‘Piki still sits as Lopez Inc. president’

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April 2, 2026 | 12:00am

First Gen says court injunction remains in effect

MANILA, Philippines —  Tycoon Federico “Piki” Lopez still sits as president of Lopez Inc., with a writ of preliminary injunction continuing to be effective, Lopez-led First Gen Corp. said.

In a stock exchange filing yesterday, First Gen said the writ of preliminary injunction issued by the Mandaluyong City Regional Trial Court “is valid and effective” to date.

“Plaintiff Federico Lopez still sits as president of Lopez Inc., and First Gen Corp. continues to operate business as usual, with no disruption,” the company said.

Piki currently serves as chairman of First Gen, the largest clean and renewable independent power producer in the Philippines.

“First Gen confirms that in a pleading filed by the defendants Lopez Inc. et al. in the civil case for declaration of nullity of the Feb. 27, 2026 Lopez Inc. board resolutions, the defendants stated that plaintiff Federico Lopez was removed as president of Lopez Inc. by the affirmative vote of five of the seven directors,” the company said.

“It is this act of the Lopez Inc. board of directors which is the subject of a temporary restraining order issued by the Mandaluyong City Regional Trial Court on March 11, 2026, which was later extended to April 1, 2026, at which point a writ of preliminary Injunction is issued,” it said.

According to First Gen, the writ of preliminary injunction restrains all defendants, including their successors, representatives and all persons acting on their behalf, from enforcing or implementing the Feb. 27 board resolutions removing Piki as president of Lopez Inc. and appointing defendant and cousin Rafael Lopez as his replacement.

It also restrains Rafael to assume, exercise or perform the powers and functions as president of Lopez Inc. and replace Piki as officer, director or corporate representative in any corporation where Lopez Inc. holds shares and exercises voting rights through the president.

A motion for the dissolution of the pro-Piki court order has been filed by the lawyers of the Lopez family majority, citing among others the by-laws allowing Lopez Inc.’s board to remove Piki by a majority vote as well as his “opaque management style which is a breach of proper governance.”

Three Lopez factions representing a 71-percent majority stake in the family’s holding company has cited the “loss of trust and confidence” as the reason for the removal of Piki as president of Lopez Inc., dismissing claims that it happened out of revenge  for his refusal to infuse P2 billion of reserve funds from  the family holding company as fresh capital for ABS-CBN.

The majority said it has found questionable transactions involving billions of pesos in the companies Piki runs and is preparing legal action against him and others “for betraying their fiduciary obligations.”

Piki, for his part, claimed that his ouster during the Feb. 27 board meeting was illegal, as it was allegedly due to his refusal to infuse P2 billion in reserve funds from Lopez Inc. as fresh capital for the ailing ABS-CBN.

Piki and his brother Benjamin Lopez, as members of Lopez Inc.’s board, voted against the use of the reserve funds of their holding company for ABS-CBN, because of what they considered “unresolved audit findings” at ABS-CBN.