BIZ BUZZ: Chua exits EEI board

The boardroom reshuffle at EEI Corp. is not over yet.

Francis Lloyd Chua—the Leyte businessman linked to the controversial Manila Bay white sand rehabilitation project—has quietly exited the listed construction giant’s board.

In a disclosure on Tuesday, EEI said Chua resigned as director effective immediately to focus on “personal endeavors.”

The disclosure was brief. But Chua’s departure is far from ordinary.

After all, he was among the businessmen who helped engineer one of the biggest ownership shakeups in the local construction sector in recent years.

Chua entered EEI’s board in 2023 after his company, Industry Holdings and Development Corp., had joined forces with Romualdez-linked RYM Business Management Corp. to acquire a substantial stake in EEI, effectively loosening the Yuchengco family’s long-held grip.

RYM eventually sold its roughly 20-percent stake to HDA Holdings Inc., the investment vehicle led by EEI president and chief executive officer Henry Antonio.

But Chua stayed.

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Industry Holdings still owns a 14.34-percent stake in EEI. Market watchers may now wonder: Is this simply a personal decision—or another sign of shifting dynamics behind the scenes?

Chua, an engineer by profession, built his business interests across logistics, manufacturing, real estate and energy.

His name became nationally recognizable during the Duterte regime after firms linked to him had supplied crushed dolomite materials for the controversial Manila Bay rehabilitation project.