Mr. Francis Giles B. Puno, president and chief operating officer (COO) of the First Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPH), one of the largest industrial conglomerates in the Philippines focused on power, real estate, construction services, and manufacturing and is part of the Lopez Group of Companies, is the guest of honor and speaker on the 26th Mid-year Commencement Exercises of CLSU on February 10, 2017.
He addresses 444 graduating students.
Mr. Puno is also concurrently the president and COO of First Gen Corporation (First Gen), one of the country’s largest independent electric power producers, that focuses entirely on clean and renewable sources of electricity. First Gen is the power generation subsidiary of FPH.
President and COO Puno or simply “Giles” to his colleagues and friends was unanimously chosen to address the mid-year graduates by the CLSU Academic Council chaired by Dr. Tereso A. Abella, CLSU President.
Mr. Puno is looked up to by the graduates as a source of inspiration as he is expected to share with them his and his corporation’s work and management-related practices and ethics, endeavours, advocacies, and successes that relate to the theme of the Commencement Exercises, “Enhancing Education Through Quality Management Systems.”
Mr. Puno sits as a board director of FPH, First Gen and Energy Development Corporation (EDC). He joined FPH in 1997 and was assigned to First Gen as its Chief Financial Officer to lead its $1.4 billion fund raising of the 1,500 MW Santa Rita and San Lorenzo gas-fired power plants. He also advised and arranged the financing of First Gen’s P58.5 billion acquisition of a controlling stake in geothermal operator Energy Development Corporation (EDC) in 2007. Giles previously worked as the Vice President for the Global Power Group in Singapore and Hongkong of the Chase Manhattan Bank from 1990 to 1997.
COO Puno completed his Master of Management degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management in 1990 and his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1985.
Meanwhile, the speaker in the Baccalaureate Services held last February 9 was Fr. Cesar C. Vergara, Parish Priest, St. John the Evangelist Parish, Guimba, Nueva Ecija.
