Thursday, April 19, 2018

Gabby Lopez nominates Mark Lopez as ABS-CBN chairman

(UPDATE) Eugenio "Gabby" Lopez III on Thursday nominated Martin "Mark" Lopez to succeed him as chairman of ABS-CBN Corp, the country's largest media and entertainment company.

At the close of an annual stockholders meeting, Lopez III said he would no longer seek reelection as ABS-CBN chairman, as he quoted from his father, the late Eugenio "Geny" Lopez Jr., known fondly to ABS-CBN employees and the industry as "Kapitan" (Captain).

"My father has always said, broadcasting is for the young. That statement is as true today as the statement that change is the only constant," Gabby Lopez said.

"For the young have the courage to go where no one has ever been. Why not, or bakit hindi, has always been one of the defining attributes of our organization," he said.

"The demographic profile of the Philippines has always been biased towards the youth. Who better to assess the needs of our audience than like-minded young managers?" he said.

Mark Lopez, and ABS-CBN President and CEO Carlo Katigbak are both in their 40s, Gabby Lopez said.

Mark Lopez's role as chairman will be "distinctly different" from his own, especially as the company pivots to digital, Gabby Lopez said. Katigbak will handle day-to-day operations, he said.

Currently ABS-CBN's chief technology officer and a member of the board of directors, Mark Lopez spearheaded the company's systems modernization which saw a migration to the cloud and the automation of content creation and delivery to various platforms.

He was responsible for ABS-CBN's migration to HD and put in place its digital terrestrial TV infrastructure.

Mark Lopez served under Meralco, the country’s largest power distributor, where he worked as vice president, chief information officer and president of unit e-Meralco Ventures Inc.

Gabby Lopez said if the ABS-CBN board decides, he could still serve in a "consultative" capacity.

"I may be retired but I am not dead," he said.

He drew parallels between his career path and a line from a Khalil Gibran poem, which said: "Your children are not your children, they are the sons and daughter of life longing for itself."

"And so it is with ABS-CBN. I spent most of my life with you but you are not an extension of me," he said.

"Fly high, Kapamilya. Never be afraid to dream. Never be afraid to venture where no one has gone. I remain with you always," he said.

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