SM Group bags 15 Quill Awards for communications initiatives

MANILA, Philippines — SM Group is taking home fresh recognition for getting its message across. Companies under the Sy-led conglomerate bagged 15 Philippine Quill Awards, including six Excellence Awards, for communications initiatives covering community engagement, customer service, financial education, investor relations and digital communications. SM Foundation and BDO Unibank each secured four awards, with three excellence Awards each. SM Supermalls took home three awards, while Chinabank received two. SM Investments Corp. and Signature Series by SM Residences were also recognized. Among SM Foundation’s winning initiatives were its “Utilizing Social Good as a Force for Transformation” campaign and its social media storytelling program. BDO, meanwhile, earned excellence awards for three campaigns focused on financial planning and insurance. SM Investments itself was recognized for SM In Focus, its group-wide online channel that uses YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to share stories about the conglomerate’s businesses and initiatives. “Good communication helps people understand what our businesses do and why it matters to them,” SM Investments president and CEO Frederic DyBuncio said. —Emmanuel John B. Abris If there is one thing some of the country’s business heavyweights could all agree on, apparently it is John Legend. The 13-time Grammy Award winner drew quite a power crowd last week to his intimate “An Evening of Songs & Stories” at the Proscenium Theater in Rockwell Center Makati, where executives from some of the Philippines’ biggest companies temporarily traded boardrooms for theater seats. Legend played two nights on Sept. 3 and Sept. 4, in a venue with a little over 700 seats. Of course, Rockwell Land’s Nestor Padilla, Mike Lopez and Valerie Soliven were in the house, with the Proscenium Theater right on home turf. Also spotted in the audience were Robinsons Retail Holdings chair Robina Gokongwei-Pe; Cebu Landmasters chair Jose Soberano III and his wife, Marose; Aboitiz Economic Estates president and CEO Rafael Fernandez de Mesa; and Rustan Commercial Corp.’s Donnie Tantoco. The banking set was represented, with BDO President Nestor Tan and BDO Capital and Investment Corp.’s Eduardo V. Francisco joining Legend fans. The Ayala crowd had a showing as well, including former Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras and Chief Social Infrastructure Officer Paolo Borromeo. And this being a John Legend concert, there was plenty of star power outside the boardroom crowd. Regine Velasquez-Alcasid and Ogie Alcasid were seen enjoying the show, as well as singer-songwriter Noel Cabangon. It was an eclectic crowd, for sure, but everyone seemed to leave on the same note: John Legend was well worth showing up for. —Amy R. Remo INQ