ManageMent Man of the year:
fernando Zobel de ayala (left) is congratulated by Management association of the Philippines president and Maynilad Water Ceo ramoncito fernandez during the Management Man of the year 2018 awarding ceremony held at the Peninsula Manila on Dec. 11.
Tycoon Fernando Zobel de Ayala, president and chief operating officer of Ayala Corp. and this year’s “Management Man of the Year” awardee, rallied fellow businessmen to build a future-ready Philippines.
“Through the Management Association of the Philippines and the other business organizations in the country, the private sector can accelerate efforts to build a progressive, inclusive, dynamic and future-ready Philippines that we can all be proud of,” Zobel de Ayala said in his acceptance speech during yesterday’s awarding ceremony where he formally received his award from MAP.
With the accolade, MAP said Zobel de Ayala “joins a long roster of individuals in the business community or government who have attained unquestioned distinction in the practice of management and for contributing to the country’s progress.”
“With a unified public and private sector, an appropriate plan designed for the mediumand long-term and a consistent vision that will keep us on track through political cycles, we can certainly direct our country on an irreversible path toward equitable and sustainable progress,” Zobel de Ayala said in his speech.
He identified four key areas – inclusive finance, education, healthcare and sustainable tourism – that would help the country develop.
“The challenge we all now face as a business community is to determine where we want our country to be in the next 10, 20 and 30 years. There are many areas where the private sector is focusing its efforts. From our point of view in Ayala, we have decided that these four areas hold tremendous potential to make a lasting and meaningful impact as we build a future-ready Philippines,” Zobel de Ayala added.
Ayala family patriarch Jaime Zobel de Ayala made a rare public appearance and led the Ayala family at Fernando’s awarding ceremony yesterday.
Fernando, the second son of Jaime, is the third in the family to receive the award after his father received the same recognition in 1987 and eldest brother Jaime Augusto received the award in 2006.
“We are also deeply honored as a family that I am now the third member of the family, after my father and brother, to be recognized for this award,” Fernando said.
As chairman of Ayala Land Inc., Zobel de Ayala was also recognized by the MAP for “nurturing the strategic transformation of Ayala Land by improving the commercial and residential landscape of several areas all over the country and by being a solid proponent of providing greater access to affordable housing to help augment the country’s housing backlog.”
The MAP also recognized his active participation in nongovernment organizations and in the arts.
“He was chosen…for his support and leadership in nationbuilding organizations, such as Centex (Education), Habitat for Humanity (Housing), HERO Foundation (Fallen Soldiers), Caritas (Church), Asia Society (Culture) and National Museum of the Philippines (Arts).”
In all, MAP noted his invaluable contribution to re-shaping national values through his track record of integrity, professional competence and strong leadership.
The past “MAP Management Man of the Year” awardees are Washington SyCip (1967), Geronimo Velasco (1977), Henry Brimo (1978), Jose Soriano (1979), Cesar Virata (1981), Jaime Ongpin and Vicente Paterno (1982), Dante Santos (1983), Cesar Buenaventura and Roberto Villanueva (1985), Jaime Zobel de Ayala (1987), Ramon del Rosario Sr. (1988) and Jose Fernandez Jr. (1989).
For the 1990’s, MAP gave the same award to Raul Concepcion (1990), Oscar Hilado (1991), Alfonso Yuchengco (1992), Juan Santos (1994), David Consunji and Rizalino Navarro (1996), Gabriel Singson (1998), Delfin Lazaro and Henry Sy Sr. (1999).
For 2000 and onwards, those awarded were Oscar Lopez (2000), Tony Tan Caktiong (2002), Jesus Tambunting (2003), Rafael Buenaventura (2004), Manuel Pangilinan (2005), George S. K. Ty and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (2006), Jose Cuisia Jr. (2007), Antonino Aquino and Jesus Estanislao (2009), Lilia de Lima and Ramon del Rosario Jr. (2010), Erramon Aboitiz (2011), Aurelio Montinola III (2012), Edgar Chua (2013), Albert del Rosario (2014), Amando Tetangco Jr. (2015), Teresita Sy-Coson (2016) and John Gokongwei Jr. (2017).