Meralco bags award for corporate governance practices

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) and the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) recently recognized Meralco for its outstanding corporate governance practices in support of its principles in the workplace — fairness, accountability, integrity and transparency (FAIT).

PSE’s Bell Award

Meralco outshone over 280 Philippine publicly listed companies at the PSE Bell Awards, a recognition of listed companies and trading participants that adhere to exemplary corporate governance standards and practices, held recently at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel.

The annual event aims to raise standards of corporate governance and promote global best stock market practices. Listed companies, such as Meralco, are evaluated on their level of adherence to the PSE Corporate Governance Guidelines for Listed Companies, and compliance to Listing and Disclosure Rules.

The panel of judges in the selection of Bell Awardees included Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairperson Teresita Herbosa, Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) president Darlene Berberabe, Social Security System (SSS) president Emilio de Quiros Jr., Management Association of the Philippines chairman for corporate governance Gregorio Navarro, and University of the Philippines president Alfredo Pascual.

Other awards

ICD has placed Meralco in the forefront of the Top 50 Philippine Publicly Listed Companies in terms of corporate governance efforts, recognizing the company as Top Corporate Governance Practitioner at the ICD working session held Nov. 15 at the Mandarin Oriental in Makati.

Spurred by the imminent integration of all ASEAN markets in 2015, the event echoed positive views on Meralco’s comprehensive corporate governance road map, which stands as a model for other Philippine publicly listed companies in their common pursuit to becoming at par with those in the ASEAN region.

The Top 50 Philippine Publicly Listed Companies were selected based on all the companies’policies, procedures and practices in relation to the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard standards on the rights and equitable treatment of shareholders; role of stakeholders; disclosure and transparency; and the responsibilities of the Board.

This recognition from ICD follows other significant Meralco awards in 2013, namely: Corporate Governance Asia’s Asian Icon on Corporate Governance and Integrity Initiative’s Advanced Company, with respect to integrity practices.

These corporate governance awards are a testament to the firm efforts of Meralco directors, officers, and employees to abide by the principles and best practices of governance in the attainment of corporate strategies and business objectives.