The two magnates ultimately calling the shots on water service in the metropolis. (Photos from First Pacific’s and Ayala Corp.’s 2018 annual reports.)
Maynilad is part of a relatively new foreign conglomerate which had its breakthrough during President Joseph “Erap” Estrada’s corrupt regime, when he allowed the foreign firm to take over PLDT, prohibited by the Constitution, to the extent of arm-twisting even an old elite, Alfonso Yuchengco. The former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, Perfecto Yasay, alleged that Erap got P3 billion for it in a deal arranged by the late, notorious Mark Jimenez.