BIZ BUZZ: GMA awaits big break
Looks like the cameras will keep rolling at GMA Network—at least for its annual stockholders’ meeting.
The broadcast giant’s attempt to temporarily stop the implementation of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) controversial independent director term-limit rule has hit a wall after the Makati Regional Trial Court denied its plea for injunctive relief.
In a disclosure, GMA said the court rejected its request for a writ of preliminary injunction and other remedies tied to its petition seeking to nullify SEC Memorandum Circular No. 7, Series of 2026. The circular imposed a cumulative nine-year limit on independent directors, inclusive of existing tenure—a rule that has unsettled some long-entrenched boardrooms.
The court, however, appeared unconvinced that immediate intervention was necessary.
Among the reasons cited: there was supposedly “no urgency” to halt the rule’s implementation; GMA still had the option to retain its independent directors until its annual stockholders’ meeting without penalties; and the company allegedly failed to present enough evidence showing actual or impending injury.
The court also noted that any potential injury from the rule did not appear “irreparable,” saying monetary losses could still be estimated and compensated.
That language may sting more than the denial itself.
The dispute traces back to earlier this year when GMA challenged the SEC’s governance reform requiring publicly listed firms to rotate out independent directors after nine cumulative years in office.
The company had also sought to move its 2026 annual stockholders’ meeting from May 20 to Dec. 9 amid the controversy, but the SEC refused to approve the postponement.
The disclosure also revealed another setback for the network: the SEC had denied GMA’s request for reconsideration over its planned postponement of the 2026 annual stockholders’ meeting from May 20 to Dec. 9.
Instead, the SEC’s Markets and Securities Regulation Department directed the company to conduct the meeting within 60 days from the original May 20 schedule, in line with the Revised Corporation Code.
The broader issue is whether the SEC can force a board refresh among listed companies whose independent directors have sat in their posts for years—sometimes decades.
And while GMA continues to argue that the SEC circular was issued with “grave abuse of discretion” and violates provisions of the Constitution, regulators do not seem inclined to hit pause.
At least for now, the SEC appears determined to show that the era of indefinitely “independent” independent directors may finally be nearing its end.
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