JG Summit Holdings Inc. President and CEO Lance Gokongwei, and Phinma Corp. President and COO Chito Salazar have been named the 2026 Management Association of the Philippines’ (MAP) Management Persons of the Year.
Announcing the recipients on Friday, the business leaders’ organization cited Gokongwei’s entrepreneurial leadership and Salazar’s work in expanding access to affordable higher education.
The award recognizes individuals in business or government who have distinguished themselves in management and contributed to national development. It is open to MAP members and nonmembers.
Selection criteria include leadership, integrity, contributions to nation-building and values formation, and adherence to high standards of business and management.
MAP said the award has been conferred only 51 times in its six-decade history.
Gokongwei was recognized for helping build the Gokongwei Group into one of the country’s largest, most diversified and professionally managed conglomerates.
His leadership of Universal Robina Corp.’s expansion across Southeast Asia and its development into a globally competitive consumer goods company, MAP noted.
It also credited him with making air travel accessible to millions of Filipinos through Cebu Pacific’s low-cost fares. The airline’s placement of the country’s largest aircraft order demonstrated confidence in the long-term growth of Philippine tourism and mobility, MAP said.
MAP also recognized Gokongwei’s efforts to expand financial inclusion through GoTyme Bank, support education through the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation and improve access to health care through the group’s drugstore and health maintenance networks.
Salazar was honored for helping pioneer a sustainable, student-centered business model that offers affordable, quality higher education to young people from low-income families.
MAP credited him with building Phinma Education into what it described as Southeast Asia’s largest private education network for underserved learners, with more than 104,000 graduates.
It also cited his recognition as the only Filipino recipient of the London-based Education Leaders Forum Fellowship, which honors pioneers who have helped transform education in their countries.
MAP praised Salazar for combining strong financial performance with social impact while upholding integrity and empathy.
Previous recipients include Washington SyCip, Henry Sy Sr., Tony Tan Caktiong, Manuel Pangilinan and Gokongwei’s father, John Gokongwei Jr., who received the award in 2017.
Hans Sy was the 2025 recipient.
