[1] Extemporaneous Closing Remarks by retired Chief Justice ARTEMIO V. PANGANIBAN during the Annual Corporate Governance Enhancement Session of the MVP Group of Companies held on November 9, 2023 at the Ballroom of the Makati Shangri-La Hotel.
Good noon, ladies & gentlemen! (CJ walks casually to the center of the stage with a wireless microphone on his right hand) I know I am the obstacle to your lunch, but I’ve been ordered by the ladies-in-charge, led by the indomitable PLDT Human Resources Boss Gina Ordonez and the multi-awarded emcee Cathy Yap Young (CYY), to deliver the opening remarks (CYY: closing Sir…laughter). You’re all awake! You still know the difference between opening and closing remarks. But let me make it clear that this talk is supposed to be MVP’s and I am not a robot of the great MVP… (applause) I’m a fake. I am just a lowly AVP… Walang palakpak? (applause…) When I said MVP you all clapped, but when I said AVP, you didn’t clap. That’s unfair! As your punishment, I’ll prolong my talk, so you won’t eat… (more applause) Now, you’re fully awake. Now, I have your full attention.
You know, I made notes with a ballpen while our guest lecturer and the panel of reactors were delivering their pieces. (holding up a red ball pen and reading the inscriptions on it) It says “Grand Hyatt” on the ballpen, and we are in Pennin… (CYY: Sir, nasa Shangri-La po tayo…) …in Makati Shangri-La. I borrowed this pen from the owner of the Grand Hyatt who is seated beside me, Alfred Ty, over there. Alfred, please take a bow. (CJ approaches the guest lecturer, Dr. Max Tegmark, who was seated on a sofa in the center of the stage) Thank you, Dr. Max Tegmark. It was a fantastic talk! We learned a lot from you. (CJ changes his focus to Dr, Francisco “Paco” Sandejas who was also seated on the stage) And so too, from Paco… Disclosure – – he’s the brother of my deceased son-in-law, Thomas Sandejas. I have a son who graduated with Paco from the University of the Philippines, both of them summa cum laude, and both of them finished their PhDs at Stanford University. But the better news for Paco, he’s in the Philippines while my son is in the United States. Too bad for me, too good for you, Paco. But he’s better known, really, as the husband of Christine Jacob. For your information, Dr. Max, Christine Jacob is a famous tv anchor…beautiful, too. (He turns now to Atty. Fiona Lim, who was seated beside Dr. Sandejas at the stage) Well, Fiona is a lawyer, and we hanker for her insights. Oh, look at here… I thought she was just a new graduate! Too young to be EVP and… what’s your title? (looking at the printed program) Ah, Executive Vice President and General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, First Pacific Company Limited. She’s not only in the civilian service, she’s also in the military — General Counsel…. (laughter… veering now to Al Panlilio who was seated beside Atty. Fiona at the stage) …I shouldn’t introduce him anymore according to him; I think because his curriculum vitae is very long. Otherwise, you’ll blame him for not having your lunch. But I must perform my work, the work I was assigned to do – to take the place of MVP who is supposed to deliver the Closing Remarks, but who sent word he is indisposed. There’s really nothing similar between us. He’s the top dog and I’m just an independent servant of many of his companies. Maybe that’s the reason why I am here. Plus, we are both from the Republic of Pampanga. (laughter)
Ladies and gentlemen, I wrote a few notes with a pen that was lent to me by the owner of Grand Hyatt. So, I have to – I have to look at my notes. I’m not a robot so I have to think a little bit and make AI my servant… Correct, Dr. Max? You know, when we were deciding in the PLDT Governance, Nomination and Sustainability Committee whether to get him to come to us in the Philippines and give his nice talk, I spoke with him, of course, assisted by AI, with better connectivity than in the Shangri-La. He was in the Dulles International Airport in Washington. He just got off from a flight of United, correct? As he went down from the airport tube, he said I’m with my cellphone and I’d like to converse with you. We had better connectivity from Washington D.C. than from – where is it (Shangri-La)? Where is the (Wi-Fi receiver)… ah, over there? How many kilometers to here at the rostrum? Meters only! Dr. Max, you were 10,000 kilometers away (in the Dulles International Airport in Washington DC) when we spoke with you – very clearly – we were so convinced we decided to let you come here and entertain all of us. PLDT’s businesses cover entertainment, doesn’t it? So now, I’ll do my job. I haven’t started. (boisterous laughter)
My friends, on behalf of our Group Chairman MVP, the PLDT Board, and its Governance, Nomination and Sustainability Committee, I thank all of you once again for joining our Annual Governance Learning Session. Throughout each year, the PLDT Board asks us to be constantly aware of what changes in technology, our industries, global markets, and customer preferences are likely to create lasting and profound impact on the way we do business. We strive to learn more, understand better and move to the future with more confidence, optimism, and hope.
Now, let me sum up some key takeaways from the sessions today: First, let’s invest in human intelligence as contradistinguished from artificial intelligence (AI) because artificial intelligence is fake. Human intelligence is real. So, we will invest in all of you, in all your brains. We will just make AI our slave. Yes? Let’s invest in local skills and talents; let us not to be empowered only by technology. It’s not reliable as we all know, as demonstrated today. Not by our guests – very excellent – but by somebody out there (tech booth), a few meters away. I will not introduce him anymore. (applause and laughter)
Number two takeaway – let’s focus on our customers, our North Star; the purpose of our business – our customers. We must be customer centric. We will use artificial intelligence, native intelligence, Filipino intelligence, PLDT intelligence to serve our customers.
Number three takeaway – take advantage of the collective strength of our group of companies and put them all together for our collective strength. Dr. Max gave us a little bit of an outline of the different companies in our group. Precisely, when we conversed with him while he was in the Dulles International Airport, we told him… we requested him rather, to look at the websites of our different companies so he would be able to adjust his talk according to our different needs; and indeed, he did. Earlier, you heard him talk about PLDT’s business, Meralco’s business, Maynilad’s business, the MPH business. What he, however, did not point out is that we also have the tollways business, led by Sec. Babes Singson, former secretary of public works of this country. As such, he was a cabinet member (looking at Dr. Max). He’s former honorable (loud laughter,, but soon-to-be honorable again. Oh, you know why… you’re laughing… you know why he will soon be honorable again. Why?
I leave you to your imagination and go back to my talk. What shape the future – that I was talking about- will take depends on who takes an active part in shaping it. For this reason, our conversation today is important and timely as it challenges us all to think again: What value does this evolution add to our human interaction? To the exchange of goods and services? How can we wield it to further improve our services and enrich the lives of our customers and other stakeholders? What role will each of our companies, each of our executives, each of our employees, each one of us, play in ensuring that technology is instrumental in keeping our customers’ data protected amid more varied data collection, that there is integrity and accountability in transactions, that interactions are cyber-secure, respectful of law and good customs and the spirit of competition that will remain alive in all of us. The challenge, ladies and gentlemen, is immense. The question I pose to each of us here is — Are we up to the challenge? Thank you very much.
The Personal Website of Retired Chief Justice Panganiban 