Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) is keeping its roughly P190 billion capital expenditure (CAPEX) plan intact even as it reviews its budget amid geopolitical uncertainties, with investments embedded in core operations rather than treated as standalone costs.
In an interview with reporters on the sidelines of the EJAP Sustainability Forum on Monday, MPIC Chief Finance, Risk, and Sustainability Officer June Cheryl Cabal-Revilla said sustainability spending is fully integrated into the group’s operations.
“For 2026, the biggest CAPEX will really be for Meralco to finish the solar plants. It's still about P200 billion. It's like P190 billion. That's the budget that we approved last year,” Cabal-Revilla said.
“We don't separate sustainability in terms of CAPEX and operating expenditures. So it's not a separate cost anymore,” she added.
However, she noted that the company may revisit its budget given evolving global risks but emphasized that projects remain ongoing.
“Given the geopolitical conditions now, we feel that we might need to take a look at our budget again. As far as we are concerned, our CAPEX plans are still in the pipeline. So we haven't stopped anything,” she said,
Cabal-Revilla added that capital spending peaked in recent years due to renewable energy investments. On the balance sheet, MPIC has reduced its exposure to foreign currency risks.
“Maybe from a liability standpoint, in the MPIC group, our exposure to foreign currency debt is about 8 percent. We have done a good job in turning most of our foreign currency debt into pesos. For MPIC, we don't have 100 percent exposure because it's all local now. From that exposure perspective, we are okay,” she said.
“We are still looking at the dollar impact. But in terms of our budget at MPIC, we tend to be more conservative. So our forex at that time was 59. That's what we want. So I think we look at things from a more conservative standpoint. Therefore, we're in a better position now.”
To sustain growth amid geopolitical tensions, MPIC said it will strengthen its financial and operational resilience by managing interest rate risks, improving financing terms, and diversifying its supply chain—sourcing gas and fuel from multiple countries and maintaining a wide supplier base to prevent disruptions.