Meralco opens Mapanuring Meralco: Wired Through the Years on October 27, 2026, at the Meralco Operating Center in Pasig City. From left are Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer Marilene P. Tayag; Vice President and Head of Corporate Governance and Compliance Office Atty. Jocelyn Villar-Altamira; Senior Vice President and Head of Internal Audit Melanie T. Oteyza; Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Ronnie L. Aperocho; and Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga.
In a digital landscape where false claims can spread in seconds, Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is urging employees and stakeholders to pause, question, and verify before passing information on.
The power distributor launched Mapanuring Meralco, its media and information literacy initiative, to strengthen critical thinking, promote responsible communication, and protect the trust it has built with its 8.3 million customers.
Held in line with UNESCO’s Global Media and Information Literacy Week, the initiative featured an exhibit on the evolution of Meralco’s communication platforms and a forum examining how people consume, assess, and share information.
Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga said the effort reflects a shared responsibility to help build a society that values truth and informed judgment.
“Through this we hope to tell the story of how our communication has evolved, and how the changing platforms and mediums bring new challenges, especially in an environment where information travels quickly and misinformation can easily spread,” Zaldarriaga said.
The launch builds on Meralco’s participation earlier this year in THINKaMuna Pilipinas, a media and information literacy advocacy program led by MediaQuest Holdings, Inc.
Unveiled on October 27, 2026, at the Meralco Operating Center in Pasig City, the exhibit Mapanuring Meralco: Wired Through the Years traced the company’s journey from traditional print materials to digital channels.
Beyond showcasing changing technologies, the exhibit highlighted a continuing responsibility: keeping employees, customers, and the public informed through clear and credible communication.
For Meralco First Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Hans Montenegro, that responsibility extends to every employee.
“Trust is the foundation of Meralco’s relationship with its 8.3 million customers. As employees and communicators of important information, we all play a critical role in protecting that trust,” Montenegro said.
The company also held its first Media and Information Literacy Forum on October 30, encouraging participants to examine information more carefully and make responsible sharing a daily habit, both at work and in their personal lives.
Meralco Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Ronnie L. Aperocho underscored the urgency of these efforts as technology reshapes how people encounter information and form opinions.
“Information can now travel across millions of screens in seconds through various channels. The importance of everyone’s ability to distinguish facts from false narratives has drastically grown. Technology, algorithms, and artificial intelligence have already transformed the way people receive or gather information and form opinions,” Aperocho said.
He urged employees and stakeholders to actively challenge distorted facts and become advocates of truth.
“Let us not be afraid to speak up when facts are being distorted. In today’s reality, truth is no longer just something we know. We must actively protect it. We should choose facts over noise, integrity over convenience, and truth over speculation,” he said.
