In my previous newsletter, I tackled the never-ending battle for control of Luzon’s battery. More than a decade later, the Aboitiz group has taken the Caliraya-Botocan-Kalayaan (CBK) hydroelectric complex from the grip of the Lopez group.
The history of CBK proves an old saying in infrastructure investing: the builders rarely become the long-term owners.
Few strategic assets in Philippine history have traveled a more remarkable path — passing from Argentine engineers to Japanese financiers, then to the Lopez family before ultimately landing in the hands of the Aboitiz group. Its ownership history mirrors the evolution of Philippine capitalism itself.
After years of legal warfare, political confrontation, diplomatic maneuvering, and media battles, Argentina’s Industrias Metalúrgicas Pescarmona Sociedad Anónima (IMPSA) emerged victorious in the late 1990s’ struggle to rehabilitate and operate the CBK complex.
The Argentine engineering giant survived court challenges, congressional scrutiny, allegations of favoritism, and an aggressive public relations campaign mounted by interests determined to stop the project. Yet winning the contract proved easier than keeping it.
