Philippine Media, Power Tycoon Oscar Lopez Dies At 93

Oscar Lopez—the patriarch of Lopez Holdings which has interests in the media, power, telecommunications and real estate—passed away on Saturday evening, just a few days after celebrating his 93rd birthday.

Lopez—fondly called by his employees and business associates by his initials OML—served as chairman and CEO of First Philippine Holdings for over two decades until 2010, steering the company to become one of the country’s largest electricity producers. Under his watch, the Lopez group’s ABS-CBN was forced to stop broadcasting its free-to-air TV and radio channels in 2020 after the Philippine Congress rejected the company’s application to renew its broadcast franchise. Its former broadcast frequencies have since been reassigned to Advanced Media Broadcasting of billionaire Manuel Villar, an ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte, who vowed to force ABS-CBN off the air after the network failed to run his 2016 presidential campaign ads.