The BNA Management Excellence Awardees

MANUEL V. PANGILINAN

Chairman PLDT, MPIC, PHILEX and TV-5

Wharton- educated MVP has four major businesses in the Philippines – telco (Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.), power (Meralco), infrastructure and utilities ( Metro Pacific Investments Corp.), mining ( Philex), and media ( TV5 , BusinessWorld, Philstar).

The main business still is PLDT. But of late, revenues have been flat, expenses have been rising, and profits are declining. The telephone business, wireless and landline, is a mature industry in the Philippines.

So PLDT must continually invest, add value to its products and services hoping to command good prices for them or at least enhance the subscriber experience, or continually reduce the price of its wireless and landline phone service in the face of stiffening competition and changes in consumer tastes and habits.

Still, MVP is one of the country’s biggest and most gung- ho investors, investing in the country’s future and utilizing his considerable management skills.

LORENZO V. TAN

President Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

Since becoming CEO in 2007, he remarkably improved RCBC’s size, revenues, profitability, market value, reach, market share, and service making the bank one of the most desirable to do business with and to invest in.

Tan’s objective is to tap 12 million clients, in the medium term, up from 7.2 million today, and from only 700,000 in 2007, with a sharper focus on the Filipino middle class, OFWs, SMEs, and consumers; and acquisitions.

“Our businesses are healthy and the numbers will speak for our performance,” Tan says.

The Yuchengco Group’s RCBC chalked up a net profit of P3.64 billion, up 21% or P630 million in the first nine months from P3.01 year-on-year.

RCBC’s net interest income amounted to P11.46 billion in the first nine months on the back of the 19 percent hike in bank loans to P280 billion.

Loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) rose 27 percent, while microfinance lending by Rizal Microbank increased 75 percent.

LILIA DE LIMA

Director-General Philippine Economic Zone Authority

She helped improve the business and investment climate in the Philippines with her iron-clad guarantee of no corruption and no red tape, only red carpet treatment, in the country’s more than 334 economic zones, in the process boosting Philippine exports, job creation, manufacturing and technological capability tremendously, and bringing about unprecedented economic boom.

Lilia is a veritable national treasure. For the past 18 years under her watch, PEZA has registered P3 trillion in investments, $592 billion in exports, 1.236 million in employment, in 334 industrial estates. That’s more investments, more exports, and more job creation than all previous years before her, combined.

CESAR V. PURISIMA

Finance Secretary

As the senior economic adviser to President Aquino, Northwestern University MBA Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima pursued economic reforms with his confidence by creditors and investors, lowered the cost of doing business, saved billions for Filipinos in interest costs, revitalized and expanded the economy to record values, and made the Philippines investment grade for the first time.

JOSE RENE D. ALMENDRAS

Cabinet Secretary

His vast business and management experience as a long-time Ayala Group CEO helped manage the presidential office, which runs the Philippines’ largest corporation, with over 2 million employees, and P3 trillion annual budget. He is presidential troubleshooter for port congestion, traffic, and other tasks requiring urgent presidential action and solution.

JOSEPH EJERCITO ESTRADA

Manila Mayor

He made Manila the Philippines’ most competitive city in 2015, and the most competitive among highly urbanized cities. Estrada wiped out the city’s nearly P4 billion deficit, increased revenues three- fold, improved the peace and order, and delivered more funds for education, health, infra, and city assets acquisition. Today, Manila is a much better place for living in and doing business.

GREGORY L. DOMINGO

DTI Secretary

As DTI chief, Greg has focused on vigorous consumer protection, consumer welfare advocacy and enhancement of the business climate.

This Wharton - educated CEO brought tremendous management skills and foresight, making the Philippines a much more competitive and a better place for doing business.