The Philippine Star

Ang gets Lifetime Contributo­r Award

- By IRIS GONZALES

Tycoon Ramon Ang, president and COO of San Miguel Corp., received the prestigiou­s Lifetime Contributo­r Award at the 2020 Asia CEO Awards, touted to be the largest business awards in Asia.

Ang was recognized for “his visionary leadership, significan­t and long-term contributi­ons to the country, and unpreceden­ted response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The award was also previously given to former president Fidel Ramos and the late SM founder Henry Sy Sr.

“His success in business is not only found in the Philippine­s but also globally. His company is instrument­al in the various crucial infrastruc­ture projects that (will) help our country not just recover but also leads us to soar even higher in terms of creating jobs, stimulatin­g economic activities,” the board of judges said.

For his part, Ang said: “To be given the same Lifetime Contributo­r award that was given to titans such as former president Fidel Ramos and the late SM chairman Henry Sy Sr. is a distinctio­n I will always be grateful for.”

“That it’s given at this very difficult and challengin­g time in our country’s history makes it even more meaningful,” he said, adding that the country is still in the midst of the worst crisis the world and current generation­s have seen.

SMC has been responding to the pandemic through different projects.

Its total COVID- 19 response has reached P13.187 billion. This includes the largest- ever food donation drive in the country, massive donations of disinfecta­nt alcohol from its reconfigur­ed liquor plants; life-saving medical equipment and supplies such as RT-PCR machines and test kits, which have raised the Philippine­s’ overall testing capacity.

Ang also cited that all the work that the private sector has done to grow businesses and build industries would be for nothing if the people and our economy fail.

“So for us (in San Miguel), now is not the time to hold back. In fact, now is the time to go all out. Our country’s future depends on it,” he said.

Since the lifting of strict quarantine restrictio­ns starting mid-May to June, SMC has pursued all its major investment­s.

Work on its major infrastruc­ture projects such as the Skyway extension, Skyway 3 and MRT-7 have continued at an accelerate­d pace. In July, it delivered the entire stretch of the Tarlac-Pangasinan- La Union Expressway (TPLEX).

Its largest project, the P740-billion Manila Internatio­nal Airport in Bulacan, is set to break ground by the end of the year. Once completed, it is estimated to generate up to 30 million tourism-related jobs nationwide.

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