Longevity with integrity
AMONG THE professional services firms in the Philippines, Isla Lipana & Co. stands as a respected pioneer that has been around since 1922. Known previously as Joaquin Cunanan & Co. (Joaquin Cunanan was the first Filipino to ever hold an executive position in the United Nations and the first Filipino member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants), the firm has gracefully evolved with the times and has transformed itself into a venerable institution.
This member firm of PwC ( Pricewaterhouse Coopers), the largest multinational professional network in the world, continues to perform audit, assurance, tax and advisory services, made sophisticated by its peerless experience, for a range of clients including the government and the leading corporations in various industries.
In conducting its services, the firm adopts approaches that are innovative and holistic. “The clients stay with us because we constantly deliver fresh perspectives. It is the new angle, and the candid and courageous point of view that we give them that I think strengthen our relationships with them,” Alexander B. Cabrera, chairman and senior partner of Isla Lipana & Co., said in an interview with Business World. Moreover, he noted that in providing multifaceted consulting services, they take many aspects (accounting, tax, commercial, legal) into an integrated analysis. “It helps that our people who perform these services do not just work remarkably, but also synergistically,” he said.
Mr. Cabrera said that the firm has been known for its audit services. He shared that the Presidential Commission on Good Government, an agency created in 1986 to recover the ill-gotten wealth accumulated during the Marcos regime, enlisted at the outset the help of the firm to audit its subjects. Its other strong suit is its tax services, especially done without equivocation. “We work well together with companies who want aboveboard dealings with the government. We put our values in action by doing our business with integrity, always upholding our clients’ reputations as well as our own.”
The incredible longevity of Isla Lipana & Co. can be credited to the value that pervades its practice — integrity. The firm prides itself in preserving its core values at the risk of “not expanding as fast as we like,” Mr. Cabrera said.
Recently, the firm, as one of a handful of companies, has received an “Advanced” rating from the Integrity Initiative, an effort spearheaded by the Makati Business Club and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines. It means it has mainstreamed integrity practices in its organization.
Apart from sustained viability, Mr. Cabrera said the firm has a mission to fulfill: build trust in society and solve important problems. This is being realized through its corporate social responsibility initiatives. One of these was the launching of a book and video in 2009, titled “Philippine Resiliency: A Gem Uncovered,” which aims to show, through the insights of the country’s top corporate honchos, how the Philippines, amidst the global economic downturns, has remained resilient. The book and video received an Excellence Award for Content Delivery in the prestigious 2010 Asian Publishing Awards ( APA), which recognizes best publishing practices in Asia.
Another initiative, the firm’s “Philippine Gems” campaign, recognized as a Gold Finalist under the Travel and Leisure category of the 2014 Asia-Pacific SABRE Awards, is a nationwide search to identify the country’s next wave of tourist destinations. It aims to increase awareness, preserve natural beauty and boost local tourism to help develop communities by attracting more business investments.
In response to the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, the PwC network of firms showed their concern and donated through the firm to carry out repair and rehabilitation in affected areas. Twenty houses have been built to date and two school buildings have undergone major repairs.
Also, the firm has a joint project with the Isla Lipana & Co. Foundation called the Seat of Hope, which has been giving school chairs to public schools.
In partnership with Benita & Catalino Yap Foundation, the firm has initiated last year the Developmental Social Enterprise Awards, which honors persons who use business to solve social problems.
For Mr. Cabrera, Isla Lipana & Co.’s best milestone would be its 93 years and counting of history. “If we’re not able to adapt to changes, if we do not constantly come up with fresh perspectives, if we do not build trust and make a difference in the real world, we wouldn’t have lasted for 93 years,” he said.
Mr. Cabrera noted that they would continue to be flexible, innovative and in touch with current business realities in their pursuit of success. An integral part of that pursuit is to protect Isla Lipana & Co.’s estimable reputation, which has come to define its nearing a century of existence.
“If we’re not able to adapt to changes, if we do not constantly come up with fresh perspectives, if we do not build trust and make a difference in the real world, we wouldn’t have lasted for 93 years.”