It is with great sorrow that we at First Philippine Holdings Group announce the passing Saturday, 22 April 2023, of our former Chairman Emeritus Oscar M. Lopez. He was 93.
OML, as he was known to us, led FPH through its expansion into power generation, industrial estates, construction, and other fields. But his conviction that business must look beyond just the bottom line and consider its impact on society and the environment was years ahead of his time and will be his enduring legacy.
He was our North Star, the inspiration, and guide for succeeding generations of Lopez Group executives and employees who learned to treasure and practice with him the Group’s distinct core values: a pioneering entrepreneurial spirit, business excellence, unity, nationalism, and social justice.
OML was FPH chairman emeritus from May 2010 to October 2020 and was also the chief strategic officer of FPH. He was also the chairman emeritus of various companies such as Lopez Holdings Corporation, First Gen Corporation, Energy Development Corporation (EDC), First Balfour, First Philippine Industrial Park, Inc., First Philippine Electric Corporation, and Rockwell Land. He also held other positions in other Lopez Group Companies. He had been part of the Lopez Group in a directorship and/ or executive capacity for over 20 years.
OML is the Father of EDC’s 15-yr old BINHI greening legacy, the country’s biggest private sector-led program on forest restoration and Philippine native trees propagation.
OML studied at Harvard College and graduated cum laude (Bachelor of Arts) in 1951. He was conferred the degrees of Doctor of Humanities honoris causa by the De La Salle University and Ateneo de Manila University in 2010, and Doctor of Laws honoris causa by the Philippine Women’s University (2009), as well as the University of the Philippines (2012). He finished his Masters of Public Administration at the Littauer School of Public Administration, also at Harvard in 1955.
