Recognized for his exceptional leadership and unwavering commitment to climate and disaster resilience, Hans T. Sy, Chairman of the Executive Committee of SM Prime Holdings, Inc., was recently honored with the ‘Dangal ng Pilipino Sa Pag-agapay Sa Ligtas na Sambayanan’ (Honoring the Filipino’s Contribution to a Safe Community) award by the Office of Civil Defense. Notably, he is the very first recipient from the private sector to receive this accolade. Mr. Sy also serves as the Co-Chair of the United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies, also known as ARISE Philippines, and as Co-Chair of the National Resilience Council for the Private Sector.
At SM Prime, a significant 10% of the capital expenditure for every project is dedicated to constructing resilient infrastructure. Examples of these initiatives include rainwater catchment basins and other structures aimed at flood prevention, fire prevention facilities, and earthquake impact mitigation. SM Baguio recently introduced its rainwater filtration system to contribute to water security. Mr. Sy established the SM Resilience Center for centralized monitoring and extended the SM Business Continuity Plan (BCP) to Small and Medium-Scale enterprise tenants within the malls. The SM BCP offers free remote data storage for crucial documents, facilitating post-disaster recovery operations.
Mr. Sy has steered SM Prime toward endorsing and enacting the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), aligning with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement.
Through the vehicle of public-private partnerships, Mr. Sy has fervently supported Disaster Risk Reduction through the National Resilience Council’s Adopt-A-City program. This collaboration has yielded numerous capacity-building initiatives for partnering local government units. Furthermore, SM Prime actively backs multi-sector partnership projects, including climate and weather data collection, and early warning systems, facilitated by the installation of 49 Automated Weather Stations atop SM malls in collaboration with the Manila Observatory.
About SM Prime Holdings, Inc.
SM Prime stands as one of Southeast Asia’s premier integrated property developers, renowned for creating innovative and sustainable lifestyle cities that encompass malls, residences, offices, hotels, and convention centers. Committed to catalyzing economic growth, SM Prime consistently delivers inventive and sustainable lifestyle cities that elevate the quality of life for millions.
About SM Investments Corporation
As a prominent Philippine entity, SM Investments Corporation is deeply vested in market-leading enterprises across retail, banking, and property sectors. It also channels investments into endeavors that harness high-growth opportunities within the burgeoning Philippine economy.
SM’s retail domain is the nation’s most diversified and extensive, featuring food, non-food, and specialty retail stores. SM’s property arm, SM Prime Holdings, Inc., commands a dominant position as the largest integrated property developer in the Philippines, with interests encompassing malls, residences, offices, hotels, convention centers, and tourism-related property developments. SM also holds interests in the banking sector through BDO Unibank, Inc., the nation’s largest bank, and China Banking Corporation, the fourth-largest private bank by total assets.
