Bangko Kabayan (BK), a subsidiary of UnionBank, marks its 68th founding anniversary with reaffirmed commitment to becoming the preferred financial institution of MSMEs in the countryside. Its comprehensive suite of financial products and services are propelled by continued innovation and sustainable growth to serve more communities with quality and reliable on-ground support. Last August 23, the bank held an online celebration and invited AEV Chief Reputation & Sustainability Officer Ginggay Hontiveros‑Malvar to deliver the keynote message on the anniversary theme “Thriving Together Toward Sustainable Growth”. Below is the full message.
Good morning, everyone. Maayong buntag!
Congratulations Bangko Kabayan as you celebrate your 68th founding anniversary. For nearly seven decades, Bangko Kabayan has embodied the very essence of the Aboitiz Group’s purpose: to advance business and communities. Your dedication to empowering MSMEs by providing accessible financial services has been a cornerstone of inclusive growth in our countryside communities. This commitment is truly at the heart of who we are.
To our Bangko Kabayan team members, your focus on supporting countryside development through strong client relationships, is a living testament to this promise. You help empower entrepreneurs and uplift communities, showcasing the Aboitiz Group’s dedication to inclusive growth and creating tangible impact on the ground.
At Aboitiz, our promise of advancing business and communities is driven by a powerful synergy of technology, innovation, responsibility and sustainability. We believe that growth must create meaningful impact for both people and the planet, ensuring that business and sustainability are one and the same.
To guide us on the next phase of our sustainable growth journey, we developed the Aboitiz Sustainability at Scale Playbook. This isn’t just a document; it’s a living guide for all Aboitiz Group team members, fostering a shared understanding of our sustainability vision, goals, and priorities. It is integral to our Great Transformation to becoming the Philippines’ first techglomerate, defining our EESG-focused actions to create better products and services through technology and innovation, while addressing the most material topics for our stakeholders.
Our Group CEO, Sabin Aboitiz, emphasizes, “This Playbook is a direct reflection of our core principles. It emphasizes that our commitment to ESG is deeply rooted in our techglomerate vision. We are focused on the intersection of technology, innovation, and creativity, and our new, unique brand of ESG is a reflection of these core principles in our aspiration to fulfill this promise.”
Our shared sustainable growth journey is deeply intertwined with our core values: Integrity, Teamwork, Innovation, and Responsibility. Let me elaborate on how these values are not just words on a wall, but living principles exemplified across the Aboitiz Group.
Integrity is our foundation. It’s about full transparency and ethical behavior as daily standards and as core leadership accountability. This ethical stance continues to build and deepen the trust essential for true community advancement.
The issuance of a USD100 million social bond by City Savings Bank to provide loans specifically for women in low and lower-middle-income groups directly executes the Social (S) focused area of Inclusive Prosperity (Purpose) within UnionBank’s sustainability framework. This initiative makes financial services accessible to underserved communities, aligning with CitySavings’ purpose to “elevate communities through financial inclusion”. Furthermore, the transparent allocation and reporting of these funds fully demonstrates Governance (G), ensuring accountability and adherence to the bank’s Sustainability Policy, which mandates providing products and services that contribute to people’s well-being and implementing inclusive business programs.
Teamwork is crucial for our collective success. Advancing both business and communities necessitates strong relationships and collaborative effort within our ecosystem of stakeholders.
The collaboration between AboitizPower and UBX to integrate digital payment collection capabilities into AP’s mobile application is a clear execution of the Social (S) focused area of Digital Transformation (People). This synergy helps deliver seamless, secure, and human-centered digital services, thereby enhancing customer convenience and expanding access to essential services. By facilitating online bill payments and reducing the need for physical transactions, this also indirectly contributes to Environmental (E) sustainability through reduced paper usage and travel, while fostering efficiency by streamlining operations and potentially reducing costs for both the company and its customers.
Innovation is the engine of our techglomerate vision. We leverage technology, creativity, and new ideas to solve complex social, environmental, and governance challenges, thereby redefining and scaling sustainability efforts across our diverse businesses.
Aboitiz InfraCapital’s Apo Agua project, which operates the largest bulk water supply facility in the Philippines, integrating a 2-MW hydroelectric plant to fully power its water treatment process and utilizing a completely gravity-fed pipeline network. This innovation directly contributes to resource efficiency and emissions reduction by using renewable energy and minimizing energy consumption. By ensuring sustainably produced water supply for approximately 1 million Davaoeños, it also significantly addresses the Social (S) need for access to essential services, promoting long-term community growth.
And finally, Responsibility underpins our entire promise. It means being accountable for results, for our people, and for our planet. Every decision, every investment, every partnership is embedded with a commitment to a positive social impact.
AP’s strategic goal to achieve a 50:50 energy balance by 2030, involving the tripling of its renewable energy (RE) fleet and investing in natural gas as a transition fuel, is another great example of the Environmental (E) focused area of Sustainable Finance (Planet). This business strategy directly supports our country’s energy transition towards cleaner sources, demonstrating an evolving commitment to providing people with reliable, affordable, and sustainable power.
With all these, what then is the call to us as leaders in Aboitiz?
All these diverse initiatives underscore a core principle: that ultimately, leadership accountability is fundamental to ensuring sustainable growth.
Aboitiz Leaders are mandated to own and drive outcomes, embracing full transparency and integrity as daily standards. This means that the buck stops with us as leaders, especially in highly regulated sectors like banking and financial services, where governance serves as the backbone of trust. It means surfacing problems or issues when we see it, calling out unethical behavior when we observe it, being accountable for our own actions, and leading by example. It is a call for us, Aboitiz Leaders, to take accountability for our actions and decisions. An accountable leader doesn’t shift blame but instead sets clear expectations, provides support, leads by example, and proactively seeks solutions to challenges, ultimately driving better results and building trust within our teams. This matters to us because, ultimately, a culture of accountability encourages higher and better performance and helps our teams deliver on our goals with integrity.
For Aboitiz, leadership accountability helps us fulfill our promise to advance business and communities. By proving through daily action that business and sustainability are not separate goals—they are one and the same, we are also contributing to a more resilient organization and a stronger, more sustainable Philippines.
In closing, our sustainability journey has evolved significantly. From an initial focus on compliance and advocacy, we have now deepened our commitment to impact and value co-creation. This recalibration is driven by a rapidly evolving global and local ESG landscape, including mandatory reporting standards and the increasing integration of sustainability into our core business strategy.
Bangko Kabayan, your 68-year legacy is a powerful example of how business can truly be a force for good. As we look ahead, let us continue to thrive together toward sustainable growth, building a future where every community prospers and every individual has the opportunity to succeed.
Congratulations and happy anniversary!
Thank you.
