Former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban said he is unfazed by new regulatory rules that will strip him of most of his independent board seats, even as GMA Network Inc. fails in its initial court bid to block the sweeping boardroom shakeup.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Memorandum Circular No. 7, which took effect on Feb. 1, enforces a strict cumulative nine-year term limit for independent directors at publicly listed companies, calculated from 2012.

Once the limit is breached, individuals are barred from serving as independent directors for that specific firm, though they may transition into regular directors.

Panganiban, who has either met or exceeded the nine-year threshold in nearly all of his corporate roles, stated that the SEC directive is addressed directly to corporations rather than individuals.

He noted that he never actively sought out boardroom appointments following his retirement from the Supreme Court, having initially planned to buy a small farm in Tagaytay. Instead, prominent business figures approached him with invitations to join their corporate rosters.

According to his official website, Panganiban serves as an independent director for major Philippine conglomerates and utilities, including Manila Electric Co., PLDT Inc., Petron Corp., Asian Terminals Inc., GMA Network, and GMA Holdings Inc. His only remaining eligible seats under the new rule are at JG Summit Holdings Inc. and RL Commercial REIT Inc.

He previously logged 13 years as an independent director at Robinsons Land Corp. before moving to its parent company, JG Summit, in 2021. He also holds standard directorships or advisory roles at Jollibee Foods Corp., Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., DoubleDragon Corp., and MerryMart Consumer Corp.

While Panganiban expressed philosophical acceptance of his impending departures, GMA Network has launched a legal battle to contest the validity of the SEC mandate.

Panganiban declined to comment on the merits of the litigation, citing sub judice rules that restrict public statements on active court cases.

GMA Network’s legal strategy suffered an early setback after the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 138 denied its prayer for a writ of preliminary injunction.

The media giant filed a petition for certiorari on March 26 seeking to nullify the SEC circular, alongside an urgent request for a temporary restraining order, which the local court also rejected.

In denying the injunction, the Makati court ruled that GMA failed to demonstrate that the implementation of the SEC rule would result in grave and irreparable injury. The court declared that losing specific individuals from a board constitutes an administrative inconvenience and a corporate hardship rather than an irreparable legal injury that would justify halting a vital government regulation.

The court further emphasized that the regulator cannot allow the Philippine capital market to remain globally uncompetitive simply because a single corporation finds the task of board renewal inconvenient. The ruling concluded that the state’s paramount interest in protecting the investing public and fostering robust economic growth far outweighs the administrative grievances claimed by GMA, noting that numerous publicly listed companies have already complied with the new corporate governance standard.