In three days, August 17, 2020, Ernesto "Eric" R. Alberto, the man once expected to stand at the helm of PLDT, assumes the presidency of DITO CME Holdings Corp., owner of the country's third telco.
Current President, Davao tycoon Dennis A. Uy, has resigned from his post but will stay on as Chairman and CEO of the company.
At yesterday’s special meeting, DITO board accepted Uy's resignation as president..
The DITO Board appointed Alberto as the new President for the unexpired term of Uy.
Considering that the latter "continues to hold the position of Chairman, the change shall foster an appropriate balance of power, increased accountability, and better capacity for independent decision-making", the board disclosed.
In the meantime “The Board's nomination committee is currently in search of Mr. Alberto's replacement as independent director. The company shall advise the Philippine Stock Exchange as soon as a replacement is named."
Alberto, who was PLDT Chief Revenue Officer before he resigned in 2019, has just finished the one-year prohibition for joining a competing firm last month.
He took the post of DITO CME's independent director in the company's July 28, 2020 online stockholders' meet which was declared off-limits to the press.
Alberto's defection to DITO came in the wake of the company's move to boost its capital, from P2.8 billion to P40 billion.
DITO CME will own indirect interest in DITO Telecommunity, the holder of the third telco franchise, as soon as the former executes the transfer of documents and obtains the needed governmental approvals.
So far, DITO reported it is on track to meet its commercial roll-out target on March, 2021, according to DITO Telecommunity Chief Administrative Officer Atty. Adel Tamano.
'Furthermore, DITO is currently working on meeting the 27mbps and 37-percent coverage in time for the government technical audit on January, 2021," he added.
"As DITO Telecommunity hastens its roll-out in time for March, 2021, let me assure the Filipino people that we recognize the clamor for the third major telco to already go on-air," Tamano acknowledged.
"DITO is doing all it can to work through the challenges, move forward, and launch soonest."