The Business Manual awards 20 CEOs for 2024

The Business Manual on Sunday awarded 20 leaders of Philippine firms as part of the CEO Awards 2024, based on several factors such as business achievements, their credibility, and local and international recognition.

According to the Business Manual, among 20 CEO Awards were chosen based on the following criteria: effective management and strategic governance (30%), innovation and versatility (30%), brand influence and recognition (20%), personal image (15%), and contribution to society (5%).

Below are the awardees for the year, and part of their acceptance speeches:

VICKI BELO, Belo Medical Group

I’m so honored to be here because I’ve never thought of myself as a businesswoman and it feels so good that I’m part of this group of CEOs. Maraming salamat po, maraming salamat God. Thank you.

CEZAR “BONG” CONSING, Ayala Corp.

With the position I have, you have a lot of help. We have some phenomenal CEOs throughout the group and it’s my pleasure really to work with all of our CEOs. I’ve been on a lot of boards and not once have I heard the statement ‘Let’s maximize profit.’ We’ve always talked about trying to address pain points and I think that’s what distinguishes the group, I think that’s what distinguishes the CEOs I work with. Thank you very much.

ALICE EDUARDO, Sta. Elena Corp.

I’m so honored and humbled by this award… this is for all of us and I’m so, so happy tonight and thank you Lord for all of these blessings and thank you everyone.

JEFFREY LIM, SM Prime Holdings Corp.

This award belongs to everyone in SM Prime who happily serve millions of Filipinos. In SM Prime, we believe that leadership goes beyond business… It’s a commitment to our nation’s wellbeing so let’s continue building bridges of opportunities, sowing seeds of progress and cultivating a future where every Filipino—like what our founder Mr. Henry Sy Sr. had—could dream, aspire, and succeed. Maraming salamat po, mabuhay tayong lahat.

JOSE TEODORO “TG” LIMCAOCO, Bank of the Philippine Islands

This recognition really is not for me, it represents all 21,000 people at BPI. A CEO is just as good as the people who work with him, and I believe that our organization is really geared towards financial inclusion. At BPI, we are truly on our journey of banking excellence anchored on trust and the best digital offers and us, all 21,000 of us, really are pushing for a better Philippines — one community, one family every time. Thanks very much.

BERNIE LIU, Golden ABC

I am only here to receive this award and thank you for this recognition because of the 6,000 dedicated men and women of the Penshoppe Group. I am fortunate… You know the CEO is often called the chief executive officer. I’d like to call myself as the chief engagement officer because I have this opportunity to engage 6,000 of our dedicated men and women who believe in our shared vision of building brands for the world while living daily our passionate purpose of inspiring greatness. We have great dreams because we believe the Filipino can. Maraming salamat.

CECILIO PEDRO, Lamoiyan Corp.

I am deeply honored to accept this award. Thank you for this recognition. It is humbling to be among the esteemed awardees and be set apart in this way, knowing that I am just an instrument of God’s grace. As with everything in my life, I dedicate this award to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is my source of strength, the one that provides me with wisdom and the one that fuels my every single day. I live my life with the sole purpose of serving our God and following the path He set for me… This is a recognition of His work in my life and not my own… I am nothing without God. Thank you for this memorable evening.

EDGAR “INJAP” SIA II, DoubleDragon Corp.

On behalf of all our team members in our group, I’m honored to accept this award… This will surely inspire all of us to strive harder, to continue pushing forward in our entrepreneurial journey and to contribute more and more to our economy year on year as we go forward. Thank you.

JOSE SOBERANO III, Cebu Landmasters Inc. 

I’d like to echo the words of my friend, Bong Alvero Cecilio, it’s all the Almighty. To my team in Cebu Landmasters, such a great team. To my family who’s always been there, for the company, working very hard. My children are here… and also to the real boss, who is my wife, who is here, which I would like to share this award with… With the different CEOs… I think together we can make a difference. We have to work, make worthy the leadership role that we take in this stage, make a lot of transformation not just on the businesses we have but also on the communities to serve. I think that’s the ultimate goal we have, to make a lot of difference in this world. Thank you very much.

ERNESTO TANMANTIONG, Jollibee Foods Corp.

This award, it’s called the CEO award, is one that truly recognizes the countless people who make up the Jollibee Group and shape our journey and share the joy to everyone around the world. Again, thank you for this honor.

Other CEO awardees who were not able to attend Sunday’s event include Megawide Construction Corp.’s Edgar Saavedra, Mercury Drug’s Vivian Que-Azcona, La Filipina Uy Gonco Group’s Aileen Uygongco-Ongkauko, Shakey’s’ Christopher Po, PLDT’s Manuel Pangilinan, San Miguel’s Ramon Ang, and JG Summit’s Lance Gokongwei, COL Financial's Edward K. Lee, Zest-O founder Alfredo Yao, and Cebuana Lhuillier's Jean Henri Lhuillier. 

Also recognized as entrepreneurial excellence awardees are Jose Magsaysay Jr,, ER Rollan, Paco Magsaysay, Steve Sy, and Natividad Cheng. — BM/KG/VBL, GMA Integrated News