, Jr.
SVP and Head Consumer Market Development
Katrina L. Abelarde
FVP and Head International Carrier Business
Marco Alejandro T. Borlongan
FVP and Head Consumer Experience
Alfredo B. Carrera
FVP and Head Regulatory Support
Marisa V. Conde5
FVP and Wireless Financial Controller
Gil Samson D. Garcia5
FVP and Head Revenue Management and Cash Assurance
Joseph Ian G. Gendrano5
FVP, Deputy Data Privacy Officer and Head
Enterprise Core Business Solutions
Leah Camilla B. Jimenez
FVP and Chief Data Privacy Officer
Data Privacy and Information Security Governance
Albert Mitchell L. Locsin
FVP and Head SME Nation
Florentino D. Mabasa, Jr.
FVP, Assistant Corporate Secretary and Head
Legal Services
Leo I. Posadas
FVP, Corporate Treasurer and Head Treasury
Dale M. Ramos5
FVP and Head Network Build
Aileen D. Regio
FVP and Head Contracts Management and Governance /
Regulatory Operations
Luis S. Reñon6
FVP and Head Internal Audit and Fraud
Risk Management
Martin T. Rio
FVP and Head Property and Facilities Management
Ricardo M. Sison
FVP and Consumer Credit Policy Head
Consumer Accounts and Systems
Juan Alfonso D. Suarez7
FVP and Deputy Head for Organization
Emiliano R. Tanchico
FVP and Head HR Services
Annette Yvette W. Tirol
FVP and Head Loyalty and Rewards Management
Victor Y. Tria
FVP and Head Alpha Business
Melissa V. Vergel De Dios
FVP and Head Investor Relations
Maria Cecilia H. Abad8
VP and Deputy Data Privacy Officer
Minerva M. Agas
VP and Head Logistics
Benedict Patrick V. Alcoseba
VP and Head Disruptive Business
Elizabeth S. Andojar8
VP and Head Enterprise Business Credit and
Collection Management
Tito Rodolfo Jr. B Aquino8
VP and Head Contracts Management
Ariel G. Aznar
VP and Head Facilities Management
Jerameel A. Azurin
VP and Head of SME Marketing
Rafael M. Bejar
VP and Head Medical Services
Jose Arnilo S. Castañeda
VP and Head IOT Product Management
Gerardo Jose V. Castro
VP and Head CX Area South Luzon
Gene S. De Guzman
VP and Head Enterprise Complex Service
Assurance Management
Elisa B. Gesalta
VP and Head Enterprise and IBS Project
Management
John John R. Gonzales
VP and Head Enterprise Digital Solutions
Engagement and Technical Services
Ma. Gillian Y. Gonzalez
VP and Head Retail Strategy and
Development Office
Ma. Criselda B. Guhit
VP and Head Tax Management
Silverio S. Ibay, Jr.
VP and Head Spend Management Accounting
Gary F. Ignacio
VP and Head Corporate Business Solutions
Marven S. Jardiel
VP and Head Enterprise Customer
Operations Management
Princesita P. Katigbak
VP and Head National Key Accounts
Alexander S. Kibanoff
VP and Head Learning and Development
Javier C. Lagdameo
VP and Head SME Relationship Management A
Luis Ignacio A. Lopa
VP and Head CRO Business Synergy and Assurance
Czar Christopher S. Lopez
VP and Head Technology Strategy and
Transformation Office
Paolo Jose C. Lopez
VP and Head Telesales, Online Stores, and
Emerging Channels
Maria Carmela F. Luque
VP and Head Financial and Revenue Audit
Melanie A. Manuel8
VP and Head Carrier Settlements and Business
Operations Support
Ronaldo David R. Mendoza8
VP and Head Building Industry and
Consultancy Services
Oliver Carlos G. Odulio
VP and Head Asset Protection and Risk Management
Carlo S. Ople
VP and Head Digital Acceleration
Harold Kim A. Orbase
VP and Head Enterprise Service Fulfillment
Management
Charles Louis L. Orcena9
VP - Business and Customer Analytics
Eduardo H. Rafuson8
VP and Head Fraud Risk Management
Ricardo C. Rodriguez
VP and Head Organization, Policies, HR Analytics
and Workforce Planning Support Services
Genaro C. Sanchez
VP and Head International Submarine Cable Network
Maria Cristina C. Semira
VP and Head Subsidiaries and Affiliates Finance - 1
Ma. Merceditas T. Siapuatco
VP and Head Treasury Operations and Support
Arvin L. Siena
VP and Head Core Planning and Engineering
Carla Elena A. Tabuena
VP and Head Enterprise Non-Technical Operations
Patrick S. Tang
VP and Head VisMin Regional Marketing
Jecyn Aimee C. Teng8
VP and Head SME Relationship Management B
John Henri C. Yanez
VP and Head HOME Marketing
Radames Vittorio B. Zalameda10
VP and Head Network Planning and
Engineering Integration
1 Appointed as Chief Risk Management Officer effective August 9, 2018
2 Until January 27, 2019. He was appointed as Senior Advisor to the President and CEO of PLDT effective January 28, 2019.
3 Appointed as Chief Legal Counsel effective December 1, 2018
4 Appointed as Chief People Officer effective March 21, 2019
5 Promoted to First Vice President effective November 8, 2018
6 Appointed as First Vice President effective July 1, 2018
7 Appointed as First Vice President effective October 1, 2018
8 Promoted to Vice President effective November 8, 2018
9 Appointed as Vice President effective July 9, 2018
10 Appointed as Vice President effective January 1, 2018
55
PLDT 2018 ANNUAL REPORT