ABS-CBN chairman emeritus and director Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez III has resigned, the network announced on Thursday.
He also stepped down as director of other Lopez-owned businesses: ABS-CBN Holdings Corp., Sky Vision Corp., Sky Cable Corp., Philippine Holdings Corp., First Gen Corp. and Rockwell Land Corp.
Lopez is the son of the late ABS-CBN co-founder Eugenio Lopez Jr.
His dual citizenship was among the issues the House Committee on Legislative Franchises tackled before eventually denying ABS-CBN’s bid for a 25-year broadcasting franchise last July 10.
Lopez became ABS-CBN chairman in 1997 and CEO in 1993. He was interim president of the company from 1993 to 1997 and 2006 to 2008.
He was elected ABS-CBN chairman emeritus in April 2018.
In a statement, ABS-CBN’s board of directors thanked Lopez for his “dedication and leadership in expanding and transforming ABS-CBN beyond television through the years.”
“We respect his decision, offer him our full support and express our sincerest gratitude for the tradition of innovation, nationalism and public service that he cultivated in the minds and hearts of all Kapamilyas, past and present,” the board said.
“We shall continue the journey that he and his father began as we remain in the service of the Filipino,” it continued.
ABS-CBN general counsel Mario Luza Bautista was elected by the company board to replace Lopez. John Ezekiel J. Hirro