Ayala official to head Ortigas property firm

The Ayala, Sy and Ortigas groups—the three families that now control land-rich Ortigas & Co.—agreed to share management responsibilities over this upscale property developer and appointed Jaime Ysmael president and chief executive officer. This is concurrent to Ysmael’s post as the chief finance officer of Ayala Land Inc.

Ortigas also brought onboard key senior executives from the Sy group while keeping representation for the Ortigas family. This was seen in support of its thrust to “unlock value and further develop its Metro Manila assets.”

“Ortigas & Co.’s new leadership team is committed to unleash the full potential of the firm’s assets by continuing to develop Ortigas & Co.’s retail and residential spaces. We are banking on the Ortigas legacy and commitment to quality to build even more iconic places for our customers that allow them to relish life’s best experiences,” Ysmael said in a statement.

ALI’s Thomas Mirasol was also named senior vice president and chief operating officer and also captain of the company’s residential and mixed-use developments, namely Circulo Verde, Frontera Verde, Capitol Commons, Greenhills Shopping Centre and select projects within the Ortigas Central Business District. This appointment had taken effect since January 2016. Prior to this, he was the president of Ayala Land International Sales Inc., concurrent to his duty as head of sales and marketing of ALI’s residential business group.

Appointed vice president and general manager of the shopping centers division was Renee Bacani, who will now lead the retail front consisting of Greenhills Shopping Center, Tiendesitas, Industria at Circulo Verde and Estancia at Capitol Commons. Bacani, an architect, was formerly assistant vice president for operations of SM North.

Davee Zuñiga, a certified public accountant and former vice president for internal audit of SM Prime Holdings Inc., took over as treasurer and chief finance officer in November 2014.

Earlier in June 2015, Ysmael became chair of the board and president of Ortigas subsidiary Concrete Aggregates Corp. (CAC). To date, he is also senior vice president of ALI as well as chief finance officer, compliance officer and group head of finance.

Michael David Abundo III, who has been with Ortigas for more than a decade, remains the company’s vice president and head of corporate resources division.

“The announcement marks the synergy of three of the country’s prime developers who have each made their mark in the Philippine real estate landscape. Both SM and Ayala are committed to bring their expertise in property development together with Ortigas to further enrich Ortigas & Co.’s assets,” the statement said.

The 85-year-old Ortigas property group is the developer of Greenmeadows, Valle Verde and Greenhills subdivisions. Its crown jewel is the Greenhills Shopping Center.