The award was given during ceremonies held here yesterday at the Esteghial Grand Hotel.

David was especially cited for leading DBP in the delicate balancing act of accomplishing its development mandate while boosting its financial strength to record levels as it achieved a net income of US-million and US5-million in 2006 and 2007, respectively. DBP also contributes one of the biggest shares in dividends to the government by state financial institutions.

"I am indeed blessed in having a career long enough to face the challenges and receive the joy of being with DBP. As one of two major policy banks in the country, the holy grail of our business is of course development banking, rather than commercial banking. In this regard, we’re always conscious of ensuring that the projects we undertake leave real mark on our people, our surrounding, the environment, and on history," David said in his acceptance message.

Under David’s stewardship, DBP was ranked among the Top 1000 commercial banks worldwide by The Banker magazine. DBP achieved a country ranking of 4, and an international ranking of 718 (up from 769 previously) based on Tier 1 capital, real profits growth, and return on assets, among others. The bank also scored highest among 31 state corporations in the first run of the Corporate Governance Scorecard in 2006.

David is also credited for DBP’s success in other various development undertakings. These include the bank’s participation as financial advisor for the privatization of geothermal power producer PNOC-Energy Development Corporation; and its successful debut in the offshore market with its tier 1 hybrid capital securities, which raised the bank’s capital adequacy ratio to twice that of the minimum as per Central Bank requirement.

DBP also participated in the 0-million Magat Hydropower Project Financing, the first power sector privatization to be successfully concluded with significant foreign participation. Hailed for reinvigorating foreign investor interest in the country’s power privatization program and supporting capacity expansion for an environment-friendly energy source, the project was conferred the PFI Power Deal of the Year Award for Asia Pacific by PFI magazine. It was also cited Best Project Finance/Best Privatization in The AssetTriple A House and Deal Awards 2007 by The Asset magazine.

To further sustain DBP’s strategic thrust of intensifying assistance to micro-enterprises, David spearheaded a re-focusing of the bank’s microfinance program towards advocacy and institutional building, particularly to 33 identified unserved areas in Southern Philippines.

DBP was also the first bank to respond to the plight of exporters and overseas Filipino workers amidst the strengthening of the peso through its hedging program. It also initiated an Endowment for Education program that will provide free college education to 150 disadvantaged yet promising high school graduates yearly for 10 years.

David joined DBP in October 2004 after years of active involvement with various local and foreign banking institutions. He is a respected name in the Philippine banking industry, and was a recipient of the Ten Outstanding Young Men award for offshore banking in 1977. He was also named among the Philippines’ most powerful and influential Filipinos in 2006 and 2007 by BizNews Asia magazine.

ADFIAP is an organization of development banks and other financial institutions engaged in the financing of development in the Asia-Pacific region. The annual ADFIAP Development Awards recognize and honor membersbanks that have undertaken or assisted projects that have created a development impact in their respective countries by implementing or enhancing outstanding and innovative development projects.