PCTA Inducts New Board Members
With NTC Commissioner Ruel V. Canobas as inducting officer, the newly-elected members of the Board of the Philippine Cable Television Association, Inc. (PCTA) were sworn into office last April 23, 2008 at the Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila in Ortigas Center, Pasig City. The induction ceremony was made part of the formal opening ceremony of the 2008 PCTA Convention held from April 23 to 25 in the same venue.
The new members of the board were elected by the PCTA members during the General Session held earlier in the day and will hold office from June 1, 2008 to May 31, 2009. In consonance with the association's by-laws, three directors were elected per region (Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao) by their respective members while six directors were elected on a national level.
For Luzon, the representatives are Felipe Bince III (Asian Vision Cable Holdings), Philip Chien (Global Destiny Cable Inc.), and Carlo Katigbak (Sky Cable Corp.). The representatives for the Visayas are J. Manuel Dabao (Kabankalan CATV), Amelita Ledesma (Sky Cable Corp.), and Pacito Manlangit (MSC Cable TV Corp.). The Mindanao representatives are Ralph Casino (Southern Cablevision Inc.), Leo Wong (Camiguin Island Cable TV Corp.), and Eloisa Balmoris (Pilipino Cable Corporation).
The nationally-elected members of the board, on the other hand, are Allan Dungao (Satellite Cable Network Inc.), Jose Lobregat (Global Destiny Cable), Elpidio Paras (Parasat Cable), Antonio Selda (Wesfardell Cable Services), Fernando Morales (Visayan Cable Network Inc.), and Rodrigo Alejandro Montinola (Sky Cable Corp.).
On May 2 and 3, 2008, the board had its first meeting and planning session to elect the organization's officers and plan for the different projects and initiatives for the year 2008-2009. Elected to lead the association are the following:
- President - Allan Dungao
- Chairman of the Board - Ralph Casino
- Vice Chairman -Elpidio Paras
- Vice President - Luzon - Philip Chien
- Vice President - Visayas - J. Manuel Dabao
- Vice President - Mindanao - Leo Wong
- Treasurer - Felipe Bince III
- Corporate Secretary - Eloisa Balmoris
Also discussed were the functions and tasks of each committee. The board identified eight committees, namely Internal Affairs, External Affairs, Programming, Technical, Special Events, Industry Development, Finance. A new committee on Social Responsibility was created to stir up initiatives that will make the industry relevant to and proactive in the community. Sub committees were also created-sub committee on Contracts under the Programming Committee and the sub committee on Sports Development under the Internal Affairs Committee. Cable Line was also placed under the Internal Affairs Committee. Appointed as chairman were:
- Internal Affairs Committee - Tony V. Selda
Cable Line- Amelita Ledesma
Sports Development - Pacito Manlangit - External Affairs Committee - Jose L. Lobregat
- Programming Committee - J. Manuel Dabao
Contracts - Leo Wong - Industry Development - Elpidio M. Paras
- Technical - Fernando C. Morales and Julian Z. Ventura
- Finance - Felipe B. Bince III
- Special Events - Philip C. Chien
- Social Responsibility - Ralph Casino
The members of the board will focus this year on:
- Developing the membership base through the holding of activities such as technical seminars, management seminars, regional meetings, sports competition, and the annual PCTA Convention.
- Continuing to address issues such as cable theft, programming, overbuilding, competition from new technologies, unfair regulatory issuances, and others.
- Providing members with updates on new technologies such as IPTV, mobile TV, and the possibility of having a head-end in the sky.
