For now, unless revoked by a higher court, the circular of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) limiting to nine years the cumulative term limit on independent directors stays.
The SEC may have secured one of the most historic governance victories in the Philippine financial sector. In a May 11, 2026 ruling, the Makati Regional Trial Court refused to align itself with GMA Network’s opposition to the SEC move.
This is long overdue.
The SEC’s efforts to establish term limits did not occur in a vacuum. Long before the GMA ruling, the regulator had broadened its governance offensive to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) itself — a much more politically sensitive battlefield.
Earlier this year, the SEC also proposed a 10-year cumulative term limit on broker-directors of the PSE, possibly driving out some of the exchange’s longest-serving power brokers.
