Eugenio Lopez III

Eugenio Gabriel "Gabby" La'O López III (born August 13, 1952) is a Filipino-American businessman who was the CEO (1993–2013), chairman (1997–2018) and chairman emeritus (2018–2020) of ABS-CBN Corporation, the largest entertainment and media conglomerate in the Philippines.

Eugenio "Gabby" López III
Chairman, ABS-CBN Corporation
In office May 26, 1997 – April 18, 2018
Preceded by	Eugenio López Jr.
Succeeded by	Mark López
President, ABS-CBN Corporation
Interim
In office March 16, 2006 – March 3, 2008
Preceded by	Luis F. Alejandro
Succeeded by	Charo Santos-Concio
In office May 26, 1993 – May 26, 1997
Preceded by	Eugenio López Jr.
Succeeded by	Freddie M. Garcia
Personal details
Born	Eugenio Gabriel La'O López August 13, 1952 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Citizenship	Filipino / American
Parents	Eugenio López Jr. Conchita La'O
Relatives	Eugenio López Sr. (grandfather) Fernando López (great-uncle) Gina López (sister) Mark López (cousin) Carlo Katigbak (cousin)
Alma mater	Bowdoin College (BA) Harvard University (MBA)
Occupation	Business executive
Known for	Former chairman of ABS-CBN Corporation

Early life

López was born on August 13, 1952 in Boston, Massachusetts to Eugenio "Geny" Lopez Jr. and Conchita "Chita" La'O.[1] He is a member of the prominent López family of Iloilo; his father was one of the pioneers of the Philippine television industry. His mother was one of the daughters of the wealthy La'O family of Manila, whose other daughter married into the city's old Manotoc clan (making her an aunt of Tommy Manotoc, a former basketball coach, golfer and former husband of Imee Marcos, the eldest daughter of President Ferdinand Marcos).

López holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine (1970–1974), and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1978–1980).[2]

Career

López became the chairman in 1997 and chief executive officer in 1993 of ABS-CBN Corporation. He was interim president of the company from 1993 to 1997, and again 2006 to 2008.

ABS-CBN has enjoyed network supremacy since its founding in 1953, apart from the years 1972 to 1986, when the company and all of its affiliates were forcibly taken over by the Marcos government. During this period and following his education, López employed at the Crocker National Bank, where he served as assistant vice president in the bank's back-office processing area. He had an undistinguished banking career in the United States while waiting for work in his family's media and utility interests in the Philippines.

When control of the company was restored by the Aquino administration in 1986, López started with ABS-CBN as director of finance. He was appointed general manager a year later and the network regained its supremacy shortly after.

Under his leadership, ABS-CBN enjoyed steady growth, while aggressively pursuing diversification. These include interactive media, sound recording, post-production, international cable and satellite distribution, sports programming and licensing and merchandising.

A visionary, he created the López Communications Group (CommGroup) in 1997. CommGroup is the management committee that oversees the development and implementation of convergence strategies for ABS-CBN, BayanTel, Sky Cable, and the López Group's investments in telecommunications and cable telephony and data warehousing across the three companies. He is also the chairman and chief executive officer of CommGroup.

In 2012, he retired as CEO of ABS-CBN and was succeeded by the ABS-CBN president Charo Santos-Concio. He stepped down as chairman of the conglomerate six years later, being elected as chairman emeritus on April 18, 2018. His cousin, Martin "Mark" L. López, who served as the company's chief technology officer, was elected as the new chairman of the board.

On September 24, 2020, ABS-CBN released a press statement announcing his resignation as chairman emeritus and director of ABS-CBN and as director of ABS-CBN Holdings Corporation, Sky Vision Corporation, Sky Cable Corporation, First Philippine Holdings Corporation, First Gen Corporation, and Rockwell Land Corporation.[3]

Dual citizenship

López' citizenship was put into question as part of the renewal process of ABS-CBN Corporation's broadcast franchise.[4] It was alleged that López solely held American citizenship, violating the 1987 Constitution's provision that media companies should be fully Filipino-owned, and that he supposedly gained Filipino citizenship when he applied for recognition as a Filipino national in 2001.[5] The Philippine Department of Justice ruled that López is a natural-born Filipino since the 1935 Constitution automatically conferred him Filipino citizenship as both of his parents were Filipino while also having American citizenship due to the United States' jus soli nationality law. His usage of a United States passport was also ruled irrelevant to his Filipino citizenship.[6][7]

Recognitions

• 2014 Tanglaw ng Araw Award, 9th Araw Values Awards
• 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award, 22nd Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) Golden Dove Awards

In popular culture

López was portrayed by Mark Anthony Fernandez in the 1995 film Eskapo.

References

1. Canlas, Jomar (May 25, 2020). "Lopez did not drop US citizenship". The Manila Times.
2. "Eugenio Lao Lopez". ASEAN Business Club. September 21, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
3. Galvez, Daphne (September 24, 2020). "ABC-CBN chairman Gabby Lopez resigns from network, other Lopez-owned firms". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
4. https://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/national/gabby-lopez-defends-dual-citizenship-during-house-hearing-on-abs-cbn-franchise/ar-BB14Xhsx?li=BBr8Mkn&ampocid=iehp
5. "ABS-CBN reiterates: Gabby Lopez is a Filipino citizen". ABS-CBN News. May 11, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
6. "Gabby Lopez is a Filipino – DOJ". CNN Philippines. June 3, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
7. "Gabby Lopez defends dual citizenship during House hearing on ABS-CBN franchise". GMA News. June 3, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2020.

External links

• Interview with Gabby Lopez from Channel NewsAsia