Maynilad Water Services, Inc. has appointed Christopher Jaime T. Lichauco as its new Chief Operating Officer starting September, succeeding Randolph T. Estrellado who will retire at end-August after nearly 19 years with the company.

The Pangilinan-led firm said Wednesday that Lichauco, a homegrown talent who has been with Maynilad for 27 years, concurrently serves as President and Director of Amayi Water Solutions, Inc., and President of Boac Water Solutions Company, both subsidiaries of Maynilad. 

He started as a Project Manager and later became Business Area Operations Head before being named in 2013 as Head of the Customer Experience and Retail Operations (CXRO) Division, the utility’s largest business unit.

With Lichauco’s appointment as COO, Maynilad also named Rudy O. Baylas Jr. as the new Head of CXRO. 

Baylas, who joined the company in 2002 as part of its cadet engineer program, has held key technical and managerial posts including non-revenue water reduction, customer care, and district operations.