Page 6 - WashingtonSyCip_Bio_Excerpt_2nd_Edition
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INTRODUCTION








             It has been almost four years since that fateful October weekend when we, in SGV,
             all woke up to the saddest news that our beloved Founder, Washington SyCip (or WS
             as he was known in the Firm) had passed away on board a Philippine Airlines flight
             en route to New York.  His heart just stopped while he was in the clouds somewhere
             over Canadian territory.


             It was Sunday morning in Manila when the news broke out.  By that afternoon, we
             had mobilized our teams in SGV to make all the necessary preparations for WS’
             homecoming.  While it would take two weeks for his remains to be repatriated,
             there was no time for us to grieve.  True to the SGV discipline that WS himself had
             ingrained in all of us, we all knew that there was work to be done.


             While one is never ready when something tragic occurs, as a Firm we had taken steps
             to anticipate the eventuality of WS’ passing.  We had undergone an institutional
             exercise  of articulating  our  Purpose.   We called it  our Purpose  Journey  and it
             inevitably led us to WS’ original vision when he founded SGV in 1946.  He had
             always believed that SGV cannot prosper if the Philippines, our nation, does not
             prosper first.  His deep love for the country was evident in everything he did – from
             helping professionalize the accounting profession to sending Filipino managers to
             other Asian countries to run the member firms of The SGV Group; from promoting
             Filipino talent to donning the Barong Tagalog as often as possible.

             From the very beginning, WS had practiced what he preached. He lived SGV’s core
             values of meritocracy, fairness, integrity, and steadfast support for lifelong learning.
             Because of his example, generations of partners and staff have been driven to carry a
             torch of excellence in the past 75 years. These values are embedded in many aspects
             of their personal and professional lives, long after their tenure in SGV because they
             have become part of our DNA.  These constitute the blueprint of SGV’s reason for
             being — the Firm’s Purpose.

             SGV’s Purpose is captured in the statement: “In everything we do, we nurture leaders
             and enable businesses for a better Philippines.”




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