Twenty-three Semi-finalists Vie for the Lopez Achievement Awards Thrill.  Anxiety.  Positivity.   These and a whole mix of emotions filled the receiving and holding room and the FPH 4/F Board Room during the Q&A Session with the Panel of Judges of the Lopez Achievement Awards (LAA).

Out of the original 37 nominations for the Lopez Achievement Awards (LAA), 23 passed the rigorous Q&A and assessment conducted by the LAA Screening Committee in June.

The LAA Screening Committee, comprised of middle managers up to senior executives from across the Lopez Group of companies, conducted the assessments per category, namely: Customer Focus, Business Management, Operations Management, Human Resources, Corporate Image-building, and Public Responsibility.

All 23 semi-finalists moved into the next level of assessment and had been subjected into another round of Presentation and Q&A with the Panel of Judges in the afternoons of August 12 to 14.  The Panel of Judges was comprised of Ms. Elvira Lopez-Bautista, President & Executive Director of Knowledge Channel Foundation, Inc.; Mr. Ernesto Miguel Lopez, President & CEO of ABS-CBN Publishing; Arthur De Guia, Ph.D., Consultant; Danilo Lachica, Ph.D., Consultant;  Mr. Anthony. L. Fernandez, President & COO of First Balfour, Inc.; Ms.  Cielito R.A. Diokno, SVP for HR of Lopez Holdings; Ramon A. Carandang, VP & Head of Integrated Corporate Communications Group of First Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPH); Daniel Valeriano, VP & Chief Technical Officer of First Gen; Mr. Donald Patrick Lim, VP and Chief Digital Officer of ABS-CBN together with external judges Edna Franco, Ph.D., Director for Ateneo CORD; Elvira Zamora, Ph.D., VP for Development of the University of the Philippines; and Ms. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga, Executive Director of the Manila Observatory, Ateneo de Manila.

Finalists will be endorsed to the Executive Committee (ExCom) who will determine the final set of awardees.  The ExCom is comprised of Amb. Manolo M. Lopez, Philippine Ambassador to Japan and Chairman of Lopez Holdings Corporation, Mr. Eugenio Lopez III, Chairman & CEO of ABS-CBN Corporation; Mr. Federico R. Lopez, Chairman & CEO of First Philippine Holdings Corporation; Mr. Elpidio L. Ibanez, President & COO of First Philippine Holdings Corp;  and Mr. Salvador I. Tirona , President & COO of Lopez Holdings Corporation.

Who will be the next LAA recipients?

We will find out during the awarding ceremonies scheduled on October 15, 2015, 3:00 p.m. at ABS-CBN Studio 10. (Story/Photos by: Ross Hamo)