Hans Sy is Management Person of the Year

Hans T. Sy is the “Management Person of the Year 2025” of the Management Association of the Philippines, the largest organization of CEOs with over 1,000 members.

Hans, 69, is chair of the Executive Committee of SM Prime and chairman of the board of China Banking Corp. A member of the Sy family, which is the richest in the Philippines, Hans is cited for his superior management of both SM Prime and China Bank, with a sharp focus on sustainability and inclusion.

SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SMPH) is one of the most valuable Philippine public companies (P1.086 trillion or $118.7 billion, fourth highest) and one of the largest integrated property developers in Southeast Asia.

SM Prime offers innovative and sustainable lifestyle cities with the development of malls, residences, offices, hotels and convention centers. It is also the largest property company, in terms of assets, in the Philippines.

China Banking Corp. (Chinabank) was founded in 1920. It is the first bank to lend the legendary taipan Henry Sy his loan.

Under Hans, Chinabank has become one of the best managed, fastest growing and most profitable banks in the Philippines. At end-June 2025, Chinabank was ranked by the BSP the fifth largest, with assets of P1.49 trillion, outranking the likes of RCBC, Security Bank, PNB, DBP and Union Bank, in that order.

Has Sy was chosen by MAP as its most outstanding CEO of the year for the following reasons:

1.  His lifelong commitment to environmental stewardship, social inclusion, good governance and resilience (ESG-R), establishing SM Prime as a benchmark for sustainable and resilient urban development;

2. Championing people-centered leadership and diversity by fostering a corporate culture that promotes employee welfare, professional development and work-life balance, while building an organization that exemplifies the UN Global Compact Women’s Empowerment Principles;

3.  Spearheading innovative and sustainable retail development which continuously provides growth opportunities for MSMEs, local government units and the communities where SM malls operate;

4.  Helping shape global and local guidance on integrating disaster risk reduction into core business strategies by representing the Philippines in the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction and by founding ARISE Philippines;

5.   Raising the Philippine flag with pride in other countries like China, and proving that Filipino companies can compete successfully with global big brands;

6.  Broadening access to quality education and athletic excellence by nurturing the National University (NU) and supporting other broad-based initiatives that shape future generations;

7.  Personally supporting vulnerable children through Child Haus which provides critical health care and hope to indigent children with cancer; and

8. His personal contributions to shaping national values and inspiring others through his unwavering integrity, exceptional managerial competence and visionary leadership.

Hans is the fourth CEO of the Henry Sy group to win the MAP award for management excellence. Its previous winners were: Henry Sy (1999), daughter Teresita Sy (2016), and BDO CEO Nestor Tan (2019).

MAP confers the “MAP Management Person of the Year” award on individuals in business or government, whether a member of the MAP or not, who have attained unquestioned distinction in the practice of management and have made valuable contributions to the progress of the country and in re-shaping national values.

It is bestowed on exceptional persons who have posted a record of achievement and distinction as leaders and managers of organizations, and who are exemplary models who deserve to be emulated by their peers and by the younger leaders and managers.

The conferment of the award follows a thorough, stringent selection process. The distinction of “MAP Management Person of the Year” has only been conferred 49 times in the six-decade history of the award.

The criteria for the award include integrity, leadership and management qualities; contribution to nation-building and values formation; effective stewardship within the confines of the highest standard of business and management practice; among others.

Previous “MAP Management Person of the Year” awardees: Washington Z. SyCip (1967), Geronimo Z. Velasco (1977), Henry A. Brimo (1978), Jose M. Soriano (1979), Cesar E.A. Virata (1981), Jaime V. Ongpin and Vicente T. Paterno (1982), Dante G. Santos (1983), Cesar A. Buenaventura and Roberto T. Villanueva (1985), Jaime Zobel de Ayala (1987), Ramon V. del Rosario Sr. (1988), Jose B. Fernandez Jr. (1989), Raul T. Concepcion (1990), Oscar J. Hilado (1991), Alfonso T. Yuchengco (1992), Juan B. Santos (1994), David M. Consunji and Rizalino S. Navarro (1996), Gabriel C. Singson (1998), Delfin L. Lazaro and Henry Sy Sr. (1999), Oscar M. Lopez (2000),  Tony Tan Caktiong (2002), Jesus P. Tambunting (2003), Rafael B. Buenaventura (2004), Manuel V. Pangilinan (2005), George S. K. Ty and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala II (2006), Jose L. Cuisia Jr. (2007), Antonino T. Aquino and Jesus P. Estanislao (2009), Lilia B. de Lima and Ramon R. del Rosario Jr. (2010), Erramon I. Aboitiz (2011), Aurelio R. Montinola III (2012), Edgar O. Chua (2013), Albert F. del Rosario (2014), Amando M. Tetangco Jr. (2015), Teresita Sy-Coson (2016), John L. Gokongwei Jr. (2017), Fernando Zobel de Ayala (2018), Nestor V. Tan (2019), Federico R. Lopez (2020), Carlos Chan (2021), Isidro A. Consunji (2022), Ernesto Tanmantiong (2023), Rogelio L. Singson (2024) and Hans T. Sy (2025).

Hans gets his award on Nov. 24, 2025.

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On government mismanagement of its flood control program resulting in P1 trillion being stolen by the corrupt, there will be no more public hearings on this scam – none in the House, none in the Senate and none in the so-called Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI).

The Filipino people won’t be able to see the most corrupt species of human beings ever to walk this land – eye to eye – on national television. And I see why – this rhymes with Eye-See-Eye.

By conducting its hearings behind closed doors, ICI rescues the corrupt from the prying, angry eyes of the public.

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