October 19, 2022
By MICHAEL ARCATOMY H. GUARIN
It seemed like yesterday when the 2022 FINEX Board and I were inducted into office by former National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua on January 18, 2022. We were hoping to hold the induction ceremony in a face-to-face event but was stalled due to the spread of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus.
Government, the economy, and businesses have all faced difficulties over the past few years. Every person I know has been impacted in some way by the worldwide health crisis and its ripple effects through the economy. We, the C-suite and other company leaders, had to quickly readjust to the new normal and help our businesses weather the disruptions that the pandemic and lockdowns had caused.
We had to deal with a number of unknowns, such as the responses of the government and the market, because of the chaotic and ever-changing nature of the pandemic.
I’ve resolved to keep a positive outlook no matter what happens. What we’ve learned about ourselves over the past few years is that we’re resilient and adaptable. In order to survive, and hopefully thrive, in these unprecedented times, we are willing to put forth the effort and make the necessary adjustments. There has never been a more exciting time to be at the helm of a company, where we can shape the future of our industry by responding to the ever-changing needs of our customers and the state of the market.
INSPIRING MARKET CONFIDENCE. EMPOWERING POSITIVE CHANGE.
FINEX immediately comes to mind when I consider the ways in which our members and the market have responded and adapted to the rapidly shifting conditions in which we find ourselves today. There’s no going back now; we have to accept the new normal and work to improve conditions for businesses and the economy so that everyone can benefit. Our theme for 2022, “Inspiring Market Confidence, Empowering Positive Change,” reflects the dedication of the FINEX Board and Officers to enacting reforms that will restore faith in the market and promoting policies and programs that will spur market expansion and economic prosperity.
Our value propositions remain unchanged: advocacy for economic and policy changes, networking with like-minded financial executives and business leaders, and expansion of our professional competencies.
Allow me to present my interim report on FINEX’s activities since the beginning of the year on behalf of the Board of Directors, our Committees and Subcommittees, and their chairs, vice-chairs, and members. But first, I’d like to thank the Council of Past Presidents for providing sound and wise counsel to me and the 2022 FINEX Board during our meeting on January 28, 2022, during which I discussed the highlights of our various plans and programs. I am grateful to the Council of Past Presidents for their insightful observations and suggestions, which helped shape and improve the plans and activities for this year.
MEMBERSHIP
By the end of September 2022, we had inducted 33 new FINEX members, bringing our total to 714. Our campaign is still hampered by the pandemic, which caused us to fall short of our goal. Despite this, we were still able to increase our membership base by 31 prominent and respected finance professionals and practitioners. Throughout the year, we continue to look for new members. Our new members will contribute to our budget and help us implement our programs, in addition to strengthening our already strong membership base. In the coming months and years, FINEX should continue to attract the best and most reputable finance professionals and practitioners.
As a result of the pandemic’s economic impact on their businesses, some of our members were forced to resign. Some have been delisted for failure to pay membership dues.
If you recall, we were given approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission last year to accept a new category of membership, Associate membership (AM). It has been difficult to recruit new AMs. We will continue to review our recruitment policy to address this without compromising the quality of our new members.
In response to our members’ requests, we embarked on a number of activities aimed at increasing membership engagement and connection, including the following:
- Fireside Chat with ICTSI CFO Joel Consing on March 4 by the Membership Committee
- First face-to-face Network and Chill via tree planting at 3 Springs Mountain Park, Tanay, Rizal on March 5 by the Membership Committee
- The Stroke of Luck virtual talk on March 24 by the LIFE Icons Sub-committee
- Kick-off Golf Tournament on April 22 by the Sports and Wellness Committee
Our 2022 new members will attend a networking social with the Board of Directors and the Membership Committee tomorrow, October 20. We hope that by hosting this event, our new members will become more involved in our organization.
On November 5, FINEX will be the host of the annual Inter-Financial Associations Golf Tournament with ACI Philippines and Money Market Association of the Philippines at Malarayat Golf and Country Club after a 2-year hiatus.
On November 14, the LIFE Icons Sub-Committee will be hosting a fireside chat with past ING FINEX CFO of the Year awardees Baby Nuesa and Mylene Kasiban. This session will be moderated by Malou Cristobal.
Lastly, on December 1, to cap this year’s activities, we will be holding our first face-to-face Christmas Party since the onslaught of the pandemic in 2020. We hope that you will all attend. Let’s enjoy each other’s company with good food, drinks and most of all, RAFFLE! But, as true finance professionals, we will remain cautious and adhere to safety and health protocols.
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS
This year’s General Membership Meetings (GMMs) have been well attended, owing largely to our outstanding guest speakers and sponsoring Committees. The GMMs were organized around this year’s theme, as well as current, significant, and relevant issues. In collaboration with the sponsoring committees, your Programs and Meetings Committee made every effort to select the most knowledgeable resource speakers in their fields.
We are one of the first organizations to hold a hybrid membership meeting in April. To be honest, running a hybrid format is not as simple as it appears. We had a lot of problems right from the start. What matters is that we were able to find solutions. I am pleased to inform everyone that we never hired technical personnel to assist us in any of our hybrid GMMs. Our Secretariat was able to adapt and learn as a result of the changes. Aside from in-person GMMs in hotels and virtual attendance via Zoom, our GMMs are also streamed live via FINEX’s various social media accounts, including Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter.
Throughout the year, the following GMMs were held, each with a different Guest Speaker and panelists:
January 18
“Inaugural Meeting & Induction Ceremonies”
Inducting Officer
Hon. Karl Kendrick Chua, former Secretary, National Economic and Development Authority
February 22
“Capital Market Reforms toward a Deeper, Inclusive, and Sustainable Philippine Capital Markets”
Co-sponsored by the Capital Markets Development Committee
Speaker: former DOF Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III
March 25
“Inang Bayan: The Importance of a Responsible Electorate in a Democracy”
Co-sponsored by the Women in Finance Committee
Speakers: Cheche Lazaro, Probe Productions, Myla Villanueva and Dr. William Yu, PPCRV, and, Lovelaine Basillote, Philippine Business for Education
April 20
“Bringing Solar Rooftops to Every Home”
Co-sponsored by the Affiliates Committee
Speakers: Illac Diaz, Global Director, Liter of Light, Guido Delgado, Chairman, GAA Delgado, Inc., and Atty. Jose Layug, Jr., Senior Partner, Puno & Puno Law
May 18
“Transitioning to the New Philippine Normal: An Economic and Political Outlook”
Co-sponsored by the National Affairs Committee
Speakers: Calixto Chikiamco, Prof. Victor Andres Manhit, Dr. Felipe Medalla, and Roberto Herrera-Lim
May 26
Special Membership Meeting
“Breaking the Cycle of Poverty”
Co-sponsored by the Social Involvement Committee
Speaker: Arturo Martinez, ADB
June 29
“Reimagining Business through the Eyes of Young Leaders”
Co-sponsored by the Young Finance Officers Committee
Speakers: Randy del Valle, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation, Paulo Campos, Zalora Philippines, and Pepe Torres, Maya
July 27
“Ayala-FINEX Finance Summit”
Co-sponsored by the Professional Development Committee
Speaker: John Eric Francia, CEO, ACEnergy / Head, Investment Committee, Ayala Corporation
Panelists: Theresa Marcial, President, BPI AMTC, and Jaime Ysmael, President, Qualimed and Healthway
August 2
Special GMM with BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla
August 17
Ethics and the Digital Economy
Co-sponsored by the Ethics Committee
Speaker: Allen Guo, Country Manager, Alibaba Philippines
Panelists: Reynaldo Lugtu, Atty. Rosemarie King-Dominguez, and Alvin Dave Pusing
September 27
Collaboration Tools and the Future of Work
Co-sponsored by the ICT Committee
Speakers: Virginie Thai, Docusign and Emily Ng of Zoom
Today, our Arts Committee sponsored our 10th general membership meeting with Mr. Jack Teotico of Galerie Joaquin as the guest speaker who talked about the prospects for arts in this crisis-laden world. Our GMM was made more special with the raffle prizes and live and silent auction.
Our final GMM for the year will take place on November 29, 2022, in conjunction with the annual ING FINEX CFO of the Year Award Ceremony. Details will be announced as they become available, but we will ensure that it is a memorable event.
ADVOCACIES
FINEX remains one of the country’s most dynamic and influential business organizations. FINEX has been very active on a national level, issuing statements and position papers or co-signing joint statements on issues affecting business, finance, and the economy.
The following are the statements and position papers, either jointly-signed or solely-issued, by FINEX this year:
- FINEX Statement regarding return to Alert Level 3 over NCR on January 3
- Joint Statement on the ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement on January 21
- Joint Statement on Business groups call for Congress to ratify the PSA amendments on January 24
- Joint Appeal encouraging employees to return to the workplace on March 22
- FINEX led the Joint Letter to COMELEC by offering to help educate the public on the entire election process on March 25
- Joint Statement Calling for the Passage of Reforms in the remaining session days of the 18th Congress on May 18
- Congratulatory Statement to President-elect Marcos and Vice President-elect Duterte on May 25
- FINEX, MAP, and MBC Reiteration of Call for the ratification of Philippine Membership in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership on June 1
- Joint Statement on Business Leaders Call on Congress to Approve Key Economic Reforms, especially Amendments to the Public Service Act on July 21
- Statement on the Passing of former President Fidel V. Ramos on August 8
- Joint Statement urging EDSA Busway System Privatization on October 6
- Joint Statement of Support for ARTA on October 10
FINEX conducted various election-related programs this year, as follows:
- Last January 19, GGC initiated a letter to Commission on Elections (COMELEC) requesting for a dialogue on the contingency plans and end to end process pertaining to the May elections. 22 business organizations and NGOs co-signed the letter appeal.
- Together with JFINEX Committee, GGC organized the voter’s forum – Your Vote Matters! on February 24. Resource speakers were: Bill Luz, Atom Araullo, Lyn Pinugu and Gretchen Ho. News anchor Quintin Pastrana also joined as host and Q&A moderator.
- Released to FINEX members the 16 Good Citizenship Values enshrined in the Philippine Constitution in partnership with the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV). One value is released through email and viber every Tuesday and Thursday before the elections.
- FINEX through the Good Governance Committee initiated letters to COMELEC offering to help educate the public on the entire election process and reiterated the need for COMELEC to revisit contingency plans under heightened alert levels, to ensure a smooth voting exercise.
- FINEX had the privilege to host an exclusive dialogue last March 21 with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), through the office of Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier, that discussed BSP’s initiatives on digital vote buying. Financial System Integrity Department Deputy Director Atty. Ruel Bumatay and Technology Risk & Innovation Supervision Department Director Mr. Melchor Plabasan were the resource speakers. Representative from partner organizations were invited together with the FINEX Boards and Committee officers.
- Call for PPCRV volunteers for encoding of returns from the transparency server
- Joint session of the Women in Finance and Good Governance Committees with Fr. Manoling Francisco on the issue of vote buying
- The Media Affairs Committee conducted a mock election with FINEX members and JFINEX students. The results were published in the FINEX Digest.
FINEX, in partnership with the FFCCCII, the Manila Times, and Cignal TV featured VP Leni Robredo and Senator Kiko Pangilinan in a Presidential and Vice Presidential Forum on January 21 and February 2, respectively. Former Senator Ping Lacson was featured in 2021. No other candidates accepted our invitation.
On February 22, the Women in Finance Committee donated P105,000 financial assistance to support Kristong Hari Parish Trike beneficiaries.
FINEX President Michael Guarin led a courtesy call to SEC Commissioner Kelvin Lee on behalf of the FINEX delegates. The FINEX Capital Markets Development Committee and the FINEX Academy highlighted their different capital market development projects for 2022.
As your President, I was chosen by Makati City Mayor Abi Binay to be one of the members of the Makati City Business Development Council. It will be a great opportunity for FINEX to share its insights and recommendations to the Makati City LGU, where most of our member-companies are domiciled, to further improve the delivery of services and coming up with new ordinances that will affect our business community.
Financial Inclusion is one of the main advocacies of FINEX. This year, we have been very fortunate to be invited and confirmed by the BSP to be part of the Financial Inclusion Steering Committee Working Groups. Our Financial Inclusion Committee will take the lead together with the ICT Committee, Media Affairs Committee, and the Social Involvement Committee of the Foundation.
As part of WIF and SIC’s advocacy in promoting women empowerment, a Financial Literacy Webinar was successfully held on May 5 and 6 in partnership with Women Strong Network. There were about 50 participants on the two-day event. It was spearheaded by Dr. Conchita Manabat, SIC Liaison Trustee, Ms. Carmen V.F. Seriña, Chair, Social Involvement Committee was also the Speaker for May 5 and Ms. Normita Villaruz, Co-Chair, Social Involvement Committee. Hon. Maria Teresita Z. Dimaculangan, Member, PRB of Accountancy and FINEX Member, was the speaker for May 6.
FINEX joined the Arangkada Philippines and the Makati Business Club in various roundtable discussions to identify priority legislations that will help the economy recover from the pandemic.
On August 17, FINEX, together with other business and professional organizations and civic groups signed the Kapatid Angat Lahat Pledge of Commitment which was presented to President Marcos. The pledge aims to accelerate public and private sector programs geared toward achieving shared prosperity.
The National Affairs Committee provided its comments on the SEC’s Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Republic Act No. 11659, otherwise known as Public Service Act, as amended.
The FINEX Board and selected Committees also met with new BSP Governor Felipe Medalla and DICT Secretary Ivan Uy and discussed the plans of the new administration and identified areas where FINEX can help. Meetings with the DOF, DTI, DOTR, and NEDA are likewise being set.
In November, through our Ethics Committee, the 2nd volume of the Ethics Book, entitled “Ethics: Enduring or Evolving.” 48 ethics articles from FINEX members, government leaders, and business luminaries will surely provide relevant insights for all of us. We hope that all of you will grab a copy.
The Tax and Legal Committee is releasing its quarterly Tax & Legal Updates, a newsletter containing relevant updates tax and legal issues.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Our various committees maintained their commitment to providing valuable and significant training programs, seminars, forums, and conferences to address and support our members’ professional development needs, as well as those of their staff and personnel. This year, some of our programs are offered in a hybrid format.
In order to better serve as stewards of our respective organizations, our committees worked to keep members abreast of relevant financial and economic issues and concerns. Programs in areas like leadership, people management, presentation skills, and communication have been developed by our various committees to ensure a well-rounded approach to professional development for our members.
Prior to the pandemic, we held approximately 1-2 seminars per month. As we move towards hybrid format of conducting our professional development programs, we conduct 3-4 programs this year comprising of seminars, forums, conferences, and social gatherings. During the pandemic (in 2020 and 2021), since our programs are all held virtually, programs are offered at around 6 sessions per month..
The following are the sessions we held this year:
- Ganito Tayo Noon… Sagip Pelikula: Restoring our Cinematic Heritage on January 27 by the Arts and Culture Committee
- Moment of Truth: A Conversation with Maria Ressa on January 27 in partnership with MAP and MBC
- Effective Positive Change through Inclusion and Focus on Critical Sustainable Development Goals on February 17 by the Financial Inclusion Committee
- Blockchain Applications and Real World Use Cases on February 24 by the ICT Committee
- Timepieces and Jewelry. Passion… Precision… Prestige on March 4 by the Arts and Culture Committee
- Joint Business Summit of FINEX, MAP, and MBC on the Transformation of the BOC on March 17
- Economic Briefing on March 18 by the Professional Development Committee
- Basics and More: Income Tax Filing and SEC Online Filing To Dos on March 24 by the Tax and Legal Committee
- Interrogating Presidential Papers: The Ferdinand Marcos Diaries on March 25 by the Arts and Culture Committee
- Afternoon at the Museum: A Virtual Tour of the National Museum of the Arts on April 29 by the Arts and Culture Committee
- A New Dawn for Foreign Investment on May 24 by the Tax and Legal Committee
- NFT and the Future of Art on May 27 by the Arts and Culture Committee
- Software-as-a-Service Model – Disruption through Technology Innovation on July 26 by the ICT Committee
- Ayala-FINEX Finance Summit – “From Stockholders to Stakeholders: The Future of Capitalism” on July 27 by the Professional Development Committee
- The Way Forward: Key Trends Shaping the Future of Payments on August 24 by the ICT Committee
- Off-Balance: The Art of Dealing with Grief and Burnout on August 27 by the Women in Finance Committee
- Sustainable path to Water Security for the Philippines on September 20, 2022, at Fairmont Hotel by the Financial Inclusion Committee, in partnership with Water.org, ACCRA Law, and Management Association of the Philippines
- Digital Literacy: How You can Stay Safe Online on October 11 by the Ethics Committee with Inventor, Miranda and Associates, ACPAPP and PICPA
Last May 28th, the Committee was invited to visit the newly renovated China Bank Bldg & Museum in Binondo. Mr. Alex Escucha, Chairman of China Bank’s Centennial Committee together with Dr. Jaime Laya, toured the committee members around the museum.
The Arts & Culture Committee participated in the Modern and Contemporary Art Festival (MOCAF) held last July 29 to 31 at the Fairmont Hotel. The Committee co-presented and acted as Moderators for two (2) of the talks conducted during the Festival: (1) The Future of Art Publishing: Printed and Digital Form given by Hon. Jose Maria A. Carino (Director-General Foreign Service Institute and Multi-awarded Independent Publisher), Gus Vibal (Publisher), and Jewel Chuaunsu (Editor-in-chief); and (2) Art as Investment and the Luxury Market given by Mr. Jack Teotico (Chairman of the Galerie Joaquin Group).
The Capital Market Development Committee is supporting the FINEX Academy’s Capital Market Professional Program which is on its 7th offering this year.
Apart from these activities and those I mentioned earlier, other upcoming virtual sessions are as follows:
- November 18 Year-end Economic Briefing by the Professional Development Committee;
- November 22 11th Financial Infrastructure Development Network Conference by the Financial Inclusion Committee in partnership with the BSP and APEC Business Advisory Council;
- November 23 ICT Webinar with PDAx by the ICT Committee;
- November, E-invoicing and other digital initiatives of BIR by the Tax and Legal Committee; and,
- December 2 AMLA Seminar by the Professional Development Committee.
FINEX CONFERENCE
I am extremely proud of our recently concluded FINEX Conference last October 3 – 7 with the theme “Reshaping the Future with Transformational Change.”
With most of the companies in recovery mode, we were still able to gather over P2.0 million sponsorship, in cash and in kind. Without the support of our sponsors, our week-long celebration would have not been possible.
Day 1. The Transformative Power of Finance in Life and Business
The session was co-presented by the Young Finance Officers (YFO) and Junior FINEX (JFINEX) Committees. Caylum Trading Institute CEO Edmund Lee was the keynote speaker while Past President Jeng Pascual, Atty. Mark Gorriceta, and Ms. Joan Hizon were the panel discussants. The session was attended by 677 Zoom participants with 736 views on Facebook.
Day 2. Is Your Company Ready? Understand Global Investment Opportunities and Risks
The session was co-presented by the Professional Development Committee. Speakers were Blackstone Group Senior Managing Director Amit Dalmia and Marsh Advisory Vice President and Climate and Sustainability Consulting Leader Graeme Riddell with FINEX Past President Ed Francisco as panelist and reactor. The session was attended by 251 Zoom participants with 336 views on Facebook.
Day 3. The full-day session was held in a hybrid format with the in-person event at the Grand Ballroom of Fairmont Hotel Makati and virtual attendance via Zoom.
The day was keynoted by Department of Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno.
The first session talked about “ESG as a Value Creation Tool.” The speakers were WWF Philippines Chief of Party Ed Tongson, Refinitiv Customer Success Manager Wilson Teo, RCBC Chief Risk Officer Gabby Tomas, and AC Enexor President Rolando Paulino, Jr.
Before the start of the afternoon sessions, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman and CEO delivered a short message through a recorded video.
The second session, with the theme “Boosting Financial Inclusion Digitally”, was keynoted by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat. The panel discussants were Palawan Express VP Roberto Castro, Water.org Regional Director for Southeast Asia Gay Santos, Union Bank of the Philippines SME and Micropreneurs Segment Head Jaypee Soliman, and BSP Director Joyce Suficiencia.
The third session focused on “Financing the Philippine Innovation System.” Speakers were Prosperna CEO Dennis Velasco, Edamama co-Founder Nishant D’Souza, Ideaspace and QBO Executive Director Katrina Rausa Chan, and NOAHSYS Corporation President Micah del Carmen.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa closed the day with her talk about the Social Media and the Corruption of our Information System.
The in-person event was attended by 115 participants with 246 virtual attendees via Zoom.
The day culminated with the annual FINEX Night.
Day 4. Financial Inclusion as an Enabler for Transformational Change
The speakers were SME Finance Forum CEO Matther Gamser, Women’s World Banking Southeast Asia Regional Director Christina Maynes, and ASA Philippines CEO Kamrul Hasan Tarafder. Omnipay President Simoun Ung acted as panelist and reactor. The session was attended by 257 Zoom participants with 196 views on Facebook.
Day 5. Emerging Giants in Asia Pacific: The Secret to Business Success
The speakers during the last day were Homebase Co-Founder Phillip An, 99.co CEO Darius Cheung, KPMG Asia Pacific Head of Technology, Media and Telecommunications Darren Yong, and Ateneo de Manila University – John Gokongwei School of Management Dean Roberto Martin Galang. The session was attended by 163 Zoom participants with 250 views on Facebook.
The week-long sessions will not be as engaging and productive without the top caliber moderators and hosts namely, Rey Abilo, Paolo Azurin, Ned Goseco, PP Bobby Borromeo, PP Ebot Tan, Chito Oreta, Joey Camus, Albert Gamboa, Tonyboy Ongsiako, Gay Santos, Jing Arellano and yours truly.
I am very pleased to inform you that we received highly positive comments and commendations from the attendees on both the content of the sessions and caliber of our speakers. Congratulations to our FINEX Week Committee!
AWARDS
For the first time, FINEX, through its Women in Finance Committee, in partnership with BPM Vision, launched the Women in Finance Technology Leadership Awards to recognize the women leaders in our business community that promotes technology in doing business. Last October 14, the winners were announced. I am very pleased to inform you that all the top 3 winners are FINEX members. My congratulations to Asticom CEO Mharicar Reyes, former Makati Development Corp. CFO Gina Oris, and NOAH Business Applications CEO Dada del Carmen for bagging this year’s crown.
The search for the 16th ING-FINEX CFO of the Year is on-going. The awarding ceremonies will be held on 29 November 2022. Details of which will be announced to all of you accordingly. FINEX thanks ING Bank for its continuing partnership on this most prestigious event throughout all these years.
WAYS AND MEANS
The activities, projects and advocacies of FINEX will not be possible without the financial support of our sponsors. On behalf of FINEX, I would like to sincerely thank them for sharing with us their resources for our cause.
| Partner | KPMG R.G. Manabat & Co. Union Bank of the Philippines |
| Gold | Ayala Land, Inc. Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation SGV & Co. |
| Patron | BDO Unibank, Inc. P&A Grant Thornton San Miguel Corporation |
| Grand Raffle Partner | Chery Auto Philippines |
Other sponsors that supported our projects (FINEX Week, webinars, directory among others)
AllDay
AllHome
ANC
Ayala Corp
Ayala Land
BDO Unibank
BPI-AMTC
BPM Vision
BusinessMirror
BusinessWorld
CNN Philippines
CDO Foodsphere
Deloitte
DocuSign
FIS
Forecasting and Planning Tecnologies, Inc.
FTI Consulting
Golden Arches (McDonald’s)
IMA
Inventor Miranda & Co.
KPMG Manabat & Co
Manila Bulletin
Mastercard
Megaworld
Microsoft
MTF Counsel
Navarro Amper & Co./Deloitte Philippines
Oracle
P&A Grant Thornton
Pascual Lab
Pilipinas Shell
Philippine Star
RCBC
Royal Asia Appraisal Corp
Robinsons Land Corp.
San Miguel Corp
Siemens Philippines
SGV
Smart Communications
St Peter Life Plans
The EON Group
The Manila Times
UnionBank
Villaruz & Co CPAs
Vista Land and Lifescapes
Wilcon Depot
ZMG Ward Howell
To augment our budget and to support the advocacies of FINEX, our Special Projects Committee recently launched the FINEX GET YOUR CHERY CAR RAFFLE: Driving to FINEX 55th year. We are very thankful to Chery Auto Philippines for donating one (1) Chery Tiggo 7 Pro as the major prize. The grand raffle will be held on January 15, 2023 in celebration of the 55th founding anniversary of FINEX.
Another fund raising activity is the sale of Amorsolo Art plates. Last year, we were very fortunate to receive the approval by the Fernando C. Amorsolo Art Foundation to use four (4) of the Mr. Amorsolo’s masterpieces for the art plate project of FINEX. Finally, all the art plates are now in the FINEX office. The Tinikling is an exclusive art plate for all FINEX members who paid their membership fees. Life members who are not paying the annual fees may purchase this art plate at cost. The other three (3) art plates, namely, the Manila Skyline, Family under the Tree, and Lavanderas are available for sale at P3,500 each and a bundled price of P10,000.
I hope that you will support all these fund raising projects. This will ensure the continues deliver of our programs and promotion of our advocacies at large.
OTHERS
As you may be aware, FINEX, as a pure service to our members, is one of the consolidators for the purchase of Moderna vaccine by the private sector. 100 of our members and/or their member companies responded to this and coursed their orders through us. This program ended this year.
To expand our network, through our Affiliates and Partnerships Committee, FINEX signed memorandum of understanding with the Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals (BCBP), Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII), Guild of Real Estate Entrepreneurs and Professionals, Inc. (GREENPRO), Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association (PIRA), and Women Business Council Philippines (WomenBiz).
The Media Affairs Committee is consistently releasing the improved monthly FINEX Focus and quarterly FINEX Digest. The FINEX Directory will be released in October.
Internally, we continuously review and draft new accounting, treasury and investment manuals, operations and corporate governance manuals, and Secretariat organizational structure.
FINEX continues to be the secretariat of the International Association of Financial Executives Institutes. Although it was agreed that the secretariat will be hosted where the Chairman is located, currently, the Chairman is located in China, IAFEI is confident that FINEX will continue to provide the service needed to pursue the projects of the international organization.
Likewise, we continue to strengthen our Secretariat to improve FINEX’s organizational structure, strengthen the capabilities of our Secretariat, and make our Secretariat more efficient in their work. We hope that this will improve FINEX’s delivery of value-added services and activities to you, our members and stakeholders.
Email is the principal way to communicate with our members. To resolve the issue with our email system, by November 1, we will be moving to GSuite. We hope that this will improve the delivery of our information dissemination.
Through the assistance of EVP and Corporate Secretay Atty. Euney Marie Mata-Perez, we are still pursuing the application of tax exemption. We hope that this will be granted before the end of the year.
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All of these projects and activities will not be possible without the support and active participation of the Committee Chairs, Co-Chairs, Vice Chairs and its members. They are the real workhorses of our organization. Likewise, I would like to thank my dynamic and very supportive Board of Directors for their dedication in ensuring that FINEX remains to be the preeminent organization for finance executives in the country.
FINEX is very fortunate that it has a very strong and engaged membership base.
Maraming salamat at Mabuhay ang FINEX. Mabuhay Tayong Lahat!