A reunion of Lopez Achievement Awards winners

The presenters receive tokens of appreciation from Angela Lopez-Guingona, operations head of Lopez Group Foundation Inc. (rightmost); Benjamin Liboro, LAA director (2nd from right); and Elizabeth Canlas, LAA codirector (leftmost)For the first time since copping their Abueva-crafted trophies in October, the 12 winners in the 2014 Cycle Lopez Achievement Awards (LAA) were gathered together in one room. The occasion: the 3rd LAA Winners’ Summit held at the Ortigas headquarters of Energy Development Corporation (EDC) on January 27.

For Ernie Lopez, the summit was yet another instance of “cross posting,” where companies learn from each other and leverage each other’s strengths. He cited as examples the Lopez Group’s experience during typhoon Yolanda in 2013, when ABS-CBN collected relief goods which were distributed by First Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPH), First Gen and EDC; and when ABS-CBN talents helped FPH in building relationships with external groups.

The president of ABS-CBN Publishing Inc. thanked the LAA winners for their good work and willingness to share their “secrets” through the summit.

Customer Focus

Kicking off the presentations were the winners in the Customer Focus category: First Balfour project director John Porter on Meeting a Critical Challenge: The 115-KV Burgos Overhead Transmission Line and Substation, and ABSCBNmobile Digital Access head Ralph Menorca on ABSCBNmobile and iWant TV: Shaping the Future of Content Creation and Customer Experience.

Business Management

In Business Management, commercial analyst Corinne Ablaza and business development analyst Karlo Abril shared the EDC experience in the 49- MW Geothermal Power Plant Transfer from Northern Negros to Southern Negros, and Survival of the FiT-test: Securing the Burgos Wind Farm Feedin-Tariff Ahead of Competition, respectively.

Operations Management

Two more Burgos Wind Farm-related campaigns Success ang Access: Securing Burgos Rights-of-Way the Right Way, Right Away! presented by business development manager Arnold Lopez and Defusing the 150-MW Time Bomb: On Risking it All to Complete the Burgos Substation presented by engineering design supervisor Rexie Abad-Valenciano— shared the spotlight in the Operations Management category.

Corporate Image

EDC corporate finance manager Liza Po took charge of presenting the Grand Slam Deal of the Year: Securing the Internationally Acclaimed Project Financing for the 150-MW Burgos Wind Project, the lone winner in Corporate Image Building.

HR Focus

In HR Focus, the story behind Seven Unions Negotiating as One: The Unprecedented Unified CBA Story of EDC was discussed by senior manager for HR operations and administration Jose Noel Luna.

Public Responsibility

The journey of Failon Ngayon’s Padyak: The Pedicab Project—The Wheels of New Hope and New Beginnings for 200 Pedicab Drivers in Tacloban and Leyte was shared by “Failon Ngayon” head writer Gerald Oro, while “TV Patrol” segment producer Joven Nunag tackled the physically demanding but rewarding journey of their team in E-TV Patrol: Patrol ng Edukasyon.

Meanwhile, the transformation of a Palawan community in Ugong Rock: From Poverty to Prosperity was presented by ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation Inc.-Bantay Kalikasan program director Jen Santos.

Completing the set of winners in the Public Responsibility category was First Gas Power Corporation’s Providing Power after Glenda: Resiliency of Santa Rita and San Lorenzo Power Plants.

LAA codirector Beth Canlas introduced EDC and First Balfour, whose collaboration on the overhead transmission line and substation of the Burgos Wind Project merited the Special Recognition for Excellence in Synergy.

Also taking another bow were the five Lopez Group Unsung Heroes: Adtel Inc.’s Reynaldo Reyes, FPH’s Farley Cuizon and Elsa Maria Silvino, SKY Cable Corporation’s Pablo Fernandez, and Lopez Holdings Corporation’s Mario Bactol.

Nominate deserving teams LAA director Ben Liboro, in his closing message, encouraged employees to nominate deserving teams and individuals in the next cycle of the awards program. He also paid tribute to the LAA team composed of program manager Ross Hamo, Glenda Discutido, Karen Ventura and his codirector Canlas. Canlas bowed out of the Lopez Group after 41 years and three years with the LAA team.

The Winners’ Summit, which signaled the official close of the 2014 cycle, also saw the soft launch of the 2015 LAA cycle.

Ernie Lopez, ABS-CBN Publishing president, thanks the LAA winners