What a lot of people do not know is that the Church is also a stockholder in several Philippine companies; the total investment in these publicly-listed firms comprise a sizable chunk of its total wealth. Reports submitted to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) show that the Church and affiliate Catholic groups are, in fact, the top stockholders in companies such as the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), Philex Mining Corporation (PX), San Miguel Corporation (SMC), Ayala Corporation (AC), and Phinma Corporation (PHN), among others. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila, for example, is the 4th largest owner of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) with more than 300 million shares. How much are these shares worth? As of May 2011, this is valued at more than P17 billion. Yes, that’s seventeen billion pesos, with a B. Aside from banking, the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines is also invested in mining and construction. As of March 31, 2011, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila is the 15th top shareholder of Philex Mining Corporation (PX), the country’s largest mining firm. It owns 3.2 million shares of PX currently worth more than P66 million.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Jul 2013 09:45:17 +0000