Manuel M. LopezAs the year draws to a close, we look back and find that so much has changed in a span of 12 months. In our country, we have a new President determined to solve the drug and terrorist problems that have plagued our country for years.

Overseas, we know that a new US President will take office in January 2017, bringing with him a different perspective and a whole new approach to governance.

In our group of companies, First Gen completed its latest natural gas-fired power plants, Avion and San Gabriel, which have started selling electricity to the grid. ABS-CBN expanded its digital reach through ABS-CBN TVplus, ABS-CBNmobile and, most recently, SKYdirect. Rockwell Land is taking on new projects in new locations and serving new markets, including Cebu City and southern Metro Manila.

These developments tell us that the world doesn’t stop for anyone. And if we are going to thrive in any era, it will only be because we are able to adapt to new milieus, new rules, new realities. To adapt correctly, it is important to stay in touch with our customers, because they are also changing with the changing times. For example, we are told that more families are staying home to avoid local curfews. They would rather watch TV together than risk a run-in with local police or neighborhood watchmen. So perhaps this would mean that TV ratings will continue to rise and evening ticket sales for movies will stay generally slow.

We may not be endowed with psychic abilities to predict the future, but certainly we can do our homework and make decisions based on facts borne of good research.

The New Year will bring new challenges and even more changes that are bound to overwhelm us and disrupt our businesses—if we let them. Or we can choose to adapt and ride the wave of change, just as our customers do.

Thank you, kapamilya, for all the work you have put in this year. We look forward to facing the New Year with you, eager to thrive in a continuously changing world.

I, together with my wife Maritess, our children and grandchildren, wish you all a very blessed Christmas. Let us all come back change-ready in the New Year.

AMB. MANUEL M. LOPEZ Chairman, Lopez Holdings Corp