The board appointed Napoleon L. Nazareno as concurrent President and CEO of PLDT and Smart.

Former PLDT Chairman Antonio O. Cojuangco remained a member of the Board of Directors.

So, now Nazareno will take care of the day to day operations of PLDT plus Smart. “I’ll be here to help in whatever way I can. I’d like to spend time in the Philippines to see PLDT meet its projections,” Pangilinan told reporters in yesterday’s press briefing. However, he admitted it will be “difficult to say” how much time he can spend in Manila.

The new President was busy in a meeting with PLDT employees.

Nazareno and Pangilinan have worked together twice before where the former was President and the latter was Chairman. Nazareno was President of Metro Pacific when Pangilinan was President. When the former was President of Smart, the latter was the Chairman.

“I have no problem working with him in a tandem role,” Pangilinan said of Nazareno. “It’s ok with me.”

The new PLDT Chairman admitted that his half a decade of being at the helm of the country’s biggest carrier had been “tough,” however.

“I have not worked as hard as I did before. The problem was greater than anticipated,” he explained. Nonetheless, “It was an education, something I don’t regret, though I don’t wish it on my successor.”

Although he had been doing much business in the region before Pangilinan really “learned how to do business in the Philippines” when he took on the top post at PLDT.

Now, the board of First Pacific (PLDT’s biggest stakeholder) wants Pangilinan to spend more time in Hong Kong.