GMA Network exec ING-Finex CFO of the year winner

MANILA, Philippines—GMA Network executive vice president and chief financial officer Felipe S. Yalong was named ING-Finex CFO of the Year for 2013. The awarding ceremony was held on Nov. 20 in Makati City.

The highly coveted award recognizes exemplary leadership in the field of finance and is bestowed annually on the country’s foremost financial executive.

Yalong played a crucial role in the GMA’s phenomenal rise in revenues since its chair and CEO, Felipe L. Gozon, and president and COO, Gilberto R. Duavit Jr., took over the company’s management more than a decade ago. Yalong was also a key figure in the company’s initial public offering (IPO) in July 2007.

In his acceptance speech, Yalong said the award was meaningful “because it comes from [his] peers, his fellow CFOs, and from an esteemed professional organization that is Finex.”

He also thanked GMA’s top management for giving him “a significant amount of trust and confidence since [his] early years in GMA” and added that he was also the same way when dealing with his people.

Recalling his early days with the company, Yalong described his joining GMA as “the biggest challenge of [his] professional career,” noting that GMA was admittedly behind its biggest rival, ABS-CBN, during that time. “But it has, as evidenced by my presence here today, yielded positive results both for myself and I would like to believe, through my modest contributions, for the network as well,” Yalong said.