BIZ BUZZ: Lopez feud spills into annual meets

The Lopez family drama just found a new battleground: the corporate calendar.

First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPH) has hit pause on its 2026 annual stockholders’ meeting—an unusual move that underscores how deep the rift has gone.

In a disclosure on Monday, the firm said its board decided to defer the May 28 meeting until legal issues tied to chairman and CEO Federico “Piki” Lopez and Lopez Inc. are resolved.

That’s not a small matter. Annual meetings are typically routine—used to ratify decisions, elect directors and signal stability. Postponing one suggests the opposite.

The backdrop: A full-blown power struggle within Lopez Inc., where the majority bloc led by Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez III has moved to oust Piki, triggering court battles and governance questions. The dispute has already spilled into key subsidiaries, including FPH and listed power unit First Gen Corp.

Now, the delay raises a more immediate concern—how decisions at the holding level could ripple through listed firms. Investors, after all, rely on these meetings for clarity on leadership, strategy and direction.

What’s striking is the timing. With billions in energy investments and sensitive “change of control” provisions hanging over First Gen, uncertainty is the last thing stakeholders want.

For now, the Lopez group’s internal conflict appears far from cooling.