MANILA, Philippines (UPDATE 2 11:49 a.m.) — The daughter of PhilWeb Corp. chairman Roberto Ongpin stepped down from her post in the online gaming company soon after he resigned.
Anna Bettina Ongpin, a vice chairman and director of the publicly listed firm, resigned following Ongpin’s decision to let go of the company’s chairmanship.
The younger Ongpin’s reason given was “to devote more time and attention to other business matters,” according to a disclosure filed at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday.
Anna Bettina’s resignation was through a brief letter to PhilWeb’s board of directors and president Dennis Valdes stating that she is stepping down from the company and all its subsidiaries.
The Ongpin patriarch’s resignation on Thursday, meanwhile, came the day after President Rodrigo Duterte said he wanted to destroy “oligarchs” embedded in government.
“The plan really is to destroy the oligarchs that are embedded in government,” Duterte said, speaking to representatives of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting at Malacañan.
“I’ll give you an example, publicly, Ongpin, Roberto. He was influential during the time of (Ferdinand) Marcos, Trade minister, I think. He remained influential despite the succession. During the time of (Fidel) Ramos, he was a hanger on as well as during the time of Gloria (Arroyo) and P-Noy (Benigno Aquino III). Now he owns (an) online (gambling firm),” he added.
Ongpin was trade secretary during former president Ferdinand Marcos’ administration.
In his first meeting with Cabinet on June 30, the day he was inaugurated president, Duterte said his government should put a stop to online gaming activities as these are difficult to be taxed.
“‘Yung online gambling must stop,” Duterte said. “It’s out of control… Kung saan saan na lang nag-sprout.” — Camille Diola
