The state pension fund Social Security System (SSS) announced on Saturday, May 2, that it maintains its confidence in the Lopez-led power generation firm First Gen Corporation (First Gen), despite an ongoing leadership dispute within the family.
The SSS, which oversees the retirement savings of 37 million private-sector employees, affirmed that the company’s “governance is robust, disclosures to the Philippine Stock Exchange are timely and precise, and management is sound.”
The pension fund based its assessment on observations from its commissioner, who currently serves on the board of First Gen’s parent firm, First Philippine Holdings.
However, regulatory filings present a conflicting timeline regarding the company’s disclosure practices.
Records show that First Gen failed to disclose ₱23.5 billion in penalty clauses linked to the continued employment of CEO and Lopez Inc. President Federico “Piki” Lopez until 60 days after the contracts containing the provisions were finalized.
This disclosure occurred only after majority shareholders from the Lopez family publicly accused the corporation of concealing a “poison pill.” It took an additional two weeks—totaling 76 days from the signing of the initial contract—for the company to submit amended disclosures to rectify the record.
The submitted amendments offered no explanation for why the information was initially omitted. The regulatory filings merely integrated the Change of Management Control (COMC) clauses into the official record, with the documents being submitted on the exact day the information statement for the May 28 Annual Stockholders’ Meeting was released.
Throughout that 76-day window, First Gen shares continued to actively trade on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).
As a result, investors bought and sold market positions without public knowledge of the financial penalties that would be triggered if Piki Lopez, or his designated successors, were removed from six designated leadership roles across First Gen and its parent corporations.