MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – It won’t be an Aboitiz family member at the helm of Aboitiz Power Corporation (AboitizPower) beginning 2020.

In a company meeting held on Monday, April 22, the board of directors of AboitizPower unanimously approved the appointment of Emmanuel Rubio as president and chief executive officer (CEO) effective January 1, 2020, following the retirement of Erramon Aboitiz, also effective on the same date.

The 54-year-old Rubio is currently the company’s chief operating officer (COO), having been appointed to the role in 2018. Before that, he served as AboitizPower’s executive vice president and COO of the power generation group from 2014 to 2018.

Prior to joining AboitizPower, Rubio was president of Consolidated Industrial Gases Philippines.

Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) COO Sabin Aboitiz said that as their conglomerate grows, the family relies more and more on professional management.

Moreover, the 52-year-old Aboitiz said that the family’s age gaps is also a factor in succession.

“The deliberate move is to work together with professionals and run the business together with them. Our policy has always been to get the best person for the job, and that’s a combination of family and professionals,” the AEV chief said in a press briefing in Manila.

It will not be the first time that an individual not carrying the Aboitiz surname will hold such an important position in the company.

Antonio Moraza was president and CEO of AboitizPower from 2014 to 2018. Erramon became CEO when Moraza retired last year.

Moraza, however, is still family. In the 1880s, an Aboitiz and a Moraza both married two Yrastorza sisters. Both clans attribute the seed capital of their businesses from the Yrastorzas, their great-great-grandparents.

AboitizPower is an energy company which generates, distributes, and retails electricity services. It has both renewable and thermal energy in its portfolio. – Rappler.com