Towards a new era of excellence
R.S. Bernaldo & Associates celebrates 25th anniversary
At R.S. Bernaldo & Associates’ (RSBA) 25th anniversary, it announced that it will be changing its leadership to welcome a new era for the firm. Founder Rosario S. Bernaldo, who has helmed the firm for the past 25 years, handed over the reins to Managing Partner and COO Romeo A de Jesus, Jr., as she moves on to take the role of chairman.
“[Mr. de Jesus] has proven his loyalty to the firm. We share the same ideals and values, and he has contributed a lot to make RSBA grow,” Ms. Bernaldo told various stakeholders at RSBA’s 25th anniversary celebration at the Peninsula Manila in Makati City on January 14.
“I have no doubt that in the coming years he will be able to do better than what I have done for the last 25 years,” she added.
In his time with the firm, Mr. de Jesus has overseen the acquisitions and mergers of various corporations, supervised structuring, and set-up of subsidiaries and affiliates of various foreign corporations in the Philippines, including subsequent registrations with agencies such as the Philippine Economic Zone Authority and the Board of Investments. Among his areas of competencies as a professional are: strategic planning, project finance, mergers and acquisition, public listing, corporate recovery and receivership, corporate restructuring, and corporate audit.
He is also a director at various corporations in industries such as infrastructure, oil and gas, and agriculture. Mr. de Jesus is a member of the Makati Business Club, the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX), the FINEX Foundation, the Association of CPAs in Public Practice, among others.
From a small professional staff of seven when the accounting firm was founded in 1994, RSBA has become one of the largest medium-sized accounting practices in the country and has grown to become a firm of 130 professionals, more than 100 of whom are certified public accountants. The firm is a member firm of the Asian Accounting Firms (ASNAF) and a member firm of PKF International, a global network of independent accounting and business advisory services companies.
RSBA provides services to companies belonging in the top 1,000 corporations in the Philippines, including major industry leaders in manufacturing, energy, construction, mining, real estate, banks, hotel, investment and finance, telecommunications, computers, advertising, food, health care, and trading.
The firm’s 25th anniversary celebration was attended by representatives from its distinguished clientele, business associates and friends. Among the guests were Santiago F. Dumlao Jr., former president of FINEX; Atty. Antonio Oposa, Jr., Ramon Magsaysay awardee and renowned environmental lawyer; Francisco Ed. Lim, former president of the Philippine Stock Exchange and current president of the Shareholders Association of the Philippines; Jose T. Prado, chairman and independent director of the Philippine Stock Exchange; and Ramon S. Monzon, president and CEO of the Philippine Stock Exchange.
“Since the beginning, we took initiative by providing differentiated professional services that takes the clients’ interests worthy of that of our own. We love to solve problems, and RSBA is about ideas that will solve problems and make things better,” Mr. de Jesus said at the event.
“We look at this year as a journey, as a great opportunity to serve and develop people through our core values: empathy, engagement, and empowerment. This ushers us to what we fundamentally aspire for: achieve excellence in the things we do. We endeavor to take our people further, walking that extra mile, in the furtherance of their objectives, since it is as much as about them and the skills that we’ll learn from them at present and in the future.”
“We’re all deeply animated in what the future will bring,” he added.
In recognition of the contribution to RSBA’s success for the past 25 years, the firm held an alumni cocktail party with its more than 300 alumni who are now pursuing careers all over the world last January 28 at the Dusit Thani Hotel.