MANILA, Philippines – Federico “Piki” Lopez was indeed removed from his post as president and chief executive officer of Lopez Incorporated but a court order has blocked the move, three factions of the family confirmed.

In a statement released by the factions – which own 71% of the family’s holding firm — the board voted 5-2 to oust Piki on February 27 due to alleged questionable transactions in the companies Piki runs. The only two dissenting votes were from Piki himself and his brother Benjamin.

According to the other members of the Lopez family, First Gen Corporation supposedly entered into billions of pesos in transactions without informing Lopez Inc. and its board. The board members said they only found out about the deals through the media and after pressing Piki for information.

These transactions include First Gen’s sale of a 60% slice of its natural gas business to Enrique Razon’s Prime Infra for around P50 billion, and the acquisition of a 40% stake in Prime Infra’s hydropower portfolio.

Piki is chairman and CEO of the Lopez family’s power firm and also chairs First Philippine Holdings Corporation. He also serves as director of ABS-CBN and vice-chair of Rockwell Land.

“Efforts by the majority to audit First Gen, a listed company that is involved in the subject transactions, were met with a non-disclosure agreement from Piki’s camp prohibiting the use of any adverse information gathered in any complaint. The majority did not sign but said it would push for an audit for the protection of all shareholders,” the three Lopez factions wrote.

The board voted to replace Piki with Rafael “Raffy” Lopez. However, the three Lopez factions said the move has been temporarily blocked by a court order.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, April 1, First Gen confirmed that a writ of preliminary injunction has allowed Piki to retain his posts in Lopez, Inc. and First Gen.

Piki filed a complaint against his cousins before the Mandaluyong City Regional Trial Court to seek his reinstatement, claiming that his ouster was illegal. The writ of preliminary injunction was granted in an order dated March 16, 2026.

“To date, the Writ of Preliminary Injunction is valid and effective, plaintiff Federico Lopez still sits as president of Lopez Inc., and First Gen Corporation continues to operate business as usual, with no disruption,” First Gen said.

The factions of the Lopez clan also denied claims that Piki’s ouster stemmed from his refusal to infuse P2 billion in fresh capital to ABS-CBN from the family holding company.

  – Rappler.com