PLDT CORENET

     PLDT was established on November 28, 1928, by an act of the Philippine legislature and approved by then Governor-General Henry L. Stimson by means of a merger of four telephone companies under operation of the American telephone company GTE. Known as Act 3436, the bill granted PLDT a 50-year charter and the right to establish a Philippine telephone network linking major points nationwide. However, PLDT had to meet a 40-day deadline to start implementing the network, which would be implemented over a period of one to four years. On December 20, 1967, a group of Filipino entrepreneurs and businessmen led by Ramon Cojuangco took control of PLDT after buying its shares from the American telecommunications company GTE. The group took control of PLDT's management on January 1, 1968, with the election of Gregorio S. Licaros and Cojuangco as chairman and president of PLDT respectively. A few months later, PLDT's main office in Makati City (known today as the Ramon Cojuangco Building) was opened, and PLDT's expansion programs begin, hoping to bring reliable telephone services to the rural areas.

   In 1986, after President Marcos was overthrown, the company was re-privatized as Ramon's son, Antonio "Tonyboy" Cojuangco assumed post as PLDT chief. By 1995, with the passage of the Telecommunications Act and the subsequent deregulation of the Philippine telecommunications industry, the company has been de-monopolized. Later that year, Hong Kong-based First Pacific Company Ltd. acquired a 17.5% stake in PLDT making it the majority owner of the conglomerate. The company's CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan became the new conglomerate's President replacing Cojuangco, who assumed post as Chairman until 2004, when Pangilinan became his successor.