Meralco is safe...for now.

The obvious question everybody is asking now is--until when will PLDT's Manny Pangilinan be able to fend off San Miguel's ambitious yet dastardly plan for Meralco? PLDT got a tiny advantage with 30% compared with 27% now currently held by SMC.

Talks abound that SMC has marshalled its allies and they're buying into Meralco. With the Lopezes finding an ally in the person of Pangilinan, Meralco is safe....for now.

Why is it so crucial for SMC to acquire Meralco? Aside from the obvious, Meralco is a key component in SMC's strategic monopoly plan. With its entry into the telecomms business and energy sector, Meralco actually completes the SMC plan of finally dominating Philippine business. Ang's idea of providing cheaper broadband services through electric powerlines jibes with PLDT's. Meralco is crucial because if SMC acquires it, PLDT's gargantuan domination in the telecomms business is threatened.

With PLDT's entry into Lopez territory, it now grew its share in the telecomms business with a possible acquisition also of Bayantel. Bayantel is a Lopez owned company which has successfully eaten up PLDT's market in the wireless landline services and even in broadband. With the Pangilinan-Lopez alliance, PLDT would be able to whittle Bayantel down to miniscule size in no time.

Or, quite possibly, Bayantel will be positioned to assist PLDT in thwarting the plans of SMC to dominate the telecomms sector with its new Qatar-Liberty Telecommunications. PLDT needs all the help it could marshall against this big competitor.

Yet, the question now is this---where's the Ayalas in all of these? Ayala controls Globe and its also into energy, which is another sector that SMC already dipped its hands on. Ayala and the Lopezes were beneficiaries of EDSA; while the Cojuangcos, well, they just were able to resurrect themselves after staying too long with the Marcoses.

The Ayalas are known allies of Pangilinan and indirectly, the Lopezes. Will it remain in the sidelines like what the Chinoy taipans are doing? Or will they also engage SMC in a battle by aligning themselves with the Pangilinan-Lopez? Such titanic battles, as history shows, always spill over to change the political configurations.

Will this battle stay in the boardrooms or will we see it spillover into the political arena as well? Remember that prior to EDSA dos, the same situation was present.