Four Filipino firms and their chief executive officers were able to stand tall among multinational companies as they were hailed as having the best leaders in the country's corporate sector. 

"Filipinos are among the most warm, lively and hardworking people in the world," said Kula Kulendran, executive vice president for Japan, Asia Pacific and Australia for American Express Co., a major sponsor of the Asia CEO Awards.

As the Philippine economy grows and expands, the Malaysia-born Kulendran said "what is needed is a strong corporate leadership which will help propel market to the next level."

"While the Asia CEO Awards recognizes the importance of leadership excellence, it will also encourage leaders to do more and inspire others to become more competitive," he said.

Marife Zamora of Convergys Philippines Services Corp. was awarded Global Filipino Executive of the Year sponsored by awards organizer PLDT Alpha Enterprise.

Zamora, who was appointed by the US-based business process outsourcing (BPO) firm, was appointed managing director for Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa in October.

She has managed Convergys' burgeoning presence in the Philippines from its first contact center in 2003 to its 17th contact center and 25,000 employees today.

Zamora, who was in Hawaii during the awarding ceremonies last month, was chosen among nine finalists, which included Doris Ho of the Magsaysay Maritime Corp., Antonino Aquino of Ayala Land Inc., and Bansan C. Choa of i-Remit Inc.

Notably, i-Remit was chosen among seven firms as the BUSINESSMIRROR'S Most Innovative Company of the Year.

The publicly listed Ayala Land, on the other hand, bagged the Finance Team of the Year award.

The third homegrown company to be honored was the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., which bested three other firms for having the most admired board of directors.

Former Prime Minister Cesar Virata, who represented RCBC, was also cited for his lifetime contribution to Philippine corporate leadership. The same honor was bestowed to European Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Henry Schumacher.

"I have been able to keep my integrity, honesty and good service to the public.  I'm really happy in that way because I believe I have served well. And I think I was able to do that through leadership by example," Virata said.

The fourth homegrown company that was awarded was Magsaysay Maritime Corp. for having the best executive leadership team of the year.

The award adds another laurel to Ho, who was recently also given the Lloyd's List Lifetime award and recognized as one of the most influential personalities in the shipping industry.

Other awardees, mostly multinational companies that operate or have regional headquarters in the Philippines, include Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc. (sales and marketing team of the year); Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Philippines Corp. (top employer organization); NetSuite Philippines Inc. (technology team); and, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts in the Philippines (quality excellence company).

Maulik Parekh of BPO firm SPi Global was chosen as expatriate executive of the year.

Kulendran, in his keynote speech said companies are in a most opportune time as the Philippines is seeing a rapid growth in its middle class and the country is touted as one of the world's largest BPO destination.

Source: Business Mirror; Companies; 15 December 2011