You can’t fault Manny Pangilinan for his drive and determination. The chief executive of Hong Kong-listed First Pacific has had plenty of ups and downs since he founded the company 30 years ago, and is variably described as a savvy dealmaker by his fans and a burly risk-taker by his detractors. The last time the chips were down was some nine years ago when heavy debt and a region-wide recession threatened to topple the empire of disparate businesses that Pangilinan and his boss, Indonesian tycoon Anthony Salim, had amassed after the 1997 financial crisis.
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