Under the leadership of ASEAN BAC Philippines chairman Joey Concepcion, Philippine companies clinched 13 out of 53 awards in the 2020 ASEAN Business Awards to account for the largest number of awardees from a single country.
(PCOO / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
After taking the helm of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council in 2017, Concepcion ensured that the Philippines is well-represented in ABAC’s regional events and activities.
Of the 98 verified submissions from the Philippines, 12 finalists made it to the shortlist. Together with one nominated winner from ACCMSME, the 13 winners from the Philippines all received recognition on the ASEAN level.
“I am pleasantly surprised by the turnout indicating the strong interest of the business community to participate in the awards. ABA is an excellent platform to bring local companies up to a regional standard, increase their competitiveness, and strengthen cross-border collaboration,” said Concepcion.
Potato Corner led by Jose Magsaysay took home the SME Excellence-Growth award. Motorline Trading Inc. led by Gerald Tactay, 3d Container & Packaging Philippines Corp. led by Jaie Flores Ador, and Titan Barong of Lumban led by Lumban John Titan won the SME Excellence-Employment award.
Stylist in Pocket Technologies Inc. led by Sheree Roxas Chua-Gotuaco bagged the SME Excellence-Innovation award while Foodsphere Inc. led by Jerome Ong clinched the Family Business Award. The Inclusive Business, Knowledge Partner- ACCMSME award went to Halo-Halo de Iloko which is led by Xavier Mercado.
Wellmade Motors and Development Corp. led by Dr. Philip Tan took home two awards: SME Excellence-CSR and Family Business Awards.
Rossana Ladaga-Llenado of AHEAD Learning Systems Inc. took home the Woman Entrepreneur award.
This year, the ABA judging panel launched a new award category, Combating COVID-19, to honor outstanding ASEAN businesses and enterprises that have contributed to the prevention of the pandemic.
Three companies from the Philippines were among the ten awardees: Multisys Technologies Corp. led by David Almirol Jr., Paymaya Philippines led by Orlando Vea, and the Baguio-Benguet Community Credit Cooperative led by Oscar Adversalo.
Launched in 2007 by the ASEAN Business Advisory Council, the annual ASEAN Business Awards seeks to honor the most outstanding and successful ASEAN companies and entrepreneurs that have made significant contributions to the regional economy.
The Philippines has a consistently strong showing in ABA. From 2017-2019, there were 30 winners, 13 finalists, and over 100 entries that showed Filipino ingenuity and talent on the regional stage.
The judging panel was led by Nguyen Thi Nga, chairwoman of the BRG Group and the ABA 2020. Dr. Samie Lim, chairman emeritus of the Philippine Retailers Association and former chair of the Asian Retailers Conference & Expo, was the Philippine judge.
The awards ceremony was held on Nov. 13 from 7:30 p.m.-9:45 p.m. (Manila time) at the Hanoi Daewoo Hotel in Vietnam, adjacent to the 2020 ASEAN Business & Investment Summit. The event was livestreamed online at the official ABA social media channels.