ABS-CBN eyes veteran duo for board seats

MANILA, Philippines — Veteran producer Maria Rosario “Charo” Santos-Concio is up for election again as board director of media giant ABS-CBN Corp., hoping she can help turn the company around. ABS-CBN yesterday said Santos-Concio, who served as president and CEO from 2013 to 2015, is nominated for a board seat at the annual stockholders’ meeting (ASM) on Aug. 19. Santos-Concio, known in mass media as Ate Charo, was part of the advisory board to the board of directors between 2016 and 2024. She then served as director of ABS-CBN from 2024 to 2025. Her expertise spans from the independent scene to the mainstream platform. Santos-Concio also used to lead the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines as film production manager, where she produced Filipino classics, notably “Himala” and “Oro, Plata, Mata.” The ASM will also see the election of veteran strategist Monico Jacob as independent director, as ABS-CBN seeks another executive who can help it lift its finances. To date, Jacob works as independent director for several firms, including Lopez Holdings Corp. Jacob is also the president and CEO of STI Education Systems Holdings Inc. He brings financial genius to ABS-CBN’s boardroom, having been the chairman and CEO of Petron Corp. and the Philippine National Oil Co. Jacob led multiple state-run firms, some of which are fiscally challenging to run like the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG). At the ASM, ABS-CBN will be reporting to its shareholders the progress it has made in its goal of returning to profitability. At last year’s ASM, ABS-CBN president and CEO Carlo Katigbak said the company is on track to become profitable again in 18 months, or by the end of 2026. ABS-CBN booked a 63-percent jump in its net loss to P813 million in the first quarter, from P500 million a year ago, due to the absence of election ads. The company is still optimistic it could recover from the slow start toward the latter half of 2026, when its girl group BINI would go on a world tour.