ALKFI rules LAA 2017

ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation Inc. (ALKFI) dominated the Lopez Achievement Awards (LAA), picking up three of the six trophies handed out in the ceremonies held at ABS-CBN’s Studio 10 on October 18.ABS-CBN Corporation, Asian Eye Institute and Energy Development Corporation (EDC) came away with a win apiece to complete the honor roll. Themed “Scaling Up Through Excellence and Innovation,” this year marks the 15th edition of the LAA.

In his opening remarks, ABS-CBN chairman Eugenio Lopez III (EL3) underscored the milestone of the awards program, calling it “15 years of culture shaping within the group.”

Excellence in organizations

“While each award given out to individuals and teams is of great worth and meaning in and of themselves, the greater value the LAA brings to bear is the culture it shapes. In recognizing contributions of merit and distinction by our employees, the LAA fosters and breeds excellence in our people, resulting in excellence in our organizations,” EL3 said.

This, he added, is the “more lasting, more impactful aspect” of the LAA.

The ABS-CBN chairman went on to discuss emergent leadership and how the network applied the concept to its hierarchy as it transitions into a digital company.

“…The emergent leader is a key element of long-term organizational success. If we look well enough, I am positive we will be happy to find quite a number of such leaders within our companies. Identify them. Groom them. Harness them. They comprise the informal organization hierarchy that amplifies the solution-generation capacity of the formal hierarchy. We cannot do without them,” EL3 stressed.

Winning season

Twenty-eight-year-old ALKFI, which has earlier won LAAs as ABS-CBN Foundation Inc., tabbed wins in three categories.

The BayaniJuan sa Calauan team kicked off ALKFI’s winning season with its triumph in the Customer Focus category for “Project Implementation of ADB-JFPR Grant Benefiting Resettlement Families in Southville 7, Calauan, Laguna.”

The Save the La Mesa Watershed Project team, meanwhile, was the lone winner in the Operations Management category for “The La Mesa Watershed Project: Saving the Lifeblood of Metro Manila.”

ALKFI’s third accolade came courtesy of the Buhatan River Eco-Adventure-Bantay Kalikasan team for “DagosTabi!:Buhatan River as a Blooming Ecotourism Site” in the Public Responsibility category.

ABS-CBN Corporation’s Team Ang Probinsyano ruled the Business Management category with “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano—Teleserye Beyond Entertainment.”

Asian Eye Institute’s EyeScan team joined the ranks of the LAA 2017 winners with “Preventing Sight Threatening Diseases Through EyeScan: The First Tele-Ophthalmology in the Philippines and Among the First Three Movers in the World,” which was entered in the Customer Focus category.

“Synergy at Work: Rebuilding the Lives of Children Through the Donated Classrooms” merited a win in the Public Responsibility category for the School Rebuilding team of EDC and other donor companies.

Inspirational message

Following the announcement of winners in the main event, Lopez Holdings Corporation chairman Manuel M. Lopez (MML) reiterated the importance of excellence in his inspirational message.

He held up the LAA as a way to gauge how well the Lopez Group has “harnessed the passion, dedication and expertise” of its people even as it helped pave the way for the “replication of best practices across the group.”

“The pursuit of excellence is a tall order. For a business that will last, it calls for innovation, adaptability, risk taking, responsibility, compassion or malasakit,and the kind of integrity that will not trade ethical values for bigger profits. So, if the entry of your group is nominated for the LAA, you must know that you have approached the altar of excellence. Even if you are asked to try again next year, you are essentially an outstanding achiever. Likewise, know that there is a very thin line between winners and non-winners.

‘Never rest on laurels’

“For our winners, I encourage you never to rest on your laurels. Keep on pursuing higher aspirations. Keep on improving. Keep going for incremental and breakthrough innovation. Never be complacent,” MML said.

Loreta Ann Trinidad was cited as this year’s sole Unsung Hero. The registered nurse, who had served as home care supervisor at the Children’s Village since 2002 until its closure and has since been serving as medical officer of Bantay Bata 163 for a total of 16 years now, was selected among 10 nominees for the award.

Steve Psinakis was posthumously conferred a Lifetime Achievement Award. Considered a pillar of First Philippine Holdings Corporation, the American mechanical engineer joined pre-martial law Meralco soon after it was acquired by Eugenio Lopez Sr., his would-be father-in-law. Psinakis’ extensive accomplishments include leading the teams that built the old Rockwell power plant in Makati and the Bauang Power Station in La Union. For his work as a leader in the anti-martial law movement, Psinakis was also conferred the Presidential Citation for Outstanding Service to Philippine Democracy in 1988. The long-time Lopez Group executive, who was married to the late Presy Lopez-Psinakis, passed away in March 2016.

Yuri Psinakis and his brothers Michael Psinakis and Rogy Panganiban accepted the award from Lopez Group chairman emeritus Oscar M. Lopez, MML and EL3 on behalf of their father.

Model of core values

Lopez Holdings Corporation president Salvador G. Tirona hailed the winners as well as the nominees and semifinalists as models of excellence and of the Group’s core values.

“If we learned something from our yearly LAA celebration, it is that we should aspire for excellence and try our very best each and every day in every little or big thing that we do. If we do so, particularly in periods of seeming adversity, then all else falls into place,” Tirona said in his closing remarks.

To date, there have been 117 team LAA winners, three individual LAA awardees and 17 special awardees. The tally also includes 10 Unsung Heroes, six individual and 21 team Yolanda Heroes and five Lifetime Achievement awardees.

In all, a total of 182 team and individual winners, including this year’s batch, have been recognized over the last 15 years of the LAA.

Fourth-generation Lopezes participated actively in the ceremonies. Maria Katrina “Maiki” Abello Banzon, assistant leasing manager for Rockwell Land Corporation, led the recitation of the Lopez Credo while Christopher James “Chris” Lopez, head of International Music Content at Star Creatives, and Eugenio “Jamie” Lopez IV, Customer Engineering and Managed Services head at SKYcable, served as the afternoon’s masters of ceremonies alongside Gretchen Ho, ABSCBN host.

ABS-CBN talents Jhon Clyd Talili (“Tawag ng Tanghalan Kids” champion), Jona Soquite (“The Voice Teens Philippines” grand champion), Jeremy Glinoga, Isabella Vinzon, Mica Becerro, JayR, Jason Dy and KZ Tandingan, and Ogie Alcasid, Angeline Quinto and Morissette regaled the guests with great musical numbers.

ALKFI’s Team BayaniJuan sa Calauan