PCCI elects new chairman, president

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the country’s largest business organization, is preparing for a new leadership next year as current president Alfredo Yao finishes his term this year.

Yao, founder of Zest-O Corp and chairman of publicly listed Macay Holdings, will be replaced by George Barcelon of Paramount Vinyl Products Corp.

PCCI chairman Miguel Varela, meanwhile, will be replaced by Benedicto Yujuico also starting January 2016.

In his last president’s report for PCCI, Yao said running the largest and most distinguished business organization in the country was a daunting task.

“The hard work in my two years as president was done not by me but by the members of the board and secretariat – the unsung heroes who worked behind the scene to make sure that the Chamber accomplishes the goals we have set out at the start of my term,” he said.

He said the advocacy role of PCCI during his term did not only remain prominent but also increased its leadership with the Philippine business organizations.

He said the group’s joint Philippine business leaders and foreign chambers’ dialogues with members of the House of Representative and the Senate paved the way for the enactment of key economic measures such as the Philippine Competition Act and the Liberalization of Cabotage Policy.

“We led stakeholder meetings actively engaging policymakers and industry leaders in addressing issues such as the traffic and ports congestion, environment and energy, taxation, logistics and trade facilitation and administrative barriers to trade and investments,” Yao said.

“The resolution of the ports congestion and removal of related charges in shipping and trucking fees; the implementation of the Interruptible Load Program and the adoption of a policy on demand aggregation and supply auctioning policy; and, the removal of the Philippines in the US Trade Representative’s Watchlist of IPR violators are some of the few of the success stories that resulted from our stakeholder dialogues,” he added.

Yao also pointed out amid loud calls supporting the initial winning bidder of the Cavite – Laguna Expressway project, PCCI was the lone voice that supported a re-bidding where the government eventually gained some P10 billion.