Manuel 

"Manny" Velez Pangilinan
Manuel "Manny" Velez Pangilinan, CL, GCrL (born July 14,

1946), also known by his initials, MVP, is

a Filipino businessman and sports patron. He is the managing

director and CEO of First Pacific Company Limited, a Hong

Kong-based investment management and holding company with

operations in the Asia-Pacific region. Pangilinan, also known as

Manny Pangilinan and MVP is also First Pacific’s chief executive

for the group’s investments in the Philippines, such as Metro

Pacific Investments Corporation, PLDT and Philex Mining

Corporation. He is Chairman Emeritus of the Samahang

Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) and was its first president, having

served two consecutive terms from 2008 to 2016.

Pangilinan’s first job was as the Executive Assistant to the

President of the Philippine Investment Management

Consultants, Inc. (PHINMA) where he served for six years.

In 1976, Pangilinan relocated to Hong Kong as executive

director at Bancom International, an investment bank, where he

gained experience in international finance. He then went on

to American Express, Hong Kong as an investment banker.

In Hong Kong, Pangilinan co-founded First Pacific in 1981

with Liem Sioe Liong and his son, Anthoni Salim. Through First

Pacific, Pangilinan returned to the Philippines after 22 years with

a number of investments under Metro Pacific Investment

Corporation (Metro Pacific). As chairman of Metro Pacific,

Pangilinan contributed to nation building through major

investments in power distribution and energy innovations

(MERALCO), urban water concession (Maynilad Water

Services), tollways (Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation),

upgrading hospitals and health services (Metro Pacific

Investments Corporation). He is also Chairman of TV5 and

Philex Mining Corporation.

In 1998, First Pacific acquired PLDT, the largest

telecommunications firm in the Philippines. The company, which

had once been troubled by debt and technological issues,

improved under First Pacific's management to become the

nation's leading provider of digital communications.

Pangilinan is also a major patron of Philippine sports. He owns

three PBA teams - TNT KaTropa, the Meralco Bolts and

the NLEX Road Warriors. He founded the Samahang Basketbol

ng Pilipinas (SBP), the national sport association for basketball

in the Philippines. He served as the first president of SBP for two

consecutive terms (2007 to 2016). He is currently the chairman

emeritus of SBP.. He was elected to the Central Board

of FIBA in 2014. Moreover, his MVP Sports Foundation has

supported other Philippine athletes, some of whom won gold

medals in the 2018 Asian Games.