Manuel Velez Pangilinan (born July 14, 1946), also known as Manny Pangilinan or by his initials MVP, is a Filipino businessman and sports patron. He is the managing director and CEO of

First Pacific First Pacific Company Limited () is a Hong Kong–based investment management and holding company with operations located in Asia. It involves telecommunications, consumer food products and infrastructure. Businesses Indonesia: * Indofood Suk ...

, a Hong Kong–based investment management and holding company with operations in the Asia-Pacific region. Pangilinan is also the chairman for First Pacific's investments in the Philippines, including the

Metro Pacific Investments Corporation Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) is a Philippine unit investment holding company of First Pacific Company Limited through Metro Pacific Holdings, Inc. MPIC through its subsidiaries, provides water, sanitation, and sewerage servic ...

PLDT PLDT, Inc., formerly known as the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (), is a Philippine telecommunications, internet and digital service company. PLDT is one of the Philippine's major telecommunications providers, along with Globe Te ...

, and Philex Mining Corporation. He is the chairman emeritus of the

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas () or the SBP is the national sport association for basketball in the Philippines, formed from the merging of the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) and Pilipinas Basketball (PB). It was formed ...

(SBP) and served as its first president for two consecutive terms, from 2007 to 2018. Pangilinan is the current chairman and benefactor of his alma mater

San Beda University San Beda University () is a private university, private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution run by the Order of Saint Benedict in San Miguel, Manila, San Miguel, Manila, Philippines. It was founded by the Benedictines ...

on Mendiola St., Manila.

Education

Pangilinan grew up in a house in Little Baguio, San Juan that was by a squatter settlement's boundary. His mother, Soledad Perriera Velez, had Portuguese ancestry by way of her Portuguese ship captain grandfather who married a Filipina. His mother was working at Syvel's, then an upscale department store along Escolta, when she met his father. His father, Dominador Pangilinan, was a messenger for the

Philippine National Bank The Philippine National Bank (PNB, ; ; Hokkien in the Philippines, Hokkien ) is a major Filipino bank based in Pasay in the Philippines. It was established by the Philippine government on July 22, 1916, during the Insular Government, America ...

who eventually retired as the president of Traders Royal Bank. He spent his childhood summers in Teachers Camp in

Baguio Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

as his grandfather was a public teacher in Pampanga and Tarlac who became a superintendent of public schools, eventually becoming the secretary of education. Pangilinan completed his primary and secondary

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

at San Beda. He graduated as ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' from the Ateneo de Manila University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. Pangilinan won a scholarship to the

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

Career

Pangilinan's first job was as the executive assistant to the president of Philippine Investment Management Consultants, Inc. (PHINMA), where he served for six years. In 1976, Pangilinan relocated to Hong Kong as executive director at Bancom International, an investment bank, where he gained experience in international finance. He then worked at

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

in Hong Kong as an investment banker. In Hong Kong, Pangilinan co-founded

in 1981 with Indonesian businessman Sudono Salim and Salim's son, Anthoni Salim. In 1987, Pangilinan established Metro Pacific as First Pacific's investment arm in the Philippines. As chairman of Metro Pacific, Pangilinan has contributed to nation-building through investments in power distribution and energy innovations (

Meralco The Manila Electric Company, also known as Meralco (, , stylized in uppercase), is an electric power distribution company in the Philippines. It is Metro Manila's only electric power distributor and holds the power distribution franchise for 3 ...

), urban water concession ( Maynilad Water Services), tollways (Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation), and upgrading hospitals and health services ( Makati Medical Center). He is also Chairman of TV5 and Philex Mining Corporation. In 1998, First Pacific acquired

, the largest telecommunications firm in the Philippines. Under First Pacific's management, the company, which had been troubled by debt and technological issues, improved to become the nation's leading provider of digital communications. Pangilinan is also a major patron of Philippine sports. He owns three PBA teams: TNT KaTropa, the Meralco Bolts, and the NLEX Road Warriors. He founded the

(SBP), the national sport association for basketball in the Philippines, and served as its first president for two consecutive terms (2007 to 2016). He is currently the chairman emeritus of SBP. He was elected to the Central Board of FIBA in 2014 and served until August 2023. Moreover, his MVP Sports Foundation has supported other Philippine athletes, some of whom won gold medals in the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games (), and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 201 ...

Involvement in sports

2023 PBBM courtesy call FIBA World Cup 1

Pangilinan is a sports patron and was raised in a family that regularly enjoyed basketball. His mother was a fan of the San Beda Red Lions basketball team and was best friends with Caloy Loyzaga. His father played basketball, baseball, and tennis. Pangilinan himself plays badminton. Through the MVP Foundation, Pangilinan funds initiatives in badminton, boxing, golf, and taekwondo.

Honors

National Honors * PHI Order of Lakandula Commander BAR

Order of Lakandula The Order of Lakandula () is one of the highest civilian orders of the Philippines, established on September 19, 2003. It is awarded for political and civic merit and in memory of Lakandula’s dedication to the responsibilities of leadership ...

, Commander – (May 24, 2006) * PHI Order of Lakandula Grand Cross BAR

, Grand Cross – (June 5, 2010)

References

External links