Month: March 2021

4Q20 vs 3Q20 Highlights 

▪ The further easing of quarantine and mobility restrictions sustained Ayala’s quarter-on-quarter  growth. 

▪ Isolating the provisions recognized by various business units during the period and a partial reversal  of Manila Water’s remeasurement loss booked in the previous year, Ayala’s core net income grew 46  percent to ₱6.8 billion in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter primarily driven by:

• Ayala Land, which posted better performance on higher residential and leasing revenues as  operations and construction activities progressed faster with the easing of mobility  restrictions.

• Stronger results recorded by Manila Water and AC Industrials as well as the better valuation of AC Ventures international fund investments.

“Our sequential growth in the fourth quarter reflects a recovery in consumer confidence that has started  to show in the latter part of 2020. We expect this trajectory to continue and lead to a full economic revival by 2022 as mobility further improves and as the country executes on the vaccination rollout as planned,”  Ayala President and Chief Operating Officer Fernando Zobel de Ayala said. 

“This year, the Ayala group will continue to execute on its growth strategy and has allocated ₱196 billion  in capital spending. A continued push for private sector investments would help revitalize the economy,”  Mr. Zobel added. 

▪ Meanwhile, Ayala’s reported net income increased 69 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis to ₱5.8 billion, including the effect of the partial reversal on Manila Water’s remeasurement loss and other  provisions.  

FY20 vs FY19 Highlights 

▪ Excluding the divestment gains from education and power booked in 2019, the impact of the  reclassification of Manila Water as asset held under PFRS 5 for both Y2019 and Y2020, and significant loan loss provisions for BPI, Ayala’s core net income declined 16 percent to ₱26 billion in 2020 as the  impact of mobility restrictions weighed down on its various business units.  

• Ayala recognized a remeasurement loss of ₱18.1 billion in December 2019 as a result of the  reclassification of its investment in Manila Water as asset held under PFRS 5, the accounting  standard for assets held for sale. In 2020, it recognized a partial reversal of the said loss  provision in accordance with the accounting standard.       

▪ Its reported net income decreased 51 percent to ₱17.1 billion. 

▪ Ayala’s businesses recorded lower net profits due to the effects of the pandemic on business  operations. 

• Ayala Land endured the severe impact of COVID-19 to it business operations in 2020 recording  a 74 percent drop in net income to ₱8.7 billion. 

• BPI’s net income declined 26 percent to ₱21.4 billion on the back of ₱28 billion in loan loss  provisions it booked in anticipation of an increase in NPL levels. The provision was 5x higher  than the ₱5.6 billion allocated in the same period the previous year. 

• Globe’s net income contracted 16 percent to ₱18.6 billion driven by a moderate decline in  gross service revenues, higher depreciation expenses from its continued network investments,  and higher non-operating expenses. 

• AC Energy recorded a net income of ₱6.2 billion, a decline from its year-ago level of ₱24.5 billion, which included gains from the partial divestment of its thermal assets. 

• AC Industrials narrowed its net loss to ₱1.8 billion in 2020 from ₱2.4 billion the previous year  mainly due to improved results of IMI and MT Group as well as lower parent impairment  provisions. 

Real Estate 

▪ Ayala Land endured the severe impact of COVID-19 to it business operations in 2020 recording a 43  percent decline in revenues to ₱96.3 billion and a 74 percent drop in net income to ₱8.7 billion. 

▪ Property development revenues were down 43 percent to ₱66.5 billion mainly due to limited construction activity resulting in lower bookings.  

• Residential revenues dropped 40 percent to ₱56.1 billion.
• Office for sale revenues declined 71 percent to ₱3.8 billion.
• Commercial and industrial lots sales decreased 42 percent to ₱6.6 billion. 

▪ Residential sales reservations in 2020 reached ₱81.9 billion, 56 percent of the previous year’s level, despite the limited selling activity during the quarantine period.  

• Fourth quarter sales reservations, which reached 58 percent of pre-COVID levels, totaled to  ₱21.1 billion as property demand was sustained on a quarter-on-quarter basis.  

▪ Commercial leasing revenues declined 44 percent to ₱21.9 billion because of restricted mall and hotel operations and closure of resorts.  

• Shopping center leasing revenues went down 59 percent to ₱9.1 billion.
• Office leasing income was sustained at ₱9.4 billion from ₱9.7 billion.
• Hotels and resorts revenues decreased 56 percent to ₱3.4 billion.

▪ Capital expenditures reached ₱63.7 billion in 2020, and was mainly spent for the completion of  residential and commercial leasing assets. 

▪ Ayala Land has earmarked ₱88 billion in capital expenditures and is prepared to launch ₱100 billion worth of residential projects in 2021 as it prepares for a V-shaped recovery in the next two to three  years. 

Banking 

▪ BPI’s net income decreased 26 percent to ₱21.4 billion in 2020 due to the ₱28 billion in loan loss provisions it booked in anticipation of an increase in non-performing loans. The provision is 5x larger  than the ₱5.6 billion allocated the previous year.  

▪ Total revenues increased 11 percent to ₱101.9 billion because of net interest income and non-interest  income growth.  

• Net interest income was up 10 percent to ₱72.3 billion due to a 5.8 percent expansion in average asset base supported by a 14-basis point improvement in net interest margin, which stood at 3.49 percent.

• Non-interest income rose 11 percent to ₱29.7 billion on the back of higher securities trading gains albeit tempered by fee-based income.

▪ Total loans declined five percent to ₱1.4 trillion primarily on soft corporate lending despite higher  mortgage and microfinance loan segments, up 6.6 percent and 5.7 percent, respectively.  

• Total deposits grew one percent to ₱1.7 trillion with CASA deposits expanding 17 percent.
• CASA ratio stood at 79.6 percent.

▪ Loan-to-deposit ratio ended at 82.0 percent.  

▪ NPL ratio and NPL coverage ratio stood at 2.68 percent and 115.2 percent, respectively.

▪ Operating expenses slightly decreased 0.4 percent to ₱48.1 billion because of lower premises and  various discretionary costs. 

• Cost-to-income ratio stood at 47.2 percent, a 520-basis point improvement year on year.

▪ Total assets grew one percent to ₱2.2 trillion. Total equity amounted to ₱279.8 billion. 

• Indicative common equity tier 1 ratio stood at 16.2 percent.
• Indicative capital adequacy ratio stood at 17.1 percent.
• Return on assets was 0.98 percent.
• Return on equity was 7.7 percent.

▪ BPI’s early investments to bolster its digital infrastructure starting 2017, underscored by spending of  at least seven percent of revenues per year, has benefitted from the surge in demand for remote  banking amid the global health crisis. As of December 2020:  

• Enrollments to its online platform grew 18 percent to 4.4 million from year ago levels.
• Active users increased 41 percent to 2.7 million users from year ago levels.
• Digital transactions in December accounted for 70 percent of total while branch transactions comprised only eight percent. These were 49 percent and 15 percent, respectively in the same period the previous year.

Telco 

▪ Globe’s net income declined 16 percent to ₱18.6 billion in 2020 due to lower EBITDA and higher  depreciation charges and non-operating expenses.  

• Higher non-operating expenses in the period was due to a one-time impairment loss amounting to ₱4.2 billion largely from the network change out covering the full sunset of the 3G assets and the existing copper infrastructure. This was partially offset by a ₱2.3 billion gain mostly from the deemed sale of Globe’s investment in Mynt following a third-part infusion by Bow Wave and loan revaluation.

▪ Globe’s core net income, which excludes the impact of non-recurring charges and foreign exchange  and mark-to-market changes, declined 13 percent to ₱19.5 billion. 

▪ Total service revenues dipped two percent to ₱146.4 billion on softness in the mobile segment as a  result of quarantine restrictions. Total data revenues accounted for 76 percent of Globe’s service  revenues compared to the year-ago level of 71 percent. 

▪ Growth in demand for data was evident in the upward momentum of Globe’s mobile and home  categories despite the softening in corporate due to the prevailing work-from-home setup. 

• Mobile data revenues increased one percent to ₱72 billion.
• Mobile data traffic jumped 48 percent to 2,517 petabytes.
• Home broadband revenues surged 23 percent to ₱26.8 billion.
• Home broadband subscriber base increased 88 percent to 3.8 million subscribers.
• Corporate data revenue declined by three percent to ₱12.5 billion.

▪ Operating expenses including subsidies were flat at ₱73 billion.  

▪ EBITDA declined by three percent to ₱73.5 billion as a result of lower revenues, slightly dragging EBITDA margin to 50 percent from 51 percent the previous year. 

▪ GCash maintained its status as the country’s number one finance app throughout 2020. It has reached  record highs amidst the pandemic, with 33 million registered users or one in every three Filipinos.  Additionally, it has seen a 3.7x increase in active users as gross transaction value exceeded the ₱1  trillion mark in December. Owing to its success, Mynt has attracted US$175 million in fresh investment  capital from existing shareholders and Bow Wave in multiple tranches, with post-money valuation of  the final tranches at close to US$1 billion. 

▪ Globe’s CAPEX spend grew 18 percent to ₱60.3 billion, representing 41 percent of gross service  revenues and 82 percent of EBITDA. The company has allocated ₱70 billion for 2021 capital  expenditures. 

▪ Despite the impact of COVID-19, Globe accelerated its cell site buildout and upgrades, fiber-to-the home deployments, and 5G coverage. Globe was able to build close to 1,300 new cell sites or towers compared to 1,100 in the previous year. Also, the aggressive modernization of its existing network  infrastructure resulted in a total of 11,529 site upgrades to 4G/LTE this year, higher than the 10,135  in 2019. Moreover, Globe deployed 5G sites in Metro Manila and in select Visayas and Mindanao  cities, making 5G available in 1,045 areas in the country. These network improvements enhanced  Globe’s customer experience and the Filipino digital lifestyle, addressing the challenges of the new  normal.  

Power 

▪ The AC Energy group generated a net income of ₱6.2 billion in 2020, reflecting the group’s strong  performance despite the pandemic. This was a decline from ₱25.0 billion in the prior year, which  included gains from its partial divestment in AA Thermal. 

• Net income contribution from its listed subsidiary, AC Energy Corporation or ACEN, reversed to ₱2.8 billion from a net loss in the previous year on the back of higher contracted capacity and improved plant availability. ACEN now accounts for half of the group’s net income.
• Equity earnings from international assets increased 68 percent to ₱2.5 billion, supported by full-year operations of the company’s solar assets in Vietnam.
• Other income declined to ₱448 million because of the absence of significant divestment gains booked in the prior year. Other income in 2020 includes earnings from the legacy coal assets offset by bond interest expense and parent overhead.

▪ The AC Energy group has expanded its geographical reach and currently operates in five markets,  with the recent start of construction of its first project in Australia.  

• ACEN has 990MW of attributable capacity in the Philippines, 45 percent of which are  renewable. It aims to expand its portfolio with recently announced joint ventures with Solar Philippines and Citicore.
• The group has approximately 1,400MW of attributable capacity offshore, all of which are renewable.
• AC Energy has more than 600MW of renewable energy capacity in Vietnam. The expansion of the Ninh Thuan solar project has recently started operations, adding 75MWdc of operating capacity to the portfolio.
• Marking AC Energy’s first investment in Australia, the group recently announced the start of construction of the first phase of the New England Solar Farm in Uralla, New South Wales, with 521.5MWdc of gross capacity.
• Indonesia and India have 180MW and 170MW in attributable capacity, respectively.

▪ In January, ACEN completed its stock rights offering, bringing Ayala’s effective stake in ACEN to 70  percent. 

▪ In February, ACEN announced a follow-on offering at a price range of ₱6.00 to ₱8.20 per share and submitted a registration statement with the SEC for up to 2,430,248,617 common shares (primary and secondary shares with over-allotment). 

Water 

▪ Manila Water’s net income decreased 18 percent to ₱4.5 billion in 2020 due to a one-off recognition  for additional estimates for probable losses and lower contributions from domestic subsidiaries due  to the impact of COVID-19. Excluding one-offs, core net income declined 22 percent to ₱5.8 billion.  

• The parent company, which houses the East Zone Concession, saw net profits decline seven percent to ₱4.7 billion driven by the recognition of impairment loss in Manila Water Total Solutions, lower costs and expenses despite higher provisioning for estimated credit losses, and higher depreciation expenses.

▪ Revenues slightly decreased two percent to ₱21.1 billion as improved billed volume in the East Zone  was dragged by lower supervision fees from Estate Water.  

▪ EBITDA decreased six percent to ₱11.9 billion despite OPEX improvement as the recognition of net  foreign exchange losses and provisions for probable losses weighed down on profitability.  

▪ EBITDA margin stood at 57 percent.  

▪ In December 2020, Manila Water’s consortium with French water distributor Saur Group and Saudi’s  Miahona Company inked a seven-year agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s state-run water agency National Water Company to manage the delivery of water and wastewater services, billing  and collection, customer service, and the integration and transformation of its human capital in the  North West Cluster served by NWC. This initiative is among the first of the country’s plan to privatize  its water infrastructure sector. 

▪ Last February, Ayala, through its wholly owned subsidiary Philwater and the Razon group through  Trident Water executed a share purchase agreement equivalent to the latter’s acquisition of a 39.1  percent voting stake and 8.2 percent economic stake in Manila Water. 

Industrial Technologies 

▪ AC Industrials narrowed its net loss to ₱1.8 billion in 2020 from ₱2.4 billion the previous year mainly  due to improved results of IMI and MT Group as well as lower parent impairment provisions. Its Philippine automotive business remained challenged due to the negative effects of the health crisis. 

▪ IMI registered a net loss of US$3.5 million in 2020 compared to the US$7.8 million net loss it incurred  in the same period the previous year. The improvement was mainly on the back of sound cost  management including materials cost, factory overhead, and non-operating expenses.  

• Revenues decreased nine percent to US$1.1 billion in 2020 but was trended up since the height of quarantine restrictions and surpassed pre-COVID levels in the fourth quarter. Topline  increased 11 percent to US$347 million on a quarter-on-quarter basis.
• Gross profit margin improved by 30 basis points to 8.5 percent in 2020 due to lower materials cost leading to an appreciation of contribution margin. Quarter-on-quarter, it grew by 70 basis points to 10.3 percent.

▪ AC Industrial’s MT CCON narrowed its net loss to EUR10.2 million from EUR10.4 million in the same  period the previous year on the back of margin improvement from cost optimization initiatives.  

▪ AC Motors incurred a net loss of ₱886 million as demand in the local automotive space softened due  to the health crisis.  

Balance Sheet Highlights 

▪ Parent level cash stood at ₱19.9 billion. 

▪ Net debt stood at ₱104.7 billion.  

▪ Parent net debt-to-equity ratio stood at 80 percent. 

▪ Group net debt-to-equity stood at 65 percent.

▪ Loan-to-value ratio, the ratio of its parent net debt (excluding the fixed-for-life perpetuals which have  no maturity) to the total value of its assets, was at 9.2 percent.  

▪ Parent blended cost of debt at 4.5 percent ending December 2020 with average remaining life of 17.4 years. 

▪ Consolidated capital expenditure reached ₱152 billion in 2020. 

▪ Parent-only CAPEX spending stood at ₱12.1 billion, which went mostly to the newer businesses of  Ayala.  

▪ For 2021, Ayala has programmed approximately ₱196 billion in group CAPEX, of which ₱11.5 billion  has been earmarked under the parent to support the emerging businesses in its portfolio.

Good morning to everyone. 

Before anything else, allow me to recognize, our hosts for this forum and dear partners from Ateneo de Manila – Fr. Bobby Yap, President of Ateneo and Dean Ron Mendoza of the Ateneo School of Government, Senator Sonny Angara, Secretary Vince Dizon, Head of the BCDA & Deputy Chief, our colleagues from the private sector, Cosette Canilao of Aboitiz; of course, Bill Luz from PDRF and Coco Alcuaz from MBC. Friends and partners from the Ayala Group and our other participants today.

Good morning again to all of you and it is my pleasure to join you in what should be an insightful and productive forum. Thank you to the Ateneo School of Government and Ayala Corporation’s Policy and Regulations Management unit, and Corporate Strategy and Development team for convening this broad and diverse group. 

It is timely that such an esteemed group of institutions is here today. I believe this speaks to the power of the academe to convene a diverse group from the government and private sector for rational and constructive dialogue on how we might work together to address the challenges of the ongoing pandemic, especially as we face a historic challenge that surely none of us can address alone.

There was certainly no playbook to respond to the devastating crisis last year, which included natural calamities aside from a global pandemic. Amidst such dark and uncertain times, we needed a North Star to guide our efforts to ensure that our institutions and all those that we touch on daily basis will remain strong and stable. Working together with peers and partners from business, government, and academe, it was apparent that we all shared a common desire: to deeply care for and meaningfully support our stakeholders and communities who were greatly impacted by the pandemic.  This, I believe, was the North Star that guided all our efforts last year and will perhaps continue to guide us as we begin the hard work to recover and build resilience for the future. 

If anything, last year showed us that complex challenges such as the social and economic impact of COVID-19 can only be solved through a collaborative, whole-of-society approach. 

Entering 2021, we have a golden opportunity to build on our learnings and further magnify our efforts in deeper, more meaningful, and even novel ways. Allow me to share three areas of partnership and some thoughts, which I hope may spark some ideas for today’s discussions. I would like to focus on collaborative response, collaborative recovery, and collaborative resilience.

Collaborative response

Let me start with collaborative response. The onset of the pandemic and the strict quarantines had a swift and devastating impact to on everyone, most especially the vulnerable segments of our population. As institutions who owed much of our stability and success to the trust of our stakeholders, we strongly felt that it was only right that we helped to the fullest extent that we could during this critical time. 

Public and private institutions took unprecedented steps to support their immediate and extended constituencies and leveraged partnerships to increase their impact. At the Ayala Group, we reaffirmed our commitment to an expanded stakeholder base, and harnessed internal resources and external networks for a stronger and more holistic response. 

We began by protecting our employees and the employees of our third-party partners who were anxious about their well-being and financial stability. Through wage continuance, loan deferments, stipends, and building our own testing and treatment facilities, we hoped to provide our associates with peace of mind, especially during the critical early stages of the lockdowns. 

We also provided critical support to our economic ecosystem partners, including the more than 250,000 MSMEs that we work with. We provided rent reprieves, deferred loan payments, and waived fees to business partners. We also set up the Ayala Enterprise Circle to help the over 250,000 MSMEs in our system to survive and pivot their businesses.

Lastly, we helped to bridge the needs of the broader Filipino community, especially the most economically vulnerable. We are honored to have shared this responsibility with Aboitiz and others in the private sector. Starting with Project Ugnayan, which brought immediate food and medical assistance to 14 million individuals, we followed this up by partnering with government to exponentially expand our capacity to fight COVID-19. This public-private partnership continues as we prepare for the rollout of the country’s COVID-19 vaccination program. 

I must credit the efforts of Secretary Vince Dizon and Bill Luz for their tireless work in assembling a broad coalition of committed and like-minded peers on a multi-sectoral solution to our current and even future challenges – thank you, Secretary Vince and Bill, for your leadership and service. 

By expanding our stakeholder base and partnering with friends and colleagues in the private sector and government, we were able to collectively bring down our infection rates to a more manageable level.  This public-private coalition that we established last year was a critical first step that perfectly set us up for the succeeding stages of our fight against COVID-19. 

Collaborative recovery

This brings me to the second critical area of partnership: collaborative recovery. Despite last year’s gains, we must not lose sight of how fragile the situation remains. It will take some time before the country is brought back to full health, with experts forecasting a late-2022 recovery of the economy to pre-pandemic levels. 

As we prepare for a longer marathon with the virus, I imagine that our recovery will be gradual and uneven across different segments of society. It is thus crucial that our sectors work together on immediate priorities to speed up this process – namely, inoculating as much of our people in the fastest time possible; preventing more businesses from closing shop; and ultimately restoring consumer confidence.

On this note, allow me to recognize the leadership of Secretary Charlie Galvez, along with the rest of the T3 consortium for the tremendous work that has gone into developing a comprehensive vaccine roadmap for the country. From procuring large quantities of vaccines from the world’s most reputable pharmaceutical suppliers; to logistics and transportation; to administering the injections and monitoring the results — a task of this scale and magnitude can only be possible through close and meaningful private-public collaboration between all our institutions. 

Let me also recognize the leadership of many LGUs who continue to be among the most progressive in terms of its pandemic response and recovery preparations. Local governments are a key component of our recovery efforts, and I am delighted that several cities whether in NCR or in the regions continue to be highly open to working with partners to deploy innovative solutions to simple and complex pain points. I hope that this could be sustained, and that we could further expand this pool of forward-thinking LGUs. 

Most countries – ours included – is looking to the vaccines as the lasting solution or, at least, as the pre-requisite to solving the biggest health and economic ailments that we are facing today. However, as we await the rollout of our vaccination program, it is imperative that we find measures to support the economy and our people. 

Globally, stimulus programs have been used to jumpstart economic engines or to tide over consumers during temporary income stoppage; and these have been welcomed by beneficiaries of our own programs domestically. I do recognize, though, that the balance sheets of the government and of the private sector are not quite geared for long periods of welfare support. 

In the absence of a massive stimulus initiative, perhaps we can explore alternative avenues that may lead to not only to accelerated recovery, but also a solid platform for growth and resilience. 

Collaborative resilience

This leads me to the third critical area of partnership: collaborative resilience. With the strong foundations of trust and cooperation that our institutions have built, I believe now is the time to more aggressively harness this launchpad to bolster the industries that will be crucial to our recovery and competitiveness in a post-COVID Philippines. Allow me to offer four possibilities that the academe, private sector, and government can consider as touchpoints for deeper partnership:

Firstly, on healthcare: COVID has certainly exposed the woeful inadequacies in our country’s health infrastructure and system. This is gravely ironic, given that Philippine healthcare talent is, arguably, already world-class in terms of our technical expertise and our strong sense of empathy. 

We have seen this for ourselves in AC Health, where together with experienced medical professionals, young teams of MBA-holding doctors – many of whom are products of the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health – helped develop robust testing, treatment, contact tracing, and now, vaccination protocols. We have shared these frameworks with the public in the hope of meaningfully contributing to our collective knowledge on pandemic response.

I think this is a point of pride for the Ateneo and the country as a whole. I am interested to see how we might build on this solid base of talent and ensure that a long-term medical career in the Philippines is a compelling proposition. In addition, to complement our world-class medical talent, I also hope that we will finally find ways to elevate the quality of our health infrastructure and systems to also be globally recognized as world class.  

Aside from healthcare, digital technologies have exponentially accelerated in the last 12 months, and I believe that we are at an inflection point in our state of digitalization. Digital infrastructure will be the highway to the future on which advanced industries will develop – from telemedicine, to inclusive finance, to e-commerce, to distance education, to resource management. It will be interesting to see what academic programs or government policies or corporate investments will help accelerate these transformations, and to ensure equitable access to all Filipinos. 

We have also seen the blossoming of entrepreneurship during the pandemic. I believe that entrepreneurship, MSMEs, and even startups are crucial elements to our recovery and resilience, given their massive contribution to employment, national GDP, and technological development.
 

Now, more than ever, MSMEs and other high-growth enterprises need significant and meaningful support from partners; including government, with its policy-making power, and large business groups who are closely liked or greatly dependent on these smaller enterprises. I am likewise curious to see what role the academe will play, given its immense intellectual capital, to bolster our MSME and startup ecosystem.

Finally, with respect to education, a more resilient economy will also be built on the bedrock of youth equipped with the knowledge and skills to thrive in a more volatile post-COVID world. We are fortunate that the Philippines continues to enjoy a demographic dividend, and a dynamic and young population. However, this will not last forever, and I strongly believe that we should move faster to ensure that our graduates will have the technical and behavioral skills needed to find success in the future. 

I believe we have some of the right ingredients already brewing. I am delighted to hear that the Ateneo is setting up a School of Education and Learning Design. This is an excellent contribution in the effort to innovate on teaching methods, create learner-centric programs that maximizing outcomes, and train teachers that will help shape enlightened leaders of our country. I am excited to see how this new institution develops, and I am also interested to see how might government and the private sector help in elevating Philippine education overall.

These are but just a few areas of collaboration that the government, academe, and private sector can work on together. Despite the difficult times that we had last year and the many uncertainties that still lie before us, I continue to remain hopeful that our collective capabilities and commitment will carry us towards recovery, resilience, and eventually, growth.

I say this, because I believe that this strong partnership we now have between the private sector and the government is our country’s distinguishing mark. In fact, we are humbled and amazed at how many international experts cite the degree of collaboration between the public and private sectors as unprecedented and unique to the Philippines. This is a model worth sustaining, strengthening, and even sharing with others as we move forward. 

To close, we are at a critical time for the country. We emerged from 2020 having undergone the rigorous demands of responding to the pandemic, and we enter 2021 with a golden opportunity to build a roadmap for recovery and resilience around the pillars of inclusivity and stakeholder-centricity. There is a wealth of opportunities where we can collaborate, and I am filled with much hope and excitement at what we can achieve together. 

Thank you very much and a good morning to everyone.

In what way can the youth continue to be a driving force in improving the lives of Filipino,  even in the face of uncertainty and various calamities?  

Delivering the keynote at an online conference organized by the alumni of the Ayala  Young Leaders Congress (AYLC) on February 27, Ayala Corporation Chairman and CEO  Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala urged young leaders all over the country to “reimagine  hope,” as a way to power through the changes faced by communities and the rest of the  country.  

“I share the belief that hope indeed springs eternal, especially in challenging situations,”  said Zobel de Ayala. “However, I believe that hope is not about being passive and just  waiting for good fortune to come. Hope, I believe, requires determination, action, and  inspiration.”  

The conference was one of several online events organized for the 1,685 members of the  AYLC alumni network as well as their partners and supporters. Through this initiative,  AYLC aims to open up opportunities for collaboration and collective action in the service  of communities nationwide. Administered by Ayala Foundation, AYLC is the Ayala group’s  flagship youth development program.  

Zobel recalled that in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, people and countries  had to deal with a lot of ambiguity and fear, but over time “institutions and individuals  slowly came together and bravely faced the unknown.”  

Through initiatives like Project Ugnayan, the Ayala group and its partners from the  business sector provided food aid for over 14 million individuals in the Greater Metro  Manila Area during the early months of the pandemic. In addition, the Ayala group  provided financial support for its employees, as well as the employees of partner  organizations.  

Said Zobel: ”Along with many others, determination amidst ambiguity and a bias towards  action, rather than just standing still were among the driving factors to Ayala’s COVID-19  response. As an institution, we felt that we could meaningfully help in mitigating the  pandemic’s impact, and we were fortunate to find partners who shared this belief and  commitment.”  

In his talk, Zobel also recognized the initiatives led by AYLC alumni, who transformed  compassion into action in the face of various challenges.  

These included the Malong for Marawi project, which gathered aid for people and  communities displaced by the 2017 Battle for Marawi; the 20:20 project, where AYLC alumni raised funds for projects implemented by young leaders from Ayala Foundation’s  Leadership Communities program; and the continuing support of AYLC alumni in the  Armed Forces of the Philippines, in packing and delivering relief items for communities  devastated by typhoons and other natural calamities.  

Zobel also challenged the AYLC community to “find inspiration and embrace greater  collaboration among each other, between different alumni chapters, and perhaps even  across AYLC generations.”  

Aside from Zobel, the event also featured three AYLC alumni who shared their own takes  on “reimagining hope,” and how this might be harnessed for the greater good. These were  Ria Salvana (AYLC 1999), who spoke about her experience in the private and business  sector; Elvin Uy (2003), who shared his story as an educator and active member of the  not-for-profit sector; and Tobit Cruz (AYLC 2010), who spoke about hope as experienced  in local government service.  

Launched in 1998, AYLC is an annual student leadership summit designed to build  confidence, hone leadership skills, nurture commitment, foster nationalism and idealism,  and encourage faithful stewardship.  

For its 23rd congress, AYLC is accepting applications from March 1 to April 4, 2021. Visit  the official Facebook page of the Ayala Young Leaders Congress for details.

For more information:  

Cel Amores  

Director, Corporate Communications  

Ayala Foundation  

Email – amores.cr@ayalafoundation.org