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Elijah Felice Rosales - The Philippine Star
June 12, 2026 | 12:00am
In a letter dated June 10, GMA informed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it is completing the needed certifications for nominees to the position of independent directors.
Businessworld / File
MANILA, Philippines — Broadcast leader GMA Network Inc. has given in to regulatory pressure to impose term limits on independent directors, replacing its outgoing leaders with a former chief justice and a long-time Deutsche Bank executive.
In a letter dated June 10, GMA informed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it is completing the needed certifications for nominees to the position of independent directors.
The network is nominating retired chief justice Reynato Puno and former Deustche Bank Manila Branch chief Enrico Cruz as independent directors until 2027.
They will be taking over the positions to be vacated by former chief justice Artemio Panganiban and veteran banker and economist Jaime Laya. Both Panganiban and Laya were hit by the SEC’s memorandum capping the term limit of independent directors to nine years.
GMA tried to stop the SEC order by filing a court case. However, the network averted a potential drawn-out battle by pulling out the petition for certiorari against SEC.
SEC chairman Francis Lim sees the memorandum as necessary to improve business optimism by rejecting boardroom dominance by a few individuals.
GMA was the most vocal among listed firms in rejecting the term cap on independent directors, as its fellow corporate giants easily complied with the new regulations.
With Panganiban and Laya soon exiting their roles, GMA will be relying on the legal wisdom of Puno and the banking experience of Cruz to boost its boardroom. They will be playing a crucial role in supporting a network whose profit fluctuates outside of the election cycle.
Puno was chief justice between 2006 and 2010. His latest legal work included the Duterte administration’s effort to revise the Constitution, as he was tapped to lead a committee that reviewed the highest law of the land.
He currently serves as an independent director of San Miguel Brewery Hong Kong Ltd. and Bright Kindle Resources and Investment, and is also chairman of some organizations such as Environmental Heroes Foundation and GenWatt Solar Energy Solutions (Philippines).
Cruz, on the other hand, headed the Deutsche Bank’s Manila unit between 2003 and 2019, a role that he landed after leading the now-defunct Citytrust Banking Corp.
