We’ve had a good year. Our major holding companies (Lopez Holdings and First Holdings) have slowly but surely rebalanced their portfolios, and both the energy and the communications parts of our business successfully managed their debt either by paying down (as in the case of First Gen) or by refinancing (as in the case of ABS-CBN) to take advantage of lower interest rates.

We have a lot more to look forward to in 2011 with the continued expansion of our assets, going full speed on our solar power projects, growing our geothermal and wind projects, as well as supporting the continued growth of our other businesses, including the communications group in light of even tougher competition forthcoming.

There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic as we move to the coming year, after all, if we can’t look past obstacles in our way, we can’t move toward the future. We can do this by showing resilience and optimism in everything we do. Remember that we are looking to build a conglomerate that will last long beyond the time of its founders. We do this by encouraging values, which allow us to see opportunities we can build on.In the latter part of the year, one member of our group, FPIC, went into crisis mode.

The incident with its pipeline was most unfortunate, and yet, we can take comfort at the remarkable show of unity in the group as other companies lent units and teams to reinforce the very lean FPIC organization. Unity enabled us to accomplish together what we could never hope to accomplish alone. And united we shall honor our responsibilities toward our stakeholders, living the same imperishable values that has brought the Lopez Group to where it is now.

On that note, I would like to remind everyone, as they enjoy the holidays, to not neglect their well-being. It is a time for family bonding, fulfilling those responsibilities toward our loved ones whose company we sometimes sacrifice in the course of the year due to pressing commitments at work.

Let us strengthen our ties and affirm our unity with them, for they are our source of strength as we face the unknown challenges of the coming year.With that, I bid happy and restful holidays to you and your loved ones in this season of cheer.