The pandemic has raised significant challenges given the restrictions, issues, and risks that businesses need to face daily in their operations. It now becomes more important for Globe to continue to ensure that it proactively engages in corporate governance best practices in order to adjust swiftly to the changes in business environment while maintaining or increasing the company’s value to its stakeholders.
Placing emphasis on corporate governance is essential to balance the interests of the organization’s diverse stakeholders such as the government, financial market regulators, its employees, customers, investors, and partners, among others. Corporate governance enables Globe to operate its business while ensuring that the interests of the company’s internal and external stakeholders are protected and addressed.
“Corporate governance in Globe is everybody’s business and this is key to sustaining value in our corporate governance culture. Collaboration between and among stakeholders result in the effective execution of initiatives that embrace the digital times we live in and adapt to the aggressive business environment we operate in, thereby, achieving equilibrium between governance and business,” said Marisalve Ciocson-Co, Globe Senior Vice President – Law and Compliance, Chief Compliance Officer and Assistant Corporate Secretary.
After ensuring that its employees and customers are properly taken care of during the first few months of the pandemic, Globe progressed on to evaluate governance impact on the business as well as implement the necessary measures to bounce back and focus on business approaches that are appropriate to current circumstances.
Business resiliency is an essential part of the company board’s risk oversight function. It is grounded in the obligation to periodically review management’s plans to recover from catastrophe and disaster, in this case the COVID-19 crisis, and ensure business continuity.
Alongside providing quality products and services to its customers, Globe adopts policies and practices that are beyond minimum requirements of applicable laws and regulations, and perseveres to sustain good corporate governance standards embedded in the company’s corporate culture and business conduct.
The company’s Compliance and Governance Team initiates collaborations in the organization and among stakeholders to ensure that various corporate governance initiatives and projects are effectively communicated and executed. For instance, despite the strict health protocols which the government put in place earlier, Globe was still able to strengthen stakeholder engagement through its first fully virtual Annual Stockholders’ Meeting (ASM) last April in accordance with pertinent regulatory issuances. Globe also encouraged electronic voting in absentia as an additional medium for its shareholders to practice their right to vote through its developed Voting in Absentia & Shareholder (VIASH) System.
Globe’s corporate governance practices are principally contained in the Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws, and other legal documents, which outline the core of the company’s operational framework under the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard (ACGS). ACGS adopts international corporate governance best practices and standards including the principles of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Globe’s dedication to corporate governance was also repeatedly acknowledged by award giving bodies, the latest of which came from Alpha Southeast Asia Magazine’s 10th Annual Poll for Institutional Investor Corporate Awards where Globe placed 2nd in the Strongest Adherence to Corporate Governance Category in the country.
Globe is committed to upholding the 10 UNGC principles and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). The company has also made it to the FTSE4Good Index Series for the fifth consecutive year, proving its dedication to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices that help shape society’s sustainable future.
Corporate governance updates, activities, documents, reports and policies are publicly available through https://www.globe.com.ph/about-us/corporate-governance.html.