Dennis Uy
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Dennis Ang Uy (; born September 26, 1973) is a
Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
businessman and diplomat. Uy is the founder of
Udenna Corporation Udenna Corporation is a holdings company made by the Udenna Group of Companies which is based in Davao City, Philippines, and founded by businessman Dennis Uy. Primarily involved in the Petroleum industry, petroleum and shipping industry in its i ...
, which has stakes in various businesses including
Phoenix Petroleum Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. () is the first independent oil company to be listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange after the Oil Deregulation Law was passed in 1998. It is the first company from Davao City to be listed in the Philippine ...
.


Early life and education

Dennis Ang Uy was born and raised in
Davao City Davao City, officially the City of Davao ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dabaw; ), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the largest city in the Philippines in terms of lan ...
to an ethnic Chinese family based in Davao, which is part of the Uys' third generation. Uy's grandparents, Ega Uy and Tao Sui Eng were ethnic Chinese who settled in Davao as merchants. They had a store which sold fishing equipment and bread while his parents ran a small business which sold
copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from copr ...
. He is the eldest among siblings. According to his own account, Dennis played basketball as a childhood hobby while at the same time sold school supplies and basketball cards to his classmates. In 1993, Uy studied in
De La Salle University De La Salle University ( fil, Pamantasang De La Salle or Unibersidad ng De La Salle), also referred to as DLSU, De La Salle or La Salle, is a private university, private, Catholic Church, Catholic coeducational research university run by the I ...
in
Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Business Management degree and started to trade in the stock market. Since he had an average academic performance by his own account he decided against being a lawyer and described himself to be poor in
memorization Memorization is the process of committing something to memory. It is a mental process undertaken in order to store in memory for later recall visual, auditory, or tactical information. The scientific study of memory is part of cognitive neurosc ...
to consider pursuing a career in law.


Career


Business career

After finishing his tertiary education, Dennis Uy helped ran his family's business and interacted with older businessmen. His family's business was based in
Tagum Tagum, officially the City of Tagum ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Tagum; fil, Lungsod ng Tagum), is a 1st class component city and capital of the Davao del Norte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 296,202 people making it th ...
, and was involved in mining, supermarkets, car dealership among other industries. Uy worked with his family for ten years and at one point ran seven firms simultaneously. He decided to start his own business to gain independence as he felt that he did not have the freedom he aspired for himself working for his family. He started his own business using income he gained from trading stocks while he was still in college and set up Dencio's Kamayan, a barbecue store (which shares the same name but unrelated to a Manila-based restaurant chain). He started his business portfolio independently without the aid of his family members. The barbeque chain grew to at least eight outlets before handing over the business to his sister when he decided to focus on participating in the petroleum industry. He also operated two community newspapers which served Davao City but both became defunct. In 2002, he along his wife founded
Udenna Corporation Udenna Corporation is a holdings company made by the Udenna Group of Companies which is based in Davao City, Philippines, and founded by businessman Dennis Uy. Primarily involved in the Petroleum industry, petroleum and shipping industry in its i ...
, a
holdings company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
that would later manage his business interests in various industries. Within the same year,
Phoenix Petroleum Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. () is the first independent oil company to be listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange after the Oil Deregulation Law was passed in 1998. It is the first company from Davao City to be listed in the Philippine ...
then known as the Oilink Mindanao Distribution Company was established. In 2004, the company was renamed as Davao Oil Terminal Services Corp. (DOTSCO) As part of this business, Uy set up a six million-barrel oil terminal serving businesses in the Davao region. Phoenix Petroleum adopted its name in 2006 and was listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange in 2007 and became the first Davao City-based company to join the stock market. He founded Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp. (CLHC) which is involved in the shipping and logistics industry, and a passenger ferry company. In 2016, Uy's Udenna Corporation had various acquisitions. Udenna secured permission from the
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR, ) is a government-owned and controlled corporation established through the ''Presidential Decree 1869''. PAGCOR is the Philippines' largest contributor of revenue to the government after the ...
to develop a casino resort in
Mactan Mactan is a densely populated island located a few kilometers (~1 mile) east of Cebu Island in the Philippines. The island is part of Cebu province and it is divided into the city of Lapu-Lapu and the municipality of Cordova. The island is sep ...
,
Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...
. It also entered the
liquefied petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, propylene, butylene, isobutane and n-butane. LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cooking e ...
(LPG) industry and acquired
Enderun Colleges Enderun Colleges is a private non-sectarian undergraduate college situated at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines. It was established in 2005, then in its former campus in Wynsum Corporate Plaza in Ortigas Center. I ...
. In November 2017, Udenna took over the development of the former Global Gateway Logistics City at the
Clark Freeport Zone The Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone (CFEZ), often shortened to Clark, refers to an area in Central Luzon, Philippines. The CFEZ in Pampanga covers portions of the cities of Angeles and Mabalacat and portions of the town of Porac while ...
in Pampanga which was later relaunched as
Clark Global City Clark Global City (formerly the Global Gateway Logistics City) is a planned mixed-use central business district development at the Clark Freeport Zone in Mabalacat and Angeles City, Philippines. Udenna Corporation is responsible for the developm ...
. And in 2018, a consortium between Udenna's Mislatel (now called as
Dito Telecommunity Dito Telecommunity Corporation (stylized as DITO), formerly known as Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company, Inc. or Mislatel is a telecommunications company in the Philippines which is also engaged in the business of multimedia and information tec ...
) and
China Telecom China Telecom Corp., Ltd. is a Chinese telecommunications company. It is one of the red chip listed companies of state-owned China Telecommunications Corporation. Its H shares have been traded on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since 15 Novembe ...
won the government-sanctioned bidding that would allow the consortium to become the third major
telecommunications provider A telephone company, also known as a telco, telephone service provider, or telecommunications operator, is a kind of communications service provider (CSP), more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunica ...
in the Philippines challenging the duopoly of
PLDT PLDT, Inc., formerly known as the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company ( fil, Kompanya ng Teleponong Pangmalayuan ng Pilipinas), is a Philippine telecommunications, internet and digital service holdings company. It is one of the country's ...
and
Globe Telecom Globe Telecom, Inc., commonly shortened as Globe, is a major provider of telecommunications services in the Philippines. The company operates the largest mobile network in the Philippines and one of the largest fixed-line and broadband networks ...
. ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' estimated Uy's 2020 net worth at $650 million, ranking him as the Philippines' 22nd-richest. Dennis Uy's Udenna Corporation bought 100 million common shares of Atok-Big Wedge Co. Inc. at the negotiated price of per share or a total of . Dennis Uy is also a director and vice chairman of Atok-Big Wedge. He has an existing 1,000 direct shares in the company. Atok-Big Wedge Co, Inc. a listed corporation in PSE, has 20% ownership of United Kingdom-based Forum Energy Ltd. which has the right of oil exploration in SC72 in the
South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...
. Forum Energy Ltd. has an ongoing talks with China for joint oil exploration after President Duterte– a close friend of Dennis Uy– lifted the moratorium on oil exploration.


Diplomatic career

Dennis Uy is also a diplomat. He has been the honorary consul to
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
since November 2011. and is tasked to develop the bilateral ties of the Philippines with the Central Asian nation.


Involvement in sports

Uy through his company Phoenix Petroleum, owns a franchise in the
Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...
. The team known as the
Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters The Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters is a professional basketball team owned by Phoenix Petroleum, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc., which debuted in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in the 2015–16 PBA season, 2016 2016 PBA Commis ...
joined the PBA in 2016 as the Phoenix Fuel Masters after buying the
Barako Bull Energy The Barako Bull Energy were a Philippine Basketball Association team that began in 2002 as the FedEx Express. From its first season until 2005, the team was dubbed as the FedEx Express before changing to Air21 Express. From the 2009 PBA Fies ...
franchise. He is also the team's board governor. On July 18, 2016, Uy was appointed by then-
President of the Philippines The president of the Philippines ( fil, Pangulo ng Pilipinas, sometimes referred to as ''Presidente ng Pilipinas'') is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of t ...
and ally
Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945), also known as Digong, Rody, and by the initials DU30 and PRRD, is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the chairperson ...
as the presidential adviser for sports.


Personal life

Dennis Uy is married to Cherylyn Chiong who is a graduate of
La Salle Academy } La Salle Academy is an American private, Catholic all-boys' high school in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York. The school is run by the Eastern North American District of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. ...
,
Iligan Iligan, officially the City of Iligan ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Iligan; fil, Lungsod ng Iligan; Maranao: ''Inged a Iligan''), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the region of Northern Mindanao, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has ...
in high school and Business and Finance from the
Ateneo de Davao University , mottoeng = Strong in Faith , type = Private Catholic Research Non-profit Coeducational Basic and Higher education institution , established = , founder = Society of Jesus , religious ...
with whom he has three children; two daughters and a son. He is also a close friend of former Philippine President
Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945), also known as Digong, Rody, and by the initials DU30 and PRRD, is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the chairperson ...
and was a major donor to Duterte's presidential campaign in 2016.


Controversies


Graft complaint against Uy and his complaints against ABS-CBN

In 2021, a graft complaint was filed before the
Ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...
against Uy,
Alfonso Cusi Alfonso "Al" Gaba Cusi (; born December 4, 1949) is a Filipino businessman from Naujan, Oriental Mindoro who served as the 14th Secretary of Energy under the Duterte administration from 2016 to 2022. He is also the president of PDP–Laban and s ...
and several others over the sale of
Chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock ...
's investment in the
Malampaya The Malampaya gas field or the Malampaya-Camago field is a deepwater gas-condensate reservoir, located in the Service Contract 38 license area, located offshore, 65 km northwest of the island of Palawan, Philippines. Background The field ...
project to
Udenna Corporation Udenna Corporation is a holdings company made by the Udenna Group of Companies which is based in Davao City, Philippines, and founded by businessman Dennis Uy. Primarily involved in the Petroleum industry, petroleum and shipping industry in its i ...
, wherein the anomalies allegedly resulted in losses to the
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
. Uy later filed cyberlibel complaints against
ABS-CBN Corporation ABS-CBN Corporation is a Filipino media company based in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is the largest entertainment and media conglomerate in the Philippines. It is a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation which is owned by t ...
, whose
news organization The news media or news industry are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public. These include news agencies, print media (newspapers, news magazines), broadcast news (radio and television), and th ...
had reported on a complaint against him, claiming that the latter's articles were libelous. The
Davao City Davao City, officially the City of Davao ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dabaw; ), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the largest city in the Philippines in terms of lan ...
Office of the Prosecutor, in its resolution dated May 5, 2022, dismissed these complaints for lack of probable cause, saying that the articles were not defamatory.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uy, Dennis People from Davao City Filipino business executives Filipino company founders Filipino diplomats Udenna Corporation Duterte administration personnel Honorary consuls of the Philippines Filipino sports executives and administrators 1973 births Living people Filipino politicians of Chinese descent De La Salle University alumni People named in the Pandora Papers Filipino people of Chinese descent