Antonino T. Aquino, President and CEO of Ayala Land and former president of Manila Water Company, and Dr. Jesus P. Estanislao, Chair of the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Institute for Solidarity in Asia, are the Management Man of the Year 2009 awardees of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP).

The MAP Management Man of the Year is a prestigious award that MAP bestows on individuals in the business community or government  for attaining unquestioned distinction in the practice of management and for contributing to the country’s progress. The conferment of the award to Mr. Aquino and Dr. Estanislao followed a thorough, stringent selection process that the distinction of MAP Management Man of the Year has only been conferred 32 times in the 42-year history of the award.

The criteria for the award include integrity, leadership, and management qualities; contribution to nation building and values formation; effective stewardship within the confines of the highest standard of business and management practice; among others.

Mr. Aquino was chosen due to the following, among others: (1) for his leadership role in a very successful waterworks privatization and public-private sector partnership; (2) for steering the transformation of a moribund public service company into a publicly-listed private firm with remarkable growth and profitability; (3) for making Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainable development as integral parts of Manila Water’s overall corporate strategy; and (4) for his contribution to national development by improving the quality of life of over one million people in depressed communities through Manila Water’s flagship program called “Tubig Para Sa Barangay” (Water for Low-Income Communities).

Dr. Estanislao is being honored because of the following, among others: (1) for leading the rehabilitation of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) after the 1986 People Power Revolution; (2) for effectively overseeing the economic recovery and reform program of the country as Secretary of Finance, Secretary of Socio-economic Planning and Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) under the Administration of the late President Corazon C. Aquino; (3) for promoting excellence in professional competence, ethical practice and personal integrity among corporate directors through the ICD; and (4) for passionately promoting transparency, fairness and accountability in the public sector through the ISA.