Manila Water has achieved another milestone as the Company was awarded for its outstanding corporate governance practices in the ASEAN Corporate Governance Regional Assessment for the year 2021. 

Manila Water was among the 32 companies in the Philippines to be included in the 2021 ACG Asset Class. A total of 230 companies from the ASEAN member countries were recognized in a virtual awarding ceremony held last December 1 hosted by the Institute of Corporate Directors Philippines, for gaining at least 97.5 points in the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard. 

The ASEAN Corporate Governance Awards, based on the results of the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard, is the culmination of robust collaboration and joint effort by both the public and private sector through the involvement of market regulators, domestic ranking bodies, and independent corporate governance experts, evaluating publicly listed companies (PLCs) from the six participating ASEAN member countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard (ACGS) is an initiative under the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) based on the corporate governance principles of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Through the standardized evaluation of corporate governance practices and principles the Scorecard provides, the initiative aims to raise the overall corporate governance standards of PLCs in the region, to increase their visibility to investors, and to promote the ASEAN as a wise investment destination, ensuring that the corporate governance climate in the ASEAN region remains competitive and conducive to the growth of businesses in ASEAN jurisdictions.

The ACGS evaluation is assigned by the ACMF to domestic ranking bodies (DRBs) in each ASEAN participating countries, followed by a peer review conducted by the DRBs for participating neighboring countries in the region. Top PLC performers are announced at the ACGS awarding ceremonies.

In 2019, Manila Water received a 3-star arrow recognition from the Institute of Corporate Directors for its performance rating against the ACGS of the said year. In 2018, the Company also received the same recognition for its performance rating and was named as one of ASEAN’s Top 50 Publicly Listed Companies on Corporate Governance at the 2018 ASEAN Corporate Governance Awards.