BIZ BUZZ: Top executives’ new top executive

The country’s leading association of management executives is getting a new man at the helm.

The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) has elected Rafael Alunan III, vice chair of Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc., as its president for 2027.

Alunan brings to the table both corporate and government experience.

The veteran executive previously served as tourism secretary under President Corazon Aquino and interior and local government secretary during the administration of President Fidel Ramos. He had also made a bid for a Senate seat.

At MAP, Alunan will succeed DITO CME Holdings president Donald Lim, who led the association in 2026.

The leadership transition was formalized at a joint meeting of MAP’s 2026 and 2027 boards of governors on Nov. 11, during which the association also elected BPI Asset Management and Trust Corp. president and CEO Maria Theresa Marcial as vice president.

Meanwhile, San Miguel Food and Beverage independent director Jaime Bautista was named treasurer, with BS Works founder and CEO John Clifford Eala serving as assistant treasurer.

Economist Cielito Habito, chair and founding partner of Brain Trust Inc., is the new MAP secretary.

The rest of the 2027 board includes Karen Batungbacal of CEO Advisors Inc., lawyer Lorna Patajo Kapunan, HSBC Philippines executive Maria Corazon Purisima and Lim.

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With about 1,500 executives among its members, MAP is one of the country’s most influential business organizations. It regularly lends its voice to matters of economic policy and governance.

The association also confers the annual Management Person of the Year award, one of the country’s prestigious honors recognizing excellence in leadership.

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