Clean energy vs showbiz

philstar.com · Feb 26, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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February 27, 2026 | 12:00am The Lopez business interests, as built by Don Eugenio Sr., have mostly focused on two sectors: media and energy. They had their ups and downs, the worst under martial law when Marcos Sr. took away ABS-CBN and Meralco from them. But the second generation under Geny, Oscar and Manolo bounced back after EDSA and built up their inherited businesses from Don Eugenio into even greater heights. They tweaked their investment decisions to adjust to market and political demands. They sold Meralco control to present a clear compliance with the philosophy of EPIRA and used the proceeds to build a bigger stake in power generation. They gave up the Manila Chronicle and concentrated on ABS-CBN. The third generation led by Gabby and Piki (Oscar’s son) had challenges that tested their ability to build on the family legacies. Things were fine until president Duterte decided to deny the renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise. That was one tough economic blow that they are still digesting until now. Piki’s power generation, however, has always been doing very well. In addition to geothermal and major hydro dams, First Gen had been running a 1,2000-megawatt natural gas power platform that was pumping out cash, generating dividends of about P5.4 billion annually from 2019 to 2024. There was no reason to sell 60 percent of that to Ricky Razon if Piki only wanted to count the money. But Piki, like his father Oscar, has a long-term view of their reason for being in the business. From the time Piki took over leadership of First Holdings, he said that natural gas is a transition fuel to something cleaner in the future. Father and son have always been committed to environment preservation and active in such efforts as protecting the Verde Island Passage, the “center of the center” of global marine shore fish biodiversity. The Lopez father and son promised that First Gen will be a leader in clean energy: geothermal, hydro, wind, solar. Oscar was a leading figure in Conservation International. He funded the work of a group of climate/environmental scientists, creating the Oscar M. Lopez Center for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management Foundation Inc. It amused me to hear some observers wonder if the third generation was giving up on the family legacy when Piki decided to sell 60 percent of First Gen’s gas assets for P50 million to Ricky Razon. Then there were those who wondered if the proceeds of the sale should help fund a rehabilitation of ABS-CBN. The media arm has been drowning in a flood of red ink since the time Duterte tried to close it down. They even had to sell their historic Broadcast Center to Ayala Land to help pay debts. That’s one other thing with the Lopezes. They always paid their debts. Geny paid Citibank, 14 years after martial law. Having long written off the ABS-CBN debt, Citibank was surprised but happy to receive Geny’s payment. The same thing now. ABS-CBN could have declared force majeure, which the Duterte era-franchise denial was. But corporate values prevented them from taking such an option. They will struggle but will pay their debts. I read some observations on social media expressing surprise and disappointment that the Razon proceeds, and more, will be re-invested in Razon’s hydro projects, a total of P75 billion. Does this make sense? Of course it does, if you have followed closely how Piki has shepherded the power assets under his watch. This is a bet toward realizing Oscar’s renewables promise. That P75 billion will cover a 40 percent stake in the 2,000 MW Wawa and Pakil pumped-storage projects under Razon’s Prime Hydropower Energy. The hydro projects are backed by long-term capacity payments under the Green Energy Auction Program. Natural gas plants, on the other hand, are exposed to fuel price swings and contract renewals. The scheme gives developers 20-year fixed price power supply agreements to help DOE reach its renewable energy targets of 35 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040. First Gen, according to media reports, projects average dividends from hydro of about P19.9 billion from 2031 to 2050 or almost four times the historic annual contribution of the gas plants. What about ABS-CBN? They will be fine. Struggling but fine. They are a very hardy and talented group that’s very resilient. They will continue to do what they do best: entertain and report the news. The reality is, media is a tough investment choice in these days of the internet. Even media organizations as stable as the New York Times and the Washington Post are finding out that politics have made it more difficult and dangerous to be invested in media. Besides, ABS-CBN made a choice to reject a franchise even if one is offered. They would rather stick to their current business of content creation. Expect ABS-CBN to continue to create waves and make Philippine entertainment more international. Maybe the next sensational boy or girl band like BTS will come from ABS-CBN. The one concern I have with hydro projects is climate change. Nothing looks sadder than a dry dam. But I am sure the climate scientists at the Lopez Climate Center have figured out the odds for unusual weather changes. Those pump storage projects will be a big help in stabilizing the power grid in an era of variable renewable energy that’s unreliable. Solar and wind power are considered unreliable because they are variable, intermittent and non-dispatchable, meaning their energy output changes based on weather conditions rather than demand, and they do not inherently provide the mechanical inertia that traditional power plants (like hydro) use to keep the grid stable. Ricky and Piki are a good match. While Piki is quite private and reserved, Ricky is not afraid to get into tough political battles, like the late Don Eugenio. Both of them working together to assure power supply sufficiency would be good for the country. Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on X @boochanco