And the winners of the 2015 PSE Bell Awards are

TWO firms under the group of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan and one each from the Ayala, Sy and Aboitiz groups were honored as the top five publicly listed companies in the Philippines which exemplify good corporate governance.

During the Philippine Stock Exchange’s 4th Annual Bell Awards on Wednesday night, Pangilinan-led Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Philex Mining bagged the top plum along with Ayala-led Globe Telecom, Sy-led China Bank and Aboitiz Equity Ventures.

China Bank, for its part, has bagged the Bell Award for the fourth consecutive year.

The Bell Awards for good governance also honored the country’s top trading participants: Maybank ATR Kim Eng Securities, Macquarie Capital Securities, Credit Suisse Securities, RS Lim & Co. Inc. and Deutsche Regis.

Maybank and RS Lim have both won the Bell Awards for the third straight year.

The 10 winners were picked from 80 shortlisted candidates. “The awardees went through the reel so to speak…and deserve our admiration,” said PSE director Edgardo Lacson.

“Excellence is not an act but a habit,” PSE chair Jose Pardo said during the awarding ceremonies.

Since 2012, the PSE has been evaluating listed companies based on their compliance with the corporate governance guidelines and relevant rules and regulations. The PSE has also been assessing trading participants based on their performance in regulatory audits and compliance with market regulations and trading rules.

Corporate governance refers to the system of rules, practices and processes by which a company is directed and controlled. This essentially involves balancing the interests of the many stakeholders such as shareholders, management, customers, suppliers, financiers, government and the community.